Maya Soetoro-Ng Quotes

Circumstances have rarely favored great men. A lowly beginning is no bar to a great career. The boy who works his way through college may have a hard time of it, but he will learn how to work his way in life, and will usually take higher rank in school and in after life than his classmate who is the son of a millionaire.

A white boy that makes C's in college can make it to the White House.

I want to prove that you don't have to come from Oxford University or Rada - and you don't have to have parents that support you - to succeed.

My parents were the first in our family to go to grammar school. My grandparents were in service.

Outside of the family, education is the greatest determinant of social mobility.

I went to school and made good grades and went to college. So I was afforded an opportunity through my parents' hard work that most people don't have.

My dad had an eighth grade education, and everything that he did in his life was just stuff that he went out and did - figured out what he needed to know and read. Very successful, a union contractor.

Hard work and a good education will take you further than any government program.

The American Dream is still alive out there, and hard work will get you there. You don't necessarily need to have an Ivy League education or to have millions of dollars startup money. It can be done with an idea, hard work and determination.

My grandfather could barely read. My grandmother had a sixth-grade education. They were people who were industrious. They were frugal.

A man with a silver spoon may get his share of supporters, but he can never be an inspiration for somebody! Patience and hard work are the key to every man's success.

I'm aware people will think I've had an easy way into a dream career. My view is, if anyone has opportunities, they'll take them. My surname opens doors, but those doors will slam firmly if I'm no good.

My dad grew up in a working-class Jewish neighbourhood, and I got a scholarship from my dad's union to go to college. I went there to get an education, not as an extension of privilege.

Does anybody really think that they didn't get what they had because they didn't have the talent or the strength or the endurance or the commitment?

Everyone has a talent. It's simply a question of good discipline, of the good fortune to have an education that meshes with that talent, and a lot of luck.

I am not a product of privilege, I am a product of opportunity

In a country where there is no privileged class, genius and industry may attain the highest honors.

You have to believe that those privileged from birth achieve success all on their own..

For me, education has never been simply a policy issue - it's personal. Neither of my parents and hardly anyone in the neighborhood where I grew up went to college. But thanks to a lot of hard work and plenty of financial aid, I had the opportunity to attend some of the finest universities in this country.

My father graduated from high school and didn't go to college and still found his way.

After a point, it doesn't matter where you come from. There are many star kids who haven't done well in the industry and rank newcomers who have done amazingly well.

I definitely think if you're born into the industry, you get easier access, but that's about it. I have never denied that, but after that, only talent and hard work sustains you.

I'm from a working-class background - I had free school meals all my life and then spent six years in art school.

My father worked with a first-grade education in this country and managed every single day without a hiccup.

Like my father, I used to believe that hard work and mastery of a standardized exam was the fairest way for students like me to compete with those who had far more resources.