John William De Forest Quotes

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money.

I was freelance proof-reading, freelance editing, creating illustrated slides for doctors' presentations - just so I'd have enough money to take the time to write. That's how I got by.

Writing seems to be the only profession people imagine you can do by thinking about doing it.

I beg to present to your attention the case of Mr. Samuel Allen, a great friend of ours [The Democrats], who is in great need of a small appointment under your department for which he has applied. He would be very content with something for a time of not very high rank …. His is an entirely reliable man, and I should be personally glad if you could help him.

My mother was born into a solidly middle-class family, but, as all too many Americans understand, everything doesn't always go as planned - no matter how hard you work. She died on welfare. Without the support of the state, I shudder to think of where we would have ended up.

I am grateful for the lessons I learned from my parents' sacrifices. They often had trouble making ends meet, so we moved for them to find work. I remember my mom would sometimes take on second jobs, like ironing, just so we could buy groceries.

I felt unhappy and trapped. If I left baseball, where could I go, what could I do to earn enough money to help my mother and to marry Rachel? The solution to my problem was only days away in the hands of a tough, shrewd, courageous man called Branch Rickey, the president of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

I didn't like being a name attached to a book.

Your parents only want what's best for you. They know a career in the arts usually means living paycheck to paycheck; they just want you to know that you have other options!

I was broke from 19 to 26, borrowing money from my parents or my brothers or sisters every week to pay the bills.

I once prayed when struggling financially and worried how I was going to be able to assist my parents in their latter years living thousands of miles away, to help me win the lottery or something. And I did win the lottery, just in a different and better way.

It's nice to have awards from time to time. There was a time when I had to make a living from my writing, and it wasn't always easy. I value awards a lot - and more so if there is a little cash with them!

I didn't grow up in the slums or anything that dire, but I know what it is to grow up without having money or being able to support family.

Many families teeter on the edges, not qualifying for the little support on offer, unwilling to seek it for fear of drawing attention to a household barely holding the pieces together, or hit by unexpected bills.

I gots to make the dough to support myself and my disabled moms. God bless her soul. I live to bleed for that woman. I want to go as far as my power will take me.

I know what it's like to dig in the couches to find a quarter or two to pull together so you can get a gallon of gas and your grandfather can go to work. That is not something defined by whether you're a Democrat or Republican.

After graduating from high school, even though I was working, I didn't have enough money to pay rent, so I stayed with my Nana.

I need to work to support myself and my kids. No one pays for my support.

My parents worked hard, sometimes two jobs, to keep a roof over our heads and food on the table.

I had done a lot of indie movies before I realized that acting could be a way for me to get my family out of poverty. It was at that point that I decided to take acting seriously.

We were a single-parent household for a while. It was just my mom, me, and my brother. We were on welfare for about a year and a half. But I remember my mom never complained, and we never wanted for anything. She always made ends meet and she's been the rock for the family. She instilled in me work ethic and toughness.

I believe the benefits of tax reform should flow to those who most need them most - hard-pressed working families struggling to reach or stay in the middle class.

I was skint, and I had to move back to my mum and dad's house, back into the room I shared with my brother when I was a kid. I kept getting people on the streets telling me that they loved me; it didn't mean anything to me because I was still borrowing tenners off my pensioner father to go and get some chicken.

I've never been afraid to work for money; it's just - it got tough there to work and to write songs at the same time.

My dad was a house painter. He was often unemployed by the time I came along.