Martha Reeves Quotes

I live very well, but I support a lot of relatives.

I worry a lot about taking care of my dependents, all those perfectly ordinary middle-class preoccupations.

Each month from our income - we have a separate account, obviously - we give 80 percent of it to our parents back home.

Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I've got. Somebody's got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain't got this, somebody ain't got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.

I make all that money and it ain't enough. I gotta make more to help all the people around me.

I have grandchildren who are going to need every cent I make.

I have amazing parents. They had worked hard all their lives for me, and when I started to make money, I wanted to be able to take care of them.

But boxing was my profession. I had to go back the second time because I was broke and I couldn't just go and get a college degree and earn it. I had too many bills, too many families.

I received my money from the treasury, I used to very early to go the clubs, but when the burden of looking after my children came upon me I tried to live a quite life, and save as much as I could.

My giving is discretionary, but keeping the business going is not.

I guess if you're lucky enough not to have to pay your rent, then you or I take much more seriously the kind of work that I do, what it takes for me to leave two teenagers of my own and six stepchildren and a husband and four grandchildren.

The last thing family and friends want is for you to spend money on them that you don't have or that you can't really spare.

If someone wants to give you, like, $100 million, it's hard to say no. But I don't want to accept that kind of money right now. I'd feel burdened by it.

In some ways, I'm slightly like a single parent, so I need to be able to provide for my family.

Growing up, money is important. And now I have a career where I'm making enough money to live. But I really want to give it to my parents, my family, charities, and people around me.

Only now that I'm a mum can I fully understand the terrible pressure parents feel buying presents for their kids. My mum had four children plus all of the extended family and she not only had to feed us all but she bought presents for everyone, too.

I have to look after my life, my kids, their school, their doctor, my house, my phone and electric bills.

The bottom line is, I've got a wife and three kids. I've got bills I have to pay.

I got a family to take care of and kids to feed. That's my motivation, this is my job.

My brother starting earning early in life. I stopped taking money from my parents, and my brother would give me the pocket money.

Sometimes I get the feeling that some parents really think their son can pay for their pension, especially being in London.

Send me the money and let the younger guys have the fame.

Many of the scrappy young people I meet who are the first in their family to go to college feel that they have to bring home a steady paycheck to make their family's sacrifices worthwhile.

I've always played that role in my family: the breadwinner.

I need to take care of my mom and making sure she's financially OK. She's done so much for me, it's the least thing I can do.