Shelby Foote Quotes

I thank fate for having made me born poor. Poverty taught me the true value of the gifts useful to life.

All three of my parents - I also had a stepmother - were teachers, and my dad taught high school, and as he always reminded me when I was going to spend some money on something, 'Your mother and I, in the Depression, had to decide whether to spend a dime on a loaf of bread or if we could go to a movie with it.'

I was from a tough neighborhood, and we didn't have a lot of money, but my dad worked hard, and my mom is good at budgeting things. That made me appreciate things.

My mother really struggled when we were young. She was on food stamps and welfare. Looking back, I know we didn't have a lot, but I never felt I was at a loss for anything.

I remember once in junior high school, on a Friday, my mom came home from work and said to my brother and I, 'You know, between us, we have only 27 cents, but we have food in the refrigerator, we have our little garden out back, and we're happy, so we are rich.'

We didn't have a lot when I was growing up, and it's the best thing that happened to me because I appreciate everything. I developed a strong work ethic, and I don't take anything for granted.

My dad always supported me. Sometimes we didn't have anything to eat for breakfast, but if we could eat lunch and dinner, we weren't poor.

I was born during the war and grew up in a time of rationing. We didn't have anything. It's influenced the way I look at the world.

In prosperity remember adversity.

Growing up during the Depression, we didn't have much, but we had each other, we had our friends, and that was pretty much all we needed. I was aware that some people had more, but those who did, shared.

We lived in just a studio apartment with just a room and a bed that came out of the wall, and my mom couldn't afford even a Happy Meal. We ate Top Ramen. I had no toys, and I had, like, two shirts, a pair of jeans, and that was it. But I had my mom to myself, and I remember it being the coolest period of time. I loved it. I really loved it.

People who are living in economic struggle are more than their circumstances. They're majestic and creative and beautiful.

We were rather poor, but we always had what we needed.

I've been penniless. I've had to struggle a bit. But now I enjoy thinking about that because it just makes me feel better about my achievements.

We in New York were very poor in the depths of the Depression - but I must say, that was the best time of my life.

Poverty dictated my childhood. But there were benefits as well: I became independent, more mature than my peers, and I realized that money is not the most important thing in life.

I like to see the world from different levels. Even when I'm making a candle or designing a piece, I like to sit on the floor to polish or make it from scratch. I haven't seen really tough times, but my husband has come up the hard way. He has even seen poverty.

I grew up with nothing, and I know that I don't need anything to be happy. We were wearing second-hand clothing and eating leftovers, and I was so happy. Five-star hotels and private pick-ups hasn't changed that.

We barely had lights, but my mom always made sure we had food on the table and somewhere to sleep.

We grew up in a small house with four bedrooms. I shared a bedroom with three brothers. But I enjoy the way that I was brought up. It kept me hungry. It kept me humble.

When you grow up how I grew up - with nothing - anything that you have is a lot.

I'm not a materialistic person, to be honest. I'm all about the energy, man. I never had anything growing up, so I don't know what it means to lose anything.

Poverty is a divine stepmother who does for youths what their own mothers were unable to do. It introduces them to frugality, to the world and to life.

I think being poor has been good for me. I saw how my mom and dad struggled, and how they could stretch a dollar farther than you could begin to imagine.

I was happy, I wasn't beaten, and I lacked nothing. But it wasn't what people expect - it was very much sort of pinching and scraping. I don't know how my mother did it.