Anna Held Quotes

There is no obstacle in the path of young people who are poor or members of minority groups that hard work and preparation cannot cure.

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

Grace under pressure isn't just about bullfighters and men at war. It's about getting up every day to face a job or a white boss you don't like but have to face to feed your children so they'll grow up to be a better generation.

I was poor. When you're poor you work, and when you're rich you expect somebody to hand it to you. So I think being reasonably poor is very good for people.

My family didn't have money, and I think it made me fearless. I'm willing to try everything and not be afraid because what's the worst that can be happen? It might not work out, but I can't be worse off than when I was a kid.

I grew up in this poor place, with very limited circumstances, at about 16 years of age was sent by my family to work, and instead of remaining in the position into which I was sent, I somehow worked my way out of it without any help from anyone, just luck.

Through hard work and education, we can deliver a strong economy and opportunity for all.

My dad grew up in a mud hut and studied by candlelight. He was 14 when he got a scholarship to Russia. He was super clever - the cleverest person. He landed in 5ft of snow, and was alone at 14, studying science and engineering. He didn't have a bed, and he slept on a table.

I think most of us would agree that people who have, say, little formal schooling but labor honestly and diligently to help feed, clothe, and educate their families are deserving of greater respect - and help, if necessary - than many people who are superficially more successful.

I didn't know what it was not to work hard as I grew up.

I think what I came from and what I saw molded me into a certain person. Nothing was ever wrapped or a silver spoon, so I don't think I would know how to live and I don't think I'd want to live if it wasn't a grind.

There's no way I would have got to see so much of the world, with my humble background, without modelling. We were penniless and hungry for most of my youth. I washed the sheets in the bathtub in my bedroom and hung them out of the window on the clothes line, which in winter was difficult as the sheets would freeze and get stuck to the line.

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.

When I got outta High School I was driving a truck. I was just a poor boy from Memphis, Memphis.

In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. There were days I had only one meal... I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day. Didn't have power, didn't have generators, studied with lanterns, but I never despaired.

Get off your bottom and be the stand, and do the work you can to pursue the American Dream for yourself, and help others to do the same.

I see a New York where there is no barrier to the God-given potential of every New Yorker. I see a New York where everyone who wants a good job can find one. I see a New York where the people can believe in a grounded government again.

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.

I was lucky to come from a difficult area. It teaches you not just about football but also life. There were lots of kids from different races and poor families. People had to struggle to get through the day.

The American dream is more about opportunity than anything else.

I grew up in the projects in Brooklyn, and I consider myself lucky and blessed to be where I am - just working.

It wasn't poverty that drove me on.

By indignities men come to dignities.

We were very poor and my family lost everything during the war - our home and our identity. But I'm a believer in luck and think the social conditions you're born into provide the opportunity for you to prove your luck. And I suppose I've been lucky.

I experienced firsthand what it means to be poor, what it means to go hungry, and that, I think, may be the reason, the root cause of why I'm able to work so hard, even these days.