Jake Shears Quotes

Very few people can afford to be poor.

Does anyone really believe it is possible to make even the most basic ends meet on $5.15 an hour?

I think money is important for everyone, because the lack of it is so painful.

All I ever wanted to do was be able to pay my rent.

I don't need to make a fortune, I need to survive.

These days an income is something you can't live without - or within.

The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all your time.

You and I can be busy, and we take a vacation from work. You can't take a break from being poor. You can't say, 'Hey I've had enough of worrying about money, I'm just going to be rich for a couple of weeks until I've recovered.'

I'm worried about that man or woman sitting around - the coffee table tonight or in their kitchen talking about how are we going to get to work. How are we going to have the dignity to take care of our family.

Thirteen thousand dollars a year is not enough to raise a family. That's not enough to pay your bills and save for their future. That's barely enough to provide for even the most basic needs.

Every day, families in the United States face the stark choice between a roof over their heads and food on the table. Buying health insurance, owning a home, and saving up for college are just too far out of their reach.

We need to make sure middle-class people are able to pay the bills. We need to make sure that poor people don't starve. Those are values, too.

Thousands of Ohio families are going deeper and deeper in debt just trying to pay their heating bills, fill prescriptions, and buy groceries. The current minimum wage is simply not enough.

If you don't have trouble paying the rent, you have trouble doing something else; one needs just a certain amount of trouble.

South Korea's economy is still difficult. I will create a country where nobody worries about putting food on the table.

Coming from where I came from, it was unimaginable to ever be wealthy. That was just too far out of my reach.

Young people deserve stable employment opportunities and not mountains of debt. When young people can access the middle class, America is strengthened.

Let me tell you something: I have members in my charter who, after paying their rent and house bills and taking care of their families, don't even have enough money left over to pay the fifteen dollars a week dues.

The way I look at it, everything is a trade. You acquire some money, so then you've got no financial burdens, but everyone wants your money and so who can you trust? Or you've got no money and you can trust anyone, but then you've got the worry to pay bills. Which is worse?

I was 30 before I made a living that was not embarrassing.

If you work, you should not be poor.

The richest people are those who have life arranged so they have food for the family and the rent or mortgage paid. After that, at least in my case, it can become a pretty boring existence if wealth is the only objective.

People need to have enough to eat and have work and money. But there are other things that are important.

The best route out of poverty, to avoid food bank usage, is to make sure more people get a job.

The romantic idea of the penniless writer is false. It's terrible. I hated being in debt. I hated the anxiety of not knowing whether we could pay our rent that month. Thankfully, I had a wife who was very supportive and had faith and shared my madness.