Charles Bukowski Quotes

Everyone is born equally capable but lacks equal opportunity.

I'm aware of the fact that a lot of talented people out there will never get this chance.

I don't think the world works on merit.

If your only opportunity is to be equal then it is not opportunity.

It's not a meritocracy until everyone starts with the same opportunities, is it?

I have no respect for the passion of equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy - I don't disparage envy, but I don't accept it as legitimately my master.

Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent.

Everybody should have an equal chance - but they shouldn't have a flying start.

I don't feel that I've faced discrimination. I've had every chance to succeed and more, and I think that's what all women should have.

I think the debate around nepotism is futile because I am an outsider and I know that there is no compensation of talent.

We are building a country where a person's prospects are determined by their own initiative and hard work and not by the color of their skin, place of birth, gender, language, or income of their parents.

I think this country is genuinely a meritocracy.

If you have the talent, you should have the opportunity.

Everybody should have a chance to rise. That's our philosophy in Ohio and that's my philosophy for America.

A meritocracy is a system in which the people who are the luckiest in their health and genetic endowment; luckiest in terms of family support, encouragement and, probably, income; luckiest in their educational and career opportunities; and luckiest in so many other ways difficult to enumerate - these are the folks who reap the largest rewards.

Talent is equally distributed but opportunity is not.

Some people can work their butts off and never get what they're aiming for while others can get it without any effort at all.

I hope someday what people can do with their lives depends on their talents and how hard they are willing to work, rather than on where they happen to be born.

All of us do not have equal talent, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talent.

I know, up on top you are seeing great sights, but down here at the bottom we, too, should have rights.

To build a better world we need to replace the patchwork of lucky breaks and arbitrary advantages today that determine success--the fortunate birth dates and the happy accidents of history--with a society that provides opportunities for all.

Women may not have it easy, but we are given a fairer chance to reach for the top.

Don't get me wrong: I think that everyone should put forth an effort to do better, but let's face it, some of us are just plain luckier than others.

If there is anything that a man can do well, I say let him do it. Give him a chance.

I am a young, white, educated male. I got really, really lucky. And life isn't fair.