Leila Janah Quotes

Everyone is born equally capable but lacks equal opportunity.

I'm aware of the fact that a lot of talented people out there will never get this chance.

In a country where there is no privileged class, genius and industry may attain the highest honors.

I think the debate around nepotism is futile because I am an outsider and I know that there is no compensation of talent.

If you have the talent, you should have the opportunity.

If your only opportunity is to be equal then it is not opportunity.

I hope someday what people can do with their lives depends on their talents and how hard they are willing to work, rather than on where they happen to be born.

Outside of the family, education is the greatest determinant of social mobility.

It's not a meritocracy until everyone starts with the same opportunities, is it?

I've spent my career trying to help people without connections understand what's going on so that they have a chance of getting a fair shake from the connected and the powerful.

Let the path be open to talent.

We must restore the emotional relationship that people have to the idea of America, that no matter where you come from, no matter where you live, that you have access to the same opportunities that somebody who is born in privilege.

In nominating young women and men to our service academies, it must only be about who you are, not who you know.

Our democracy may have an aristocracy of talent, as Jefferson said – which is fine – but we don’t want everyone else to be left out. Something like that seems to be happening, though.

The gap between aspiration and reality could hardly be wider. Today, the United States has less equality of opportunity than almost any other advanced industrial country. Study after study has exposed the myth that America is a land of opportunity. This is especially tragic: While Americans may differ on the desirability of equality of outcomes, there is near-universal consensus that inequality of opportunity is indefensible.

Nowhere in the world is presented a government of so much liberty and equality. To the humblest and poorest amongst us are held out the highest privileges and positions.

Regardless of zip code, talent and IQ are evenly distributed, so we need to make sure that opportunity is evenly distributed, too.

As Americans, I think we really believe that with the meritocracy that exists in our country, the equality of opportunity is so important to the foundation of our culture and our society.

America is a meritocracy.

We are building a country where a person's prospects are determined by their own initiative and hard work and not by the color of their skin, place of birth, gender, language, or income of their parents.

I think this country is genuinely a meritocracy.

I firmly believe that talent and intelligence are universal, but resources and opportunities are not.

I feel passionately that the opportunities I have had should be available to everyone.

A girl born in Drumchapel in Glasgow has just as much right to good health and the opportunities provided by a good education as a Surrey stockbroker's son.

The status quo is never happy when things become a meritocracy.