Chris Rock Quotes

I learned early on what debt means, how vulnerable it makes people, what the security of owning a home means.

Frankly, it's depressing, each night sleeping in someone else's home. I miss having a roof to my name. Our situation isn't an 'All in the Family' cliche, but it's still easy to see reality in plain terms: I live with my in-laws, and I can't say when that will change.

People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not.

A home is still the biggest asset that most Americans own.

Italians have always had a high savings rate. They love putting their money into their own government bonds - even more than in houses, stocks and gold. The higher rates climb, the happier they are to invest. So if austerity plans drive rates up, it's music to Italian ears.

I care about money, very much. I want it. I don't ever want to be without it. My mother once said about me, 'Elaine has to have money.'

I always felt that I had anxiety of survival in terms of livelihood even when I was making plenty of money.

I have that working class fear of having nothing. I've always got one eye on what's in the bank.

A budget should be judged by whether it creates a foundation for the success of American working families striving to buy a house, or to send their kids to college, or to save a little for retirement and, if they're lucky, a vacation.

I mean, I've never really had much security, to be honest.

I've long been interested in looking at the culture of consumerism and also was interested in this connection between the American dream and the house, and the house being kind of the ultimate expression of self and success.

You could not buy a house in those days without just assuming that the house was not only a place to live, but it was a good investment, because it was going to keep up with inflation or get ahead of inflation, and it was just - that was America.

I watched my parents go from having very basic jobs to educating themselves, to buying a house. They set a really good bar for what they wanted their kids to achieve.

The American Dream is one of success, home ownership, college education for one's children, and have a secure job to provide these and other goals.

As a lower-class kid, I was raised to think success would be owning stuff. Having that great job, too. Now I find my parents' dream was wrong. You never really own anything. And you're never really finished as a person.

Generally speaking, the more money that's involved in anything, the more people are expecting and hoping that it's not going to fail.

Definitely, it's a fear of failure that drives me.

But the world is ever more interdependent. Stock markets and economies rise and fall together. Confidence is the key to prosperity. Insecurity spreads like contagion. So people crave stability and order.

Owning your own home is America's unique recipe for avoiding revolution and promoting pseudo-equality at the same time.

We have never enjoyed a piece of the great American dream.

Economic security can vanish in an instant without health security.

… a steady job with decent pay and health benefits, rising living standards, a home of your own, secure retirement, and the hope that your children would enjoy a better future.

Capitalism’s intrinsic dynamism, however, produces insecurity along with benefits and so its advance has always met resistance…. It was only the creation of the modern welfare state in the middle of the 20th century that finally enabled capitalism and democracy to coexist in relative harmony.

Like most people, my parents were only able to fulfil their dreams because there was support. A council home so they could save for a deposit to buy a home of their own. Fantastic local state schools where my own daughters go now. Affordable university places and good quality apprenticeships.

It's actually a pretty basic concept: when businesses feel secure and confident, they are more likely to grow, hire, and invest. Conversely, when the economy is unstable, businesses often become much more risk averse, and in many cases, they're forced to make undesirable cuts that affect their bottom line.