Jill Lepore Quotes

Because my parents, growing up, they worked hard. Everyone in my family woke up early in the morning. I used to see my mother and my father go off to work, and come back and, no matter what, they had time for the kids.

With my dad, when I was growing up I saw the amount of work that he put in.

Dad worked in a warehouse when I was little and I didn't see him for three years as he was doing all the overtime God gave him to buy me new ballet shoes, or a new tutu.

I have three children, each of whom is having an idyllic childhood, probably because I have been at the office the entire time.

I was working on the farm to get in shape, about a mile away from my parents. You know, I did everything as a kid to stay in shape - jogging, work on the farm, driving the tractor. I'll never forget.

When you grow up around it, I just watched my father work really hard. He wasn't around as much as I would have liked. And when I grew up, I understood why.

My parents spent 16 years hauling my butt to L.A. for audition after audition. I remember always hoping I could help take care of them because they took such good care of me.

I had an amazing childhood, lots of love. But my dad worked his tail off, getting up at 4 in the morning and going off at 5, 6 o'clock, yet he always had time to spend with his kids and his wife.

I love to work. When I was a kid, I would invite my friends over to play, then I would take them over to a recycling plant and we would haul glass all day. They hated me for this, but I thought it was fun.

I was always impressed by how much my dad went out in the yard and played with me and my siblings when we were kids. I'm sure he was tired coming back from work, since he traveled a lot. But he always took time out of his day to go out in the yard.

My mother worked full-time running a foundation, but she found all the time in the world to have supper ready every night, feed us shirred eggs on the weekends, and produce a leg of lamb for my fourth-grade Bedouin feast at school.

My father was and is a great father. My father always wanted to do stand-up. He wanted to be an actor. But instead he did two jobs. He did customer service at a hospital and he worked as a waiter at night. He pretty much sacrificed everything for his daughters.

Growing up, my dad and my mom were there for my sister and I.

In my early teens, I was a janitor. In high school, I got up early to deliver to accounts that required early service.

I want my kids to understand that hard work is essential and that I wouldn't have them do anything that I wouldn't do with them.

My dad used to take me to training in bangers, and we used to push the car. He would do whatever it would take, so I owe my family.

All the sacrifices my mom and family had made had been worth it.

My parents kept me close to them. I even slept in the same room with them throughout my younger years.

My grandmother and my mother raised me, but my dad made a conscious effort to be in my life - every weekend he would take me out.

My folks, I don't think my mom or my dad ever missed a little league game or a football game.

There was years when my father didn't even make a hundred grand - or barely made a hundred grand - and sure, we had a maid, but she only came twice a week. What do you think happened the other five days? You think those dishes washed themselves? You think those clothes got themselves in the hamper?

I owe so much to my dad and what he has done for me. And it's hard work doing what he has done, so he's entitled to a break.

My parents gave everything. They sacrificed, they went to work. Sometimes they worked 24 hours, so they called friends to help us. They did everything for me to become a football player.

My mom's parents were farmers, so every summer, my sisters and I would help out, hauling pipe and pulling maggots off the corn. We hated it, but it taught me the meaning of good hard work.

There wasn't a favorite team or player in the Betts household. I played baseball, day in, day out, and learned the game my own way alongside my parents - Willie and Diana.