essay on poverty is not hindrance to success

• Dec 29, 2017

Poverty is not a Hindrance to Success: My Pursuit of Education

Working towards My Goals in Life

My name is Gegerma Montero. I grew up a life of poverty in remote villages in Danao City, Province of Cebu, Philippines. As a child, my only dream was to go to school and finish my studies. My hope was that one day I could wear a black gown for graduation.

After my graduation from elementary school, all of a sudden my family moved to another city. In Cebu the secondary school was very far from where my family lived in, and my father said education can’t feed me. Instead, it was better to help in farming. I had no choice but to help my father at a very younger age, working like an adult. As I was still young and new to the place, I had no other options.

My cousin who worked in the City as a helper asked me if I wanted to be a working student, I was so happy because I never thought I could work and study at the same time. My mother didn’t oppose my ideas, but the hardest thing was to convince my father. I knew my father would say NO, “Schools are for lazy people, and it’s a waste of money,” he said. I insisted and insisted, I became stubborn and told him I could prove to him that I could study with or without his support. I packed up some of my dresses, putting them in a striped plastic bag and left home with my cousin to the Danao City, while my parents watching me leave.

I worked as a helper for a retired teacher who was teaching in college department of Manto Memorial Foundation College. I had many ups and down as I kept on transferring from one employer to another. During the first three years, I worked in the daytime and studied at night. At the fourth year, I transferred to day class as I had good grades. Thank God, my boss, my mother and my sister support me along the way.

On my graduation ceremony, I was the 3rd honorable student mentioned. At the audience, I saw my very proud father.

I later found work at Cebu Mitsumi Inc. because my dream was to have a college diploma. After I started again in College, I worked and studied in reversed schedule. I was in working at night shift from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am and went to school afterwards. My family is my source of inspiration, which motivated me to work hard. I knew I couldn’t ask from my parents because they also had nothing. I needed to strive by my own, facing any obstacle I met along the way because I wanted to change the lifestyle in the remote villages as it was a hard life. At my last semester, a newly hired production engineer wanted me to shift in day time working schedule. I had no choice but to resign from my work and strive hard to finish my last semester I eventually graduated with an associate degree in Computer Science in 1999.

After graduation, I worked several years in local office as a government employee until 2012, where I was assigned to Department of Education, Danao City Division under my uncle’s supervision. From there I got a chance to leave the office and study housekeeping course until I finished training at a local hotel. Later on, I got a call for a job interview in Manila for Hong Kong, and I grabbed the opportunity to find another job.

Following My Dreams

December 2012 I landed in Hong Kong for the first time, with no idea how my employer looked like. Now I am thankful that although my employer is not perfect, they gave me the opportunity. Up to present, I’m still with them. I normally look after kids, a girl seven years old and a boy almost two years old.

My life in Hong Kong is big difference compared to Philippines. Here I can do everything I want without worrying that someone will report to the boss; here I found a new circle of friends especially in Domestic Workers Empowerment Project at Hong Kong University. I am really thankful to God for everything I have now.

Looking back upon my life, I have worked very hard for my ultimate dream - to have my College Diploma despite many hardships, ups and down, unexplainable mixed feeling that you feel when you received the fruit of your efforts and perseverance. I want the readers to know that poverty is not a hindrance of success. The most important thing is that you have dreams and goals. Knowing what you want and everything will follow step by step.

Last, I believe that education is a lifelong process with no age limit. The best key to success are hardworking and determination. Have Faith and be positive and you will succeed.

Thank you for reading, I know I am not perfect, but I will always try my best. Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2018. My family and I wish you a blissful life.

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After being left with nothing, UP graduate says poverty is a ‘hindrance to success’

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

 He’s not just another rags-to-riches story. 

At 21 years old, Rene Principe graduated from the country’s premier state university with flying colors, but refused to glorify the “extreme poverty” he went through.

Finishing at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman with a degree in Applied Physics is no easy feat. But Principe, who proudly identifies as queer, femme, Kagay-anon, Bisaya, and now an applied physicist, topped it off with a cum laude standing, too.

He was among the 682 cum laude of the 3,778 graduates in UP’s first ever virtual ceremony last Sunday, July 26. 

Principe shared online that the poverty everyone believes inspired him to pursue success is “the same poverty that hinders millions of Filipinos access to quality education.” His social media post on Facebook has gathered around 17,534 shares and 54,200 reactions as of writing.

“I refuse to be labeled as the cream of the crop, because I believe Filipinos should stand beside me in this victory, not behind me. I refuse to accept that attaining a college degree is as hard as passing through the eye of a needle; I believe with all my heart that education is a right, not a privilege,” he said in his post. 

‘Left with nothing’

Principe, who is the son of a security guard and a vegetable and kakanin vendor, had big dreams of becoming an astronaut when he was only 8 years old. But despite his longing to pursue an education without roadblocks, extreme poverty made it difficult to persist.

Growing up, Principe would eat restaurant leftover scraps from strangers for every meal, while his classmates would enjoy fresh food. He relied on a candle lamp as his source of light for studying as a light bulb was a luxury his family could not afford.

Principe said they were “left with nothing” when they lost their home in Compostela Valley to a fire and had to migrate to Cagayan de Oro.

Adding insult to injury, Tropical Storm Sendong destroyed his family’s home in Cagayan de Oro, forcing them to live in a cramped evacuation center where the queue for food was long and the beds uncomfortable.

Even in college, Principe struggled to make ends meet. In an interview with Rappler, he shared that there were times when his scholarship allowance would get delayed by 3 months, forcing him to take part-time tutorial jobs just to be able to pay for his dorm’s rent and required materials for school.

“Minsan binabagtas ko ang EDSA para lang makapunta sa mga tutor sessions ko right after my classes, then make it all the way home to study pa,” he said.

(I would have to traverse through EDSA just to attend to my tutorial sessions right after my classes, then head back home to study.) 

Advocating for ‘Queers in Science’

Despite these challenges, Principe found a passion for science that pushed him to press on. 

Entering the field of Applied Physics in college was initially daunting to Principe, because  “being queer and being a scientist were alien concepts that’s always been unattainable.”

When he was in Cagayan de Oro, he shared that he never had the courage to embrace his Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE). Growing up, he recalled how some would mockingly limit the role of the LGBTQ+ in society to running a parlor.

When he entered college, however, UP became his safe space. He observed how the university promoted a culture of discourse that eventually allowed him to determine his SOGIE.

In UP, he found a community where students were given the liberty to express themselves however they wanted. Never was Principe discriminated on campus. 

But he realized that this is not the case for thousands of other LGBTQ+ all over the Philippines. 

Hoping to address the lack of representation in the science sector, he said, “Only a small percentage of our community dares to go there to begin with…. To be able to have an LGBTQ+ in the pool of great scientists can be motivation for all the kids out there who aspire to be scientists as well.”

Principe expressed that he did not want his success to be limited to a personal victory, but instead hoped that his accomplishments meant that the LGBTQ+ community has always had something to contribute to the field of science.

Victory an exception, not the norm

Despite the crushing blows he faced due to poverty and discrimination while growing up, Principe refuses to romanticize what he went through. 

Having faced the same plight of millions of Filipinos living in poverty, Principe shared that his victory is “an exception but it is not the norm,” because of the real social, political, and economic conditions that aggravate inequality in the Philippines.

Principe will be working as a junior faculty instructor at the National Institute of Physics for the upcoming semester. With his job, he hopes to add representation to the pool of educators.

“ We need to ensure na mas malawak ang sakop at mas makatao ang steps na iiimplement ng ating educators to cater to the most marginalized students ,” he said, noting that remote learning is inherently anti-poor.

(We need to ensure that our educators will take more humane steps to cater to all students, especially those who are marginalized.)

“ Ang kahirapan ay hindi sangkap, kundi isang malaking balakid sa kaunlaran. Isa ito sa pinakamahalagang aral na napulot ko sa unibersidad (Poverty is a huge hindrance to progress. This is one of the most important things I learned in UP) , ” he added.

Principe said that he doesn’t want his experience to be just another inspirational story to share. 

“Let my victory inspire you. but most importantly, let it enrage you,” he said.

He also challenged Filipinos to express their rage over the growing divide between the rich and the poor. 

“Let the inaccessibility of our health care enrage you. Let the expensiveness of education enrage you. Let the worklessness and contractualization enrage you. [This] is valid because it is rooted [in] empathy towards the oppressed and the underprivileged,” Principe stressed. – Rappler.com

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• Case Studies

Being poor should not be an obstacle to my dreams

15 JANUARY 2018

Érika is the brightest girl in her school. She’s even waiting to hear whether she’s been offered a scholarship to study abroad. More than anyone, Érika knows that for girls to fulfil their dreams, governments must support and fund access to quality education.

If Érika doesn’t have 50 cents, she can’t ride on the back of the pickup truck that drives to her school. When her pockets are empty, she has to run downhill for an hour, with a school bag full of books on her back.

Érika says she doesn’t get tired because it has made her a great athlete and she only slows down on the harder days, when she has not been able to eat well either.

Despite her situation, the 17 year old indigenous girl is the brightest student in her entire school. She says that often she stays up late to do her homework and is only able to sleep for an hour before getting up at 5 am to help her mother make breakfast for the family or take the animals out.

“I had to stay up so late doing homework because they gave us so much and since I do not have a computer I have to do all the essays, which are more than 10 pages, by hand,” she says.

Quest for success despite poverty

Érika is elated, even when recounting all the difficulties she has faced in her quest for success, because she was recently invited to apply to a grants scholarships for bright students to study abroad, in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom.

With an education we will go further and we will be able to escape this poverty in which we live.

These 2 countries are very far from her home of Chimborazo, an Ecuadorian province where the population is mostly indigenous and 66.5% of its inhabitants live in poverty.

“My father, who has 4 daughters, is always asked why he invests money in our education. He is told that we should be married and be good wives,” says Érika, who dreams of becoming a cardiologist or a neurosurgeon.

According to Érika, as a poor indigenous girl, everyone in her community assumed that the best way out for her was marriage.

“Fortunately, my parents have always believed that with an education, we will go further, and we will be able to escape this poverty in which we live.”

Funding education transforms lives

Érika’s potential has been noted before. After verifying her excellent academic record, Plan International granted her one of nearly 3,000 scholarships that go to children and adolescents all over Ecuador. This allowed her family to buy school supplies, a uniform, and pay for her transportation to school.

Two years ago, Érika’s dedication to her studies and her country, led her to become a member of the Youth Advisory Council of Plan International Ecuador, something that for Érika is, in her words:

“A real honour because it allows me to give back to the organisation a little bit of what it has given me. And with my experience of the realities faced by the children and adolescents of Ecuador, I can do my bit to change their lives.”

Girls can change the world

Érika says the commitment she has to her community is so strong that she will always be there to help.

“You have to think about others and not just yourself. With a united group, you can find more solutions,” she says with conviction.

She’s still waiting to hear the results of the scholarships she has applied for both nationally and internationally, but Érika is smiling and hopeful. She has fought hard to open the doors to a better future.

“Being a girl, poor and indigenous should not be an obstacle to achieving your dreams. I have to do this!”

Education, child marriage, Financial literacy

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Life Amidst Poverty

I have lived in poverty both as a child and as an adult, and I can say with full confidence that it is a life-crushing force. I hated it. “Poverty” is also one of the most misunderstood labels that gets slapped onto individuals without their approval—cast upon them simultaneously by both unseen and more visible forces of society.

Poverty is a word loaded with preconceived notions, common misperceptions, and seemingly innocuous assumptions. What the word does not do is delve below its surface meaning, into the reality of poverty—a world that no one wants to live in.

Poverty is exhausting. Poverty is despair and desperation-inducing. Poverty is soul, dream and hope crushing. Poverty is like being enclosed in a prison cell with no doors or windows. It feels claustrophobic, as if there is no way out. Only the most resilient do not give up. Still, there is no guarantee that life will get better—and those in poverty know this all too well. They either become hardened or submit to fate. You don’t live life, you don’t thrive—you survive. You wonder if you are predestined, like a caste in another country, to live out a life destitute of fulfillment—whether financial, professional or just having a better life.

These are the very thoughts that consumed me in times of poverty. And yet, I never stopped believing that there must be a way out. The “how” and the “why” of my situation—resounding questions that were never sated—eventually fell by the wayside as I pushed towards hope. The very thing that brought despair and darkness motivated me to dig out of that prison, to fight with everything within me, to find that light that must exist outside of the walls.

In America, there is this prevalent belief that if someone just pulls herself up by her bootstraps, she can succeed. And yet, as I have learned, it is entirely possible to work your ass off and still struggle . Whether I had boots or not, whether I was barefoot, in heels, what I really learned is that resources and access to them —a network of support, and awareness of available choices—are the most influential factors in the “making it or breaking it” of life in the US. So much of this became clear to me only later—when I had the opportunity to see outside of the tiny, claustrophobic room that I had been in for years.

Living in poverty need not be a death sentence. I decided when I was 5 years old that I wanted to secure a bachelor’s degree before I was married (which I did). Throughout my childhood, I had a voracious appetite for knowledge: I was constantly hungry to learn more. In high school, I decided that upon graduation I would leave the state and my family to start a new life for myself, even though it was extremely hard and I worked three jobs at one point. In college, I knew that I wanted to live and work overseas, to expand my perspective and learn more about the world. And when life challenges blindsided me as an adult (now with two degrees under my belt), I continued to learn what my options were, what resources were available to me, and to fight hard to provide the best opportunities that I can for my own children, so that they may never see themselves as “living in poverty” or not having a shot at a better life.

Enduring poverty is not the end of hope or life. The key things needed to break down the walls that imprison those within poverty are: outside influences, support networks such as friends or family, awareness of other opportunities, and access to resources.

With this combination, a new life is possible.

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Restoring Hope to Baltimore Requires Making College Affordable

“I’ve always wanted to go to college. I’ve wanted to be an orthodontist since I was seven,” said 16-year-old Kayla, not realizing that because she grew up in West Baltimore the odds of her dreams coming true were very slim.

There’s a long shadow cast over Baltimore’s children. Like young people across America, they know that the ability to get a good-paying job depends on college. As teens, many of them finish high school, fill out college applications, and complete financial aid forms.  But then they find out the truth: college is unaffordable.

There is a lot of talk about elite universities offering “no loans” promises and sending letters to low-income families across the country urging their children to apply.  But that effort is relevant to a tiny few. Most people who attend college go to institutions that are far from free.

Despite massive public investment in financial aid, students from families like Kayla’s who earn less than $20,000 a year are now required to pay at least $8,000 for a year of community college and more than $12,000 a year at a public university. That “net price” is what researchers like me have found to be the real bill that students and their families face after all grants (including the federal Pell and state and institutional grants) are subtracted from the sticker price of attending college. This price has gone up substantially over time, particularly since the Great Recession.  It’s climbed as real family income for most has fallen. Worse, it may well be under-stated .

College education is central to the American Dream. But the ladder people must climb to get there has eroded, and a critical rung fell off.  After a semester or two, even the most talented students from the bottom half of the income distribution find that the price of college is more than they can afford.  They have enough money to register for classes, but they cannot pay the bills long enough to graduate .  

The young people of Baltimore know this.  Researchers tracked a set of the city’s children beginning in 1982 , when the kids were in 1 st grade.  A decade and a half later, almost two-thirds enrolled in college. But by age 28, just 17 percent had earned an associates or bachelor’s degree, with another 13 percent earning a certificate.  Nearly half who grew up poor, ended up poor, especially if they were black.

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Researchers like Stefanie DeLuca, who met Kayla while doing research on young people from Baltimore’s highest poverty neighborhoods, confirm that a strong work ethic is omnipresent there. But enrolling in college exacerbates their poverty: working two or three jobs while also taking on federal and private loans takes a heavy toll. Growing numbers of undergraduates find themselves living without sufficient food or adequate housing even as they try and focus on school.

When college is unaffordable, hope is lost.  Without degrees, young people are returning to the streets with debt, disillusioned and fearful for their futures.

Today colleges and state governments set most college prices. They are failing at this job. The opportunity to get a college education is distributed in highly inequitable ways.  Rather than promoting mobility, the broken college financing system is ensuring that economic and racial inequality gets passed down – and worsened – from one generation to the next.  Americans deserve better.

Last year, Republican Governor Bill Haslam began to restore hope in Tennessee by offering tuition-free community college.  The predecessor to the Tennessee Promise, Knox Achieves, is proving effective at helping young people who would have otherwise never experienced even a 13 th year of education earn college credits.  Helping those students complete a 14 th year, and attain a credential, may require more investment, along the lines of America’s College Promise proposed by President Barack Obama.

The initiatives of Haslam and Obama were preceded by wisdom and a smart initiative in New York. In 1969, large numbers of African Americans and Puerto Ricans demanded that the City University of New York become a place that they could enter to pursue better lives.  University administrators responded by instituting an open admissions policy to complement a very low price.  An evaluation conducted over the next 30 years revealed that while the new policy did not wipe out disadvantages due to race or class (or high school academic record), it more than doubled the proportion of black women who would attain degrees. That finding is consistent with more recent studies that raise sharp questions about the contention that “college isn’t for everyone.”

National leaders need to provide hope to young adults in Baltimore and cities like it.  Federal policy must change. Simply providing financial aid isn’t getting the job done, as it requires too little from those who establish college costs.  Instead, we need a national conversation about what it means to provide a high-quality 13 th and 14 th year of public education to everyone, and then we need to pay for it. New taxes are an option – but we can also simply stop spending where investments aren’t pay off. Ending subsidies to for-profit universities is a good place to start.

There is much to do to provide hope, dignity, and a chance at a better life to America’s poor urban youth. Part of the solution must include making college affordable.

• Analysis Free college plan will help, not hurt, low-income students
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To Combat For-Profit Schools, Provide Free Community College

Although it is widely documented that for-profit colleges routinely prey on low-income students , these schools have proven adept at beating back regulations that would curb their abuses. To decrease the attractiveness of for-profit schools, and their power to exploit students with low incomes, progressives should rally around President Obama’s proposal to provide free community college .

Over the last few years, for-profit colleges have come under fire from the Senate HELP committee, several federal agencies, and 37 state attorneys, with good reason . The for-profit education business model provides no incentive for schools to produce successful, educated college graduates. As a result, over half of the students who attend these schools fail to obtain a degree and struggle with mounting student loan debt. Those students fortunate enough to graduate have a hard time securing employment, as employers increasingly turn away candidates with degrees from for-profit schools.

For-profit colleges use a variety of unethical and sometimes illegal practices to persuade students to attend their schools. Some schools get leads on potential students through fake job postings on websites like craigslist or monster.com. Recent reports show a few top for-profit colleges utilize fake online health insurance and food stamp applications to collect information on potential students. Individuals who fall victim to phishing schemes like these are subsequently harassed with calls from for-profit schools until they speak with admissions representatives. Students report being called up to twenty times in a single morning, or as late as 11 p.m. When students finally succumb to the pressure and speak with a representative, they are subjected to recruitment tactics that are far more abusive.

  An example of training materials for recruiters at a for-profit college

Admissions representatives at several large for-profit schools say management promotes a variety of exploitative practices to secure enrollment. These tactics include asking callers— many of whom are low-income or people of color— to imagine what they will buy when they make six-figures, or how their family will feel when they no longer rely on a minimum wage job. Many representatives go as far as telling callers how worthless they are with just a high school diploma. Many students who were actively recruited in this manner were unable to afford—or clearly incapable of completing—the program. Some students even struggled with a range of disabilities such as brain damage and learning disorders . In one particularly high profile case , a Corporal for the U.S. Marines was enrolled at a large for-profit college, but was so severely impaired by a traumatic brain injury that he could not remember what classes he was taking.

Students who enroll as a result of this kind of manipulation often sign themselves into financial ruin. However, as long as the students attend classes, the school turns a profit. The entire business model of for-profit schools relies on cheating victims out of their dollars and dreams, which ultimately increases their reliance on safety net programs.

In contrast, community college provides crucial alternatives for those most frequently victimized by for-profit schools—people with low-incomes and people of color. Students with low-incomes are disproportionately affected by social factors (financial instability, health issues, transportation issues) that discourage investing financial resources in brick-and-mortar schools, in deference to online education. For-profit schools take advantage of this instability, promising increased upward mobility coupled with the flexibility of online schooling. As a result, low-income students enroll in for-profit schools at nearly four times the rate of other students.

  An example of student “profiles” targeted by recruiters at a for-profit college

By providing low-income students with the opportunity to attend community college at no cost, President Obama’s plan virtually eliminates the consumer base of these profit-seeking colleges, ending their large-scale fraud. Under President Obama’s plan , students receive full tuition funding if they are enrolled at least half-time at community college and are earning above a 2.5 GPA. The proposal is also beneficial because it permits students to receive Pell grants while they are at community college; this policy would help families afford living expenses while the primary caretaker focuses on school.

Obama’s initiative encourages low-income, at-risk students to consider local community colleges before for-profit schools, thereby increasing their potential economic mobility and financial wellbeing. Current estimates suggest that as many as 9 million students would benefit from the initiative.

While Obama’s proposal is not a blank check, it provides much more flexibility for students with low-incomes. More importantly, the plan could prevent millions of our country’s most disadvantaged people from enrolling in schools that prove far better at exploiting students than educating them.

• Analysis Appalachian Schools are Helping Isolated Students Go to College. Here's How.
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New York City Limits the Use of Credit Checks in Hiring

One of the recurring—and troubling—themes of TalkPoverty posts has been the overwhelming number of misguided policies that kick people while they’re down: from asset limits that tell poor people not to save, to employers’ use of criminal records that make it hard for people to find a job even decades after an infraction.

In a rare moment of good news, New York City has decided to remove one of these barriers by limiting the use of credit checks for employment screening . Last month, the City Council voted overwhelmingly to pass the strongest measure in the country on this issue, joining ten states . This measure, which Mayor DeBlasio is expected to sign on Wednesday, is a major step forward to rein in a practice that does little for employers while filtering out good employees who run into financial trouble.

Nearly half of employers check credit histories for at least some positions, according to the Society for Human Resource Management . This means that before receiving a job offer, the employer has the ability to comb through your financial history to see if you’ve paid your bills on time, and can choose not to offer you a job if you haven’t. Of course, if you’re having trouble paying your bills—because of a job loss, an illness, an irregular work schedule, or other risks that working families face—being turned down for a job isn’t going to make it easier to pay your bills or improve your credit. And so the cycle continues.

Meanwhile, credit reporting itself has its limitations. Roughly one in five credit reports contains errors , according to an analysis by the Federal Trade Commission. And the information in credit reports only reflects part of a family’s financial situation—the part that tends to reflect better on upper-income folks. Mortgage payments count toward a positive credit history—very significantly—but on-time rent payments don’t. And when low-income families pay their regular bills on time—such as rent and utilities—this positive information generally doesn’t go on credit reports, even though negative information such as late payments, nonpayments, and collections ultimately does get reported. So even when families are trying hard to pay bills on time, these bills don’t count in the same way credit cards and loan payments do.

That’s slowly starting to change. There are efforts underway to improve credit reporting to more accurately reflect credit risk and help more deserving borrowers get affordable loans, including a recent pilot where thousands of low-income families living in affordable housing were able to have their rental payments applied to their credit reports and scores. But in the meantime, families are needlessly hurt by a system that misuses financial information to make hiring decisions that hurt those who are already struggling.

To be sure, New York City’s law does have some exceptions for jobs in government, law enforcement, certain finance and tech jobs, and jobs where the employee is in charge of major financial decisions. For these jobs, one can argue that the fears of theft cited when credit screening tools are pitched to companies are more legitimate. (When I worked at the Treasury Department, for example, a credit check was required.) But the City’s new law goes well beyond other states where, for example, handling a certain amount of cash could be considered an exception. And it comes close to two bills introduced in the last Congress: one bill by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) limiting credit checks to jobs requiring a security clearance, and a bill by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) with added exemptions for some government and banking jobs.

The federal government has been catching on as well. Last fall, the US Department of Labor issued new guidance warning employers that the use of credit reports may be discriminatory. Policies designed to screen for people working in high-level positions shouldn’t apply to most jobs, never mind that even Bernie Madoff probably had a stellar credit history for most of his career.

We should follow New York’s example to keep credit reports where they belong—in the financial marketplace—and not as another barrier to hold people back from jobs and financial security because of past decisions or financial distress.

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Temporary Assistance Doesn’t Help Impoverished Married Parents

Marital poverty is a serious, widespread, but mostly unacknowledged problem in the United States. Just over 9.3 million people in married-parent families live below our extremely low official poverty line . Another 6 million people live between the official poverty threshold and 130 percent of the poverty line, which is the income limit for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and only about $26,000 for a married couple with one child.

Despite these staggering numbers, there is widespread denial of the reality of marital poverty. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has gone so far to claim that being “married with kids versus unmarried with kids is the difference between living in poverty and not.” It appears he is unaware there are more married parents living in poverty in his state than never married parents living in poverty.

We know from a vast body of research that poverty and related financial stressors are risk factors for marital conflict, domestic violence, and divorce. And notable recent research by Laura Tach and Kathryn Edin found that economic factors are a more important predictor of dissolution for married parents than for cohabiting ones.

The Temporary Assistance (TANF) program should be playing a central role in helping married families overcome the kinds of economic hardship and other factors that contribute to the high divorce rate among working class families . Under the Temporary Assistance program, states receive funds to provide means-tested, re-employment assistance and other services to struggling unemployed and underemployed parents with low incomes. One of the four purposes of Temporary Assistance is to “encourage the maintenance of two-parent families.”

Despite this mandate, Temporary Assistance is failing struggling, married families. The extent of TANF’s failure is shown in the chart below. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of married parents living in poverty increased 39 percent, but the already extremely low number of married parents being helped by TANF plummeted by 54 percent . In the majority of states today, fewer than 1000 married parents receive Temporary Assistance. In Louisiana, for example, over 50,000 married parents live in poverty, but only about 50 of them receive Temporary Assistance.

Where Temporary Assistance has failed, other better-designed programs have stepped up. In 2014, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) helped 5.2 million low-income children who lived with both of their married parents, and another 1.2 million children who lived with both of their unmarried parents. Unlike Temporary Assistance, SNAP actually responded to the increase in married-parent unemployment and hardship during the Great Recession. Similarly, early evidence suggests that the Affordable Care Act—including Medicaid expansion and the Premium Tax Credit—has increased health insurance coverage among working-class married families.

How can we fix Temporary Assistance so that it doesn’t effectively exclude millions of struggling, married parents from getting the temporary financial help – as well as employment and other services – that could make the difference between staying together and splitting up?

The first and arguably most important step is to acknowledge the extent of the problem of marital poverty and hardship in the United States, and the destructive impact it has on family life.

Then we need to look at models for reforming Temporary Assistance. Most notably, the original version of the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP) that was evaluated in the mid-1990s reduced divorce among participating disadvantaged, two-parent families. The reductions in divorce were particularly large—70 percent—among black married couples. In addition, both MFIP and Milwaukee’s New Hope Project increased rates of marriage among disadvantaged single mothers.

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These progressive demonstration projects ensured that low-income married- and cohabiting-couple families had an adequate income to support themselves while searching for work or addressing issues that limited their work capacity, including through transitional jobs, re-employment, and other services. Unlike the current Temporary Assistance program, these programs did not utilize unreasonably restrictive participation rates or harshly punitive measures that are mostly aimed at reducing the number of people who receive help; instead, these programs emphasized helping parents obtain and maintain stable employment, while meeting their basic needs.

Unfortunately, the current financial structure of Temporary Assistance and the federal law that governs it makes operating rigorously tested programs like the original MFIP or New Hope all but impossible for states. Fixing this should be at the top of the list of reforms that would help struggling, two-parent families. At the very least, the federal government should establish a national Temporary Assistance demonstration project for married and unmarried two-parent families based on the original MFIP program and New Hope. Of course, some policymakers would prefer to just talk about family values, but even in today’s polarized political environment it should be possible to move forward on a concrete initiative like this one that actually values working-class families by helping them stay together.

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Poverty Is a Choice

Extreme poverty has declined, but the line is very low.

We live in what often feels like a biblically terrible time, marked by mass extinctions, deep recessions, epidemics, climate emergencies, inequality, and forever wars. But one thing, at least, has gotten better. More than 1 billion people have escaped extreme poverty—so many, so fast, that the world might be able to declare, within a decade, the end of this most miserable form of deprivation. “The global poverty rate is now lower than it has ever been in recorded history,” Jim Yong Kim, a former president of the World Bank, recently argued . “This is one of the greatest human achievements of our time.”

Or perhaps not. In an acidic rebuke to world leaders, the outgoing United Nations special rapporteur on poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, argues that the effort to end global poverty has failed. More people live in deprivation now than two decades ago. “We squandered a decade in the fight against poverty, with misplaced triumphalism blocking the very reforms that could have prevented the worst impacts of the pandemic,” Alston wrote in his last report .

So who’s right: Alston or Kim? The pessimistic argument is a hard one to make when looking at the raw, headline numbers. The global extreme-poverty rate fell from 36 percent in 1990 to 10 percent in 2015; the number of poor people dropped from 2 billion to 700 million. But Alston believes that by focusing only on those numbers, the world is deluding itself.

Read: A moral case for giving people money

The divisions between the World Bank’s economists and the UN’s special rapporteur are in some sense technical, about where to set the poverty line. They are in a more important sense interpretive, about whether progress has been fast or slow, and whether today’s global poverty counts are laudable or tragic.

This is a realm of yes-and s and no-but s, not direct refutations. Extreme poverty has declined rapidly, but the extreme-poverty line is very low: A person living below it spends no more than $1.90 a day, enough in many poor countries to cover some starch, a few fruits and vegetables, some cooking oil, a bit of protein, and that’s about it—with nothing left over for utilities, education, health care, transportation, or investment in wealth-generating assets, such as a cow or a motorbike. That poverty threshold represents “a staggeringly low standard of living, well below any reasonable conception of a life with dignity,” Alston argues—it is a catastrophic-destitution measure, not a poverty measure. He emphasizes the lack of progress made at the $3.20-a-day and $5.50-a-day poverty lines, too. Half the world lives on less than the latter figure.

Alston takes issue with the fact that the World Bank’s extreme-poverty line is an absolute measure, not a relative one: It sets a line and sees how many people cross it, country by country, rather than pegging the poverty threshold to median income, country by country. But “relative poverty is what really counts these days,” Alston told me, as it captures social exclusion, and the way that living on a few dollars a day is more challenging in middle-income countries like India and Kenya than in low-income countries like Afghanistan and Chad. “In a poorer country,” the bank itself explains , “participating in the job market may require only clothing and food, whereas someone in a richer society may also need access to the internet, transportation, and a cell phone.”

The bank also acknowledges that the global extreme-poverty line is low. It has generated a measure that includes relative poverty, and produces counts at the $3.20-a-day and $5.50-a-day lines. Its economists, researchers, and program experts stress that rising above the extreme-poverty line is no guarantee against malnutrition, stunted growth, early death, or any of the other horrible consequences of destitution.

But Alston’s most controversial, and most important, argument is that the focus on progress measured against the $1.90-a-day line—the prevalence of “everything’s getting better” arguments, made by Davos types like Bill Gates and Steven Pinker —has hampered progress toward true poverty eradication, and toward civil rights, social inclusion, and a basic standard of living for all. “By being able to rely so heavily on the World Bank's flagship figure, they can say, ‘Look, progress has been consistent. We’ve been doing great,’” Alston told me. “The implication of that is that the triumph of neoliberalism has brought with it very significant benefits for poor people. In reality, that’s just not the case.”

Read: How many people in the world are actually poor?

What if world leaders and multilateral institutions focused on the $5.50 line, or measures of poverty that capture social exclusion and relative deprivation? What if the headline story were that half the world still qualifies as desperately poor, and poverty head counts remain stubbornly high in dozens of countries? What if the story were not that we are succeeding, but that we are failing?

That story would not capture all the good that has happened in terms of infant-mortality rates falling, school-enrollment numbers rising, and malnutrition fading. But it would hold the world accountable for the fact that poverty is, always and everywhere, a choice. Alston’s view, and a necessary one, is that the world cannot wait for economic expansion to lift people above the poverty line. It cannot count on trade compacts and infrastructure projects and the ticking of GDP growth rates from 2.3 to 3.2 percent to do it. It needs direct interventions by governments, as fast as possible, to eliminate inequality and build safety nets, even in the poorest places.

A business journal from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

Why the Fight against Poverty Is Failing: A Contrarian View

October 31, 2006 • 20 min read.

Abraham George is the founder of The George Foundation, an NGO engaged in humanitarian work in India, and the author of India Untouched: The Forgotten Face of Rural Poverty. In this contrarian essay, he explores why the current strategies that governments and development agencies are employing to reduce poverty are not working the way they should. Among his arguments: Microcredit programs, as they are now practiced in India, do little to help the poor.

• Public Policy

By the World Bank’s broad definition of poverty ($2.00 or less a day per person), there are more poor people in the world today than a quarter century ago. Nearly half the world’s population, over three billion people, lives in poverty. In India alone, two-thirds of its one billion-plus population is poor. Yet, the strategy for alleviating poverty across practically every developing nation has remained essentially the same for the past several decades.

There is plenty of talk about ways to increase income, reduce illiteracy and ill-health, and empower women. The increased attention given to these issues and pledges of additional financial assistance by world leaders are not matched by new and effective national initiatives that can significantly reduce poverty. So far, none of the poor countries has been able to achieve any of its key developmental targets. The emphasis is still on more funding for programs that have been in existence for many years. Yet these programs have had only marginal effect, and have not kept up with population increases.

My personal experience on developmental projects is confined to India, but the broader lessons learned there are applicable to most developing countries. What follows explains what I consider are misconceptions in the current approaches, and how the attack on global poverty can be far more successful.

International Development Assistance Hasn’t Worked

The UN Millennium project argues that it is the poverty trap of poor health, poor education and poor infrastructure reinforcing each other rather than bad planning, corruption, and ineffective execution that is hindering development of poor countries. The idea is that underdeveloped nations can be saved through more outside assistance and by expanding existing programs that are run mostly by governments. Those who support this notion want the World Bank and other international agencies and donors to make increased contributions to supplement domestic government resources. But there is very little evidence that foreign assistance has made much difference in overcoming the poverty trap in any country.

As a consequence of the financial assistance received from international agencies, national governments rely on strategies developed by planners at organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations. There is no shortage of ideas, enthusiasm, and expectations at the planning level, but what is lacking is good execution.

Planners have no responsibility for ensuring that funded projects meet their goals in the field. Other than requiring periodic written reports and demonstration of individual cases where success has been prearranged, there is little feedback or accountability.  Beneficiaries are not in a position to let their views be known, nor do they understand what is expected in the longer run.

Misuse of Funds

Governments, international agencies and donors have spent billions of dollars to address poverty. For example, in rural India, the government spends significant funds on subsidies (for electricity, fertilizer, fuels, etc.), food rations, price supports, land allocation/distribution, job training and financial assistance for initiatives in agriculture and small businesses. Loans from the World Bank and other international agencies and bilateral aid supplement domestic government resources. But who has benefited from all these programs and assistance?

The beneficiaries are usually corrupt officials who manage and distribute funds, and landlords and powerbrokers who directly or indirectly extract benefits for themselves. In India, over 90% of the agricultural land is owned and partly cultivated by less than 10% of the rural population who are termed farmers; others are mostly laborers. Governments allocate land to the poor, but they are unable to utilize it because of limited water resources, bad soil conditions, and/or the inability to secure credit. Larger subsidies benefit bigger farmers, but the poor do not gain much directly from any government programs.

The presumption that with more money, corrupt and inefficient governments and bureaucratic institutions will utilize funds efficiently and improve the deplorable conditions of the poor is an illusion. There are too many impediments to poverty reduction: bribery, political influence in the allocation of land and/or credit, diffused focus and priorities, poor execution, a shortage of rural infrastructure, and social inequality, among other factors. Supporters of the “more money” approach should be reminded of what the late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi once admitted: Less than 15 cents of each dollar in assistance intended for the poor finally gets to them. That is not to say that assistance should not be increased. But the real focus should be on ensuring that the allocated resources reach the poor.

Corruption and misallocation of development funds are ultimately the result of failed governance. Why bad governance? Unethical and illegal practices flourish in countries without free and independent press to investigate wrongful practices. Where the press is not sufficiently strong, there is little chance of preventing the “opportunistic behavior” of individuals, businesses and officials. Corruption can be reduced by assuring press freedom and strengthening private social institutions (such as advocacy groups) that stay independent. (Surprisingly, a democracy like India does not permit private radio stations to broadcast daily news!)

If citizens cannot rely on an impartial judicial system, there is little hope for a just and fair society. Societies that do not protect property and persone from predators cannot expect to create sufficient wealth for everyone. It is the erosion of press independence and the weakness of legal system that are most troubling.

The Limited Role of NGOs

There are several participants in the developmental arena: national and foreign governments, international agencies, private companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The role of NGOs has gained attention in recent years as they focus on micro-issues and provide grass-roots assistance. Many have taken up projects to improve the quality of education and healthcare, while focusing on specific critical areas such as HIV/AIDS, illiteracy and women’s empowerment.

NGOs have been advocates for the poor, pointing out issues of concern and presenting ideas for improvement, often figuring out how to press through the corrupt and self-serving regulations faced by their beneficiaries. Several are involved in income generation activities, offering microcredit or assisting with water resource management and use of indigenous technology. Some private companies have formed NGOs to attract grants from their governments and international agencies. These efforts usually complement those of governments in the implementation process.

Despite positive contributions, NGOs have not been involved in major developmental undertakings intended to create large employment and wide income generation through sustainable businesses. This is attributable to their lacking good managerial skills and organizational structure to take up business ventures. Further, donor funds are usually restricted to narrowly defined projects. Consequently, the role that NGOs are best suited to play is in support of projects funded by governments and international agencies, or those limited initiatives approved by private donors.

Unfortunately, those NGOs that actually carry out developmental work in the field are stuck within programs specified by planners in developmental agencies and donor institutions. New ideas that deviate from those already specified by planners seldom qualify for any funding. Thus, project proposals are prepared to reflect the requirements set by these planners in terms of methodology and outcomes. There is little initiative from the ground up, and no real feedback. Demonstrating compliance on paper ends up more important than actually getting the job done effectively. As a result, recipients of developmental funds spend significant time preparing reports for the planners to qualify for continued funding, and less time worrying about what benefits the poor.

Microfinance Is Not a Panacea

The expression “social entrepreneurship” was coined to reflect corporate benevolence toward the poor. Muhammad Yunus, who founded the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1976, intended exactly that when he started giving poor people credit and assisting them in their local business ventures. Subsequently, many NGOs around the world started offering small loans to women who could otherwise not obtain credit from commercial banks. As different microcredit programs sprang up in poor countries, governments, international agencies and private donors joined in with necessary capital. Several experts in these institutions termed microcredit a revolutionary concept, and there is growing belief among many that it might be the way to solve poverty.

Today, some for-profit funds and supposedly not-for-profit organizations market microcredit lending in developing countries, and even offer advertised returns on investment. One such microcredit intermediary in India recently publicized that it has been charging 36% interest until recently, when it dropped the rate to 26% for some borrowers by making the lending process more efficient. After all, it argued, credit card companies charge as high as 28% interest for credit-risk customers.

The assumption is that poor people can be rescued quickly and easily with a modicum of money. (Microcredit is intended mainly for starting or expanding small businesses run by borrowers.) The claim is that microcredit (loans of around $100) has lifted tens of millions out of poverty in the developing world. However, assertions that more than 90% of the people who receive microcredit are poor, that most of them succeed in businesses started with these loans, and that they repay the loans at 24% annual interest or higher, go unchallenged.

So far, there has not been any outcry on the high rate of interest. The poor do not have any voice in, or understanding of, financial markets. They are happy to get loans to meet personal emergencies (such as expenses toward surgery, marriage or dowry) or to pay off financial obligations to local money lenders who charge even higher rates. Microcredit intermediaries claim that this is social entrepreneurship, and not living on the backs of the poor.

In my personal experience in rural India, I have observed that a small number of people, mostly village leaders and their family members, operate the few shops and businesses. They are the only ones who have the support mechanisms, knowledge, and skills to make a business succeed. A great majority of the poor rural populations do not have the ability or experience to start or run businesses, with or without access to credit. To expect them to succeed in business is unrealistic. They are uneducated and labor for landowners and for the few nearby businesses. At best, they might benefit from the trickle down effect if landlords and small businesses prosper.

The George Foundation is engaged in poverty alleviation projects in rural Tamil Nadu, India, focusing on income generation activities, education, healthcare and community development. The foundation has studied some 17 villages and over 50 microcredit programs in South India. Data show that less than 5% of those receiving micro-loans start any business of their own. One preferred activity is buying and selling sheep, hopefully at a profit equal to the wages foregone. These types of activities are unsustainable in the long run. Consequently, less than 2% continue beyond the first three years, and very f ew succeed in any such “business” with small amounts of money and little or no support, training, or skills.

Microcredit lenders are not concerned about what the borrowers do with their loans. Loans are usually made to individuals, but guaranteed by groups that can demonstrate their capacity to repay. Most borrowers of microcredit repay loans from income received at regular jobs, or from grants provided by governments for self-help programs. Not surprisingly, it is the intermediaries — commercial banks and loan facilitators — that gain the most from the spread between the cost of funds for the intermediaries and the loan interest charged by them. Commercial banks in India, for example, receive funds for microcredit programs from the government-run NABARD bank at 5% to 6%. They then lend at 10% to12% to a microcredit intermediary which, in turn, lends at 24% to 36% to the final borrower.

The assurance of loan repayment makes microcredit popular among lenders, in addition to the high interest charged. Borrowers are motivated to repay loans because of an expectation of future monetary benefits. If one borrows and repays twice (no need to start any business, but maintain good paperwork), then he/she becomes eligible for a grant for $100 or more from a separate government program (each state offers its own variation of this facility). The free money from the government can be used to repay the third micro-loan made to that beneficiary. The government is short the amount of the grant, but the borrower is debt free, and the microcredit middle man is assured of capital and high returns.

Why this round about way to offer free money when there are several direct means to reduce the debt burden of the poor? The answer probably lies in the fact that this form of “hand-out” is invisible within “social entrepreneurships”. Moreover, major financial institutions have become embroiled in this commercial activity. A new breed of educated and well-trained loan sharks, with bank support, is now in the microcredit business in India. Microcredit has become a trendy cure-all. If poverty alleviation were a matter of lending, the world could eradicate poverty easily. It would cost about $300 billion at $100 per person — a small sum in comparison to the trillions of dollars already expended over the past half a century. The present form of microcredit, as practiced in India, results in little or no sustainable development benefit for the poor. 

Importance of Private Sector Participation

In developing countries, the government bears the primary responsibility for delivering basic services for the poor. It has traditionally been the agent for healthcare, education and job training, especially due to the inability of rural populations to pay for basic services. A significant portion of the costs associated with public services will continue to be borne by the state until rural incomes rise and/or until the private sector finds it attractive to be involved in such efforts.

Government-run institutions have, for the most part, failed to offer quality services because they are unable to motivate those who carry out the tasks in the field. Those who can afford to pay for quality services rely on private providers. Even those who work for government go to private clinics for their healthcare needs, and send their children to private schools. Quality will never improve unless service providers have the incentive to serve the poor. Until then, the “haves” have markets to choose from, while the “have-nots” have bureaucrats to dictate to them.

But, lack of affordability should not prohibit private sector participation. With NGOs as project facilitators, opportunities exist for public-private partnership. Private institutions can deliver services at reduced prices, but at a profit, within a competitive and independently monitored system where the costs are subsidized or even fully paid for by the government.

In developing countries there is no serious effort to involve private companies, though most rural areas are, in fact, ideally suited for industries in herbal products , alternate fuels, cement and tile, lumber and pulp, meat, dairy and poultry. These private industries should function in a free market with sufficient checks and balances to ensure that they operate in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. By offering job opportunities in villages, they would alleviate migration to cities for employment.

Financial incentives like low-interest loans and tax breaks, and physical infrastructure improvements will motivate private companies to build factories in rural areas. Elimination of controls on the sale of agricultural products, and assistance in finding new markets will attract many businesses. These measures will in turn improve the demand for produce and boost commodity prices to levels that can financially sustain rural families. Further, international agencies and donors must consider equity participation in companies instead of simply channeling funds through governments or offering grants. They should provide loans at low interest rates directly to local entrepreneurs who can demonstrate an ability to run successful businesses. In short, some of the available developmental funds must be used to support commercial activities in deprived communities. With more economic activity, the poor labor class can gain employment at better wages.

Government’s role ought to be that of a catalyst. There should be no room for bribes. The focus should be to provide incentives for private (and community) participation. When private individuals and institutions find it worthwhile to take risks and invest in economically depressed areas, there will be sustainable development and poverty reduction. As incomes rise, there will be less need for government involvement in the delivery of many services currently provided.

It is not money alone but integrity and ideas that will make the real difference. A noted economist once asked me how I would go about improving the productivity of rural laborers on our farms. Creative thinking was my thought! We have instituted a program of de-worming drugs every six months, and daily iron tablets and protein-rich nutritional supplements prepared from locally available grains and nuts. Our workers wear wide hats protecting them from direct sunlight. These are simple, low cost measures, but they have contributed to a healthier and more productive labor force on our farms. For less than $10 per person a year, we have doubled their productivity!

A New Model for Corporate Philanthropy

Contrary to the recognized activities of NGOs, our foundation has embarked on a path similar to those of private organizations: We build institutions, develop human resources and managerial skills, and undertake major commercial projects — for humanitarian reasons. One project currently underway is a 250-acre banana farm, the second largest in South India. My life-long experience in business, my convictions about free and open markets and the need to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit in the individual have helped me not to rely on donor funds alone. Instead, our foundation has invested in sustainable projects that generate “profits” as well as steady income for the poor.

Our decision to confine business activities to farming results from the fact that the rural adult population in India is generally illiterate and lacks industrial skills. It is farming that gives them opportunities to better their lives; it is what villagers have a natural affinity for; and it is an industry where large numbers can be employed.

With the goal of empowering poor women and elevating their income-generating capacity, The George Foundation set up Baldev Farms, a “learn while you earn” program. The farm uses precision agricultural tools, organic fertilizers and superior technology in drip irrigation to conserve water. Apart from the farm workers’ daily wages, we set a portion of the profits generated from the sale of produce in a savings account to be used at the end of five years for the purchase of one third to one half acre of land for each family. Families will then cultivate their newly purchased land, sharing resources, such as wells and tractors. The foundation will remain a support organization to help address concerns and difficulties, while also offering know-how and access to markets.

Within three years of starting Baldev Farms, more than 150 villagers, mostly women, have found labor and supervisory employment in the field; hundreds of others have benefited indirectly. Most have already come out of poverty, paid off their debt and freed themselves from bonded labor status. As the foundation expands its farming activity in high-value fruits and vegetables, it will soon generate sufficient cash flow to finance other humanitarian initiatives.

Though the final chapter on this program is not yet written, the concept of offering each poor family a piece of the land to cultivate profitable crops is proving to be sound. With the profit sharing plan in place, everyone in our farm is highly motivated, takes initiatives and works hard. It is becoming increasingly clear to us that good management and a dedicated work force are assuring profitability to empower the poor.

Admittedly, our “corporate” approach to philanthropy cannot be replicated by most NGOs. Only private for-profit companies have skill bases and resources to undertake such business ventures. But they must recognize that market opportunities can be tapped only when the purchasing power of consumers rises. Hence, for the foreseeable future, investment in the rural sector ought to be toward production as opposed to selling to the “bottom of the pyramid.” In the longer run, it is competitive markets and involvement of the community in sustainable development projects that will solve poverty.

As long as significant poverty exists around the world, and the disparity between the rich and the poor widens, private companies in developing countries need to make a contribution to solving the problem. A dialogue must begin between and among business leaders on devising rules for business conduct in deprived communities. The model must consider how poor people can be brought into the mainstream of consumers with sufficient purchasing power within a reasonable time period. Those who work must earn enough to be able to come out of poverty. Minimum wages and benefits must be adequate to meet at least basic human needs, and farmers must be able to sell their crops at prices that assure a fair net gain. Economic success and social justice must go hand in hand.

There is serious concern in many circles, and rightly so, about whether the private sector can be trusted to operate fairly in communities that are poor. The fear is that free markets mean exploitation, citing what they call the “Wal-Mart Syndrome” of forcing suppliers, especially those from poor countries, to offer products at prices that leave little gain for workers.

Troubling issues like this one will always exist. But they can be addressed through effective enforcement of laws and regulations concerning minimum wages, worker safety and benefits, non-competitive practices and environmental protection. Private companies must resist the temptation to extract government funds for their business activities in the name of social entrepreneurship. They must recognize that it is in their long-term interest to win the support of the communities where they operate. Repressive local norms in compensation and treatment of labor must be replaced with fair practices that assist the poor in adequately caring for their families. Market forces of supply and demand and competition for gaining a dedicated labor force and loyal consumers are powerful factors in motivating good behavior on the part of corporations.

There are no easy answers. Poverty, in large part, can be solved if the poor gain new skills and if more jobs become available in the rural sector. For some, the solution lies in ownership of a permanent income generating asset: land. The poor need to have the opportunity to own and develop land, and grow profitable crops that can be sold in a competitive market.

More money is not a prerequisite for success; proper use of available funds is. There is no substitute for good planning, effective organization and execution with accountability. Only those who bear financial risk can be expected to perform effectively.

Handouts will not solve poverty; neither will it be solved by grand government projects, or by piecemeal interventions of NGOs. Instead, poverty will be solved with vibrant economic activity driven mostly by the private sector. The hundreds of millions of new jobs that are needed each year will come mainly from corporate business ventures in rural areas. The developmental strategy to address poverty must embrace this reality.

A market-based approach to poverty reduction will result in income and wealth creation, and lay the groundwork for the next generation to avail of a wider range of opportunities with enhanced resources.

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" poverty is not hindrance to success " Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty. Education and poverty A critical review of theory, policy and practice

This report provides a framework to aid examination of the links between poverty and educational attainment in the UK. Although there is widespread agreement that poverty and poor educational outcomes are related, there are competing explanations as to why that should be the case. This report provides a framework, which organizes the research literature around studies that focus on: n the individual (the micro level) n the immediate social context, which might be located in families, communities, schools and peer groups (the meso level), and n social structures (the macro level). These levels are underpinned by two broad perspectives that provide quite different views about the purpose of education. The framework is then used to examine current policy in the area of education and poverty and suggest possible future directions. The report will be of interest to researchers and policymakers in the educational policy field. Rationale

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Nigel Hooley

Child poverty is a well researched issue owing to a number of factors. The link between childhood poverty and adult life outcomes are unequivocal, especially in more deprived societies. Numerous theories exist relating to childhood poverty and adult opportunity. Investment Theory argues that a child’s inability to participate in the purchase of material goods will have a negative influence on their adult life chances to do so. Role Model Theory posits that poverty suffered by a child’s parents and other significant adults in the child’s life convey less desirable cultural norms for the child to aspire to. Parental Stress Theory suggests that poverty causes high levels of stress and less capability in parents which are passed on to children. This paper concentrates on the link between educational achievement and poverty, why the link exists and what is being done about it. Whilst this is an issue that can be considered globally this paper focuses predominantly on the United Kingdom. The author taught in a number of schools within impoverished societies in Greater Manchester and witnessed the effect first hand. This paper will begin by considering the global aspects of defining poverty drawing on Non-Governmental Organisations such as UNESCO, the World Bank and the OECD. The ability to understand how poverty is defined globally is important to the understanding of the main foci that follow in order to consider the question: “What causes the globally recognised educational achievement gap between children in poverty and those from wealthier families, and in the UK why has policy in recent years failed to deliver?” Paper written June 2015 as part of a Masters in Education.

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Policy Futures in Education

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In 2016, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy brought together several academics from across the four jurisdictions of the UK already engaged in work on poverty, education and schooling. The aim of this BERA Commission was to build a network of research-active practitioners across the UK and, internationally, to engage in knowledge building about poverty and multiple factors of deprivation as these find expression in education and schooling. The Commission also aimed to facilitate counter discourses to be voiced and articulated in contrast to the dominant pathologising discourses of poor people and their education. The Commission therefore addressed the question: what can research tell us about the ways that different devolved policy contexts impact on the learning and well-being of young people living in poverty? This article describes the methodology used by the Commission to bring together researchers, policymakers, practit...

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Lack of access to education is a major predictor of passing poverty from one generation to the next, and receiving an education is one of the top ways to achieve financial stability.

In other words: education and poverty are directly linked.

Increasing access to education can equalize communities, improve the overall health and longevity of a society , and help save the planet .

The problem is that about 258 million children and youth are out of school around the world, according to UNESCO data released in 2018. 

Children do not attend school for many reasons — but they all stem from poverty.

Here are all the statistics, facts, and answers to questions you might have that shed light on the connection between poverty and education. 

How does poverty affect education?

Families living in poverty often have to choose between sending their child to school or providing other basic needs. Even if families do not have to pay tuition fees, school comes with the added costs of uniforms, books, supplies, and/or exam fees. 

Countries across sub-Saharan Africa, where the world’s poorest children live, have made a concerted effort to abolish school fees . While the ratio of students completing lower secondary school increased  in the region from 23% in 1990 to 42% in 2014, enrollment is low compared to the 75% global ratio. School remains too expensive for the poorest families. Some children are forced to stay at home doing chores or need to work. In other places, especially in crisis and conflict areas with destroyed infrastructure and limited resources, unaffordable private schools are sometimes the only option .

Why does poverty stop girls from going to school? 

Poverty is the most important factor that determines whether or not a girl can access education, according to the World Bank. If families cannot afford the costs of school, they are more likely to send boys than girls. Around 15 million girls will never get the chance to attend school, compared to 10 million boys. 

Read More: These Are the Top 10 Best and Worst Countries for Education in 2016 

Gender inequality is more prevalent in low-income countries. Women often perform more unpaid work, have fewer assets, are exposed to gender-based violence, and are more likely to be forced into early marriage, all limiting their ability to fully participate in society and benefit from economic growth. 

When girls face barriers to education early on, it is difficult for them to recover. Child marriage is one of the most common reasons a girl might stop going to school. More than 650 million women globally have already married under the age of 18. For families experiencing financial hardship, child marriage reduces their economic burden , but it ends up being more difficult for girls to gain financial independence if they are unable to access a quality education.

Read More: 10 Barriers to Education Around the World

An educated girl is not only likely to increase her personal earning potential but can help reduce poverty in her community, too. 

“Educated girls have fewer, healthier, and better-educated children,” according to the Global Partnership for Education.

When countries invest in girls’ education, it sees an increase in female leaders, lower levels of population growth, and a reduction of contributions to climate change. 

Can education help break the cycle of poverty? 

Education promotes economic growth because it provides skills that increase employment opportunities and income. Nearly 60 million people could escape poverty if all adults had just two more years of schooling, and 420 million people could be lifted out of poverty if all adults completed secondary education, according to UNESCO. 

Education increases earnings by roughly 10% per each additional year of schooling. For each $1 invested in an additional year of schooling, earnings increase by $5 in low-income countries and $2.5 in lower-middle income countries. 

Read More: 264 Million Children Are Denied Access To Education, New Report Says

Education reduces many issues that stop people from living healthy lives, including infant and maternal deaths, stunting, infant and maternal deaths, vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and violence.

How can we end extreme poverty through education?

There are more children enrolled in school than ever before — developing countries reached a 91% enrollment rate in 2015 — but we must fully close the gap. 

World leaders gathered at the United Nations headquarters to address the disparity in 2015 and set 17 Global Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030. Global Goal 4: Quality Education aims to "end poverty in all its forms everywhere."

Read More: How We Can Be the Generation to End Extreme Poverty

The first step to achieving quality education for all is acknowledging that it is a vital part of sustainable development. Citizens, governments, corporations, and philanthropists all have an important role to play. Learn how to ensure global access to education to end poverty by taking action here .

Global Citizen Explains

Defeat Poverty

Understanding How Poverty is the Main Barrier to Education

Feb. 7, 2020

Is Poverty A Hindrance To Success?

Written By:

James Johnstone

Blog Date – Updated:

Poverty – the big problem that every country and everyone in the world faced or is now facing. Someone usually argues that poverty is the biggest hindrance that people have to deal with to succeed as we cannot do anything even go to school without money.

However, is poverty a real hindrance to success?

Table of Contents

Poverty is a disadvantage, wealth does not gurantee success, poverty does not mean failure in life, poverty is not an hindrance to success, frequently asked questions, poverty in vietnamese schools and why we give school supplies, what do you understand by human poverty 6 reasons.

The answer is “No”, poverty may be a disadvantage but is not really an obstacle to our success. It is undeniable that having any amount of money will provide people with a higher chance to be successful.

When people have money, everything is easier, their children can receive a better education while studying at famous and expensive universities all over the world. They can have enough budget to start up a company instead of calling for funds from “sharks”, which is usually extremely hard work.

Wealth is not a firm guarantee for the success of everyone; with money, people tend to hit targets more easily but it does not mean they automatically be successful in life.

Children who come from rich families are taught to “think bigger” and have a wider vision when their parents can make their dreams come true. For example, only wealthy kids can invest in stocks and make a profit from them while poor children are busy worrying about what they will eat today, where they will sleep tonight.

When you are poor, you do not even have a chance to go to school and have qualifications or you cannot pay the tuition fee to continue your studies because all of your money is paid for personal necessities such as accommodation, food and clothes. Financial problems have prevented a thousand excellent students from studying at higher education levels.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that poor people cannot become successful. Several people have proved that poor children can still succeed in the future. Leonardo DiCaprio, one of the most successful and popular actors in Hollywood with numerous famous movies like Titanic, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Gatsby, was a poor kid growing up in the countryside of LA.

Being brought up in a poor environment with the existence of drug use and violence around made Leonardo DiCaprio understand the dark side of humanity to represent them excellently in his films. It can be said that coming from a poor family has contributed a big part to his success and was an advantage to him to become the person he is today. Even he has said: “W ho am I to talk about this? It goes back to that neighborhood. It came from the fact that I grew up very poor, and I got to see the other side of the spectrum.”

If you are poor, then try harder and harder to succeed. Poverty is not a hindrance to success but laziness and discouragement are. Determination is the biggest key to become successful, when you are determined, nothing can stop you. Then, poverty becomes a chance for you to learn how to be patient and overcome all the difficulties on your own.

Being poor does not mean you do not have the right to dream and make it come true. If life does not give you an opportunity, then create it!

Opportunities do not come to anyone who just stands there and waits for them, they come to the ones who dare to take action. If you do not have enough money to go to school, then study harder to get scholarships, if you do not have enough money to start up a company, then call for funds from rich people. Every problem has its solution to tackle, work hard to find it.

The real obstacle that poverty brings to people is the wrong conception of success and short vision. Poor people usually think that they are not rich because they come from poor families and their parents cannot pay for their dreams. Or when they find jobs, they will want jobs that are highly paid and also cushy. The problem of poverty is actually the problem of education, people had better be taught to have the courage to follow their dreams and work harder instead of blaming circumstances.

I had one of my friends whose name is Hung, he comes from a poor family that nearly did not have enough money for him to continue his studies at university. However, he overcame this difficulty by studying as hard as he could and excellently got scholarships of $75,000 from four of the most famous universities in the USA – William College, Dartmouth College, Vassar College, Vanderbilt University.

One’s economic background plays a vital role in his or her success; however, poor people can still be successful, and that their poverty does not necessarily prevent them from being successful. Many poor people have succeeded like multi-billionaire Kenny Troutt, Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz, KFC’s founder Harland Sanders.. and thousands of other wealthy people.

Roman Abramovich, a multi-billionaire with stakes in Evraz, Norilsk Nickel, and the UK’s Chelsea soccer team has a net worth of $14 billion, was an orphan growing up in Moscow.

There are a variety of ways for us to escape from poverty and become successful; poverty will never become a hindrance to success when you are determined.

“ The key to success is to focus on goals, not obstacles. “ Unknown

Nothing can beat your will and nothing is impossible, being poor is a chance to learn and train yourself if you know how to take full advantage of it. Believe in yourself that you can do it too when other people can do it. Being determined, take risks and success will come to you.

At Project Sprouts, we realize that we can not solve all the problems of poverty in a situation like this.  But we can seek to make a difference in the lives of needy children by giving them school supplies and encouraging them to continue their education; we can give them winter coats, boots, and blankets to help them stay warm during the cold winter months.

Project Sprouts would love to have you be a part of our community and help us to help worthy children in North Vietnam.  We cannot solve all the world’s problems, but we can do our part to help poor kids grow by giving school supplies, winter coats, boots, and other supplies.

You can find out more about Project Sprouts by  clicking here  or go to our give now page to donate by  clicking here. As we are a grassroots organization, all funds go to help those in need.

Is poverty a hindrance to success?

Poverty can present significant challenges, such as limited access to education, healthcare, and other resources, which can hinder success. However, it does not make success impossible. Individuals may overcome these obstacles through resilience, hard work, and access to support structures or opportunities.

How can poverty impact access to education?

Poverty can limit access to quality education due to factors such as inability to afford school fees or educational materials, the need to work to support the family, or living in areas with under-resourced schools.

How does poverty affect health, and how might this impact success?

Poverty can lead to poor health due to inadequate nutrition, limited access to healthcare, and living in environments with poor sanitation or high levels of pollution. Poor health can affect school attendance and performance, as well as productivity in later life, potentially hindering success.

Can poverty affect a person’s mindset towards success?

Living in poverty may cause individuals to focus on immediate survival rather than long-term goals, and constant struggle may lead to a sense of hopelessness about future success. However, mindsets can change, especially with access to supportive environments and opportunities.

How does poverty influence one’s social network, and how might this impact success?

Individuals living in poverty might not have access to social networks that provide exposure to various career paths, educational opportunities, or mentorship, which could limit their knowledge about the possibilities for success.

Are there any success stories of individuals overcoming poverty?

Yes, there are many stories of individuals who have overcome poverty to achieve success in various fields. These stories often involve factors such as education, mentorship, personal resilience, and sometimes, luck.

How can access to quality education help overcome poverty’s hindrance to success?

Quality education provides individuals with the knowledge, skills, and qualifications needed to access better-paying job opportunities, thus providing a pathway out of poverty and toward success.

Can government programs help mitigate the hindrance of poverty to success?

Yes, government programs providing healthcare, food assistance, housing, education, and job training can help individuals in poverty overcome some of the obstacles they face in achieving success.

Related Content

Because of the lack of the Vietnamese national budget, numerous Vietnamese schools are still in poor condition, so that many non-profit organizations and companies have given these schools supplies to support the students’ learning.  Some schools may even lack basic facilities like proper toilets.

You can learn more by reading  Poverty In Vietnamese Schools And Why We Give School Supplies  by  clicking here .

Human poverty is one of those things that can be quite difficult for us to understand. Many groups are trying to eradicate poverty from the face of the earth, but it is not as easy as it sounds.

Many things can cause human poverty. One, of course, is by the lack of money to have a reasonable standard of living. Another is denial or lack of access to opportunities or education. Literacy or the lack of literacy can cause poverty. Also, the lack of job opportunities and proper medical care and the lack of other necessities as proper sanitation.

You can learn more by reading  What Do You Understand By Human Poverty? 6 Reasons  by  clicking here .

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My passion for initiatives like Project Sprouts runs deep, as I am dedicated to supporting underprivileged children on their journey to growth and education. Uplifting and inspiring those who are less fortunate is a cause close to my heart.

When I’m not immersed in writing about these important subjects or actively involved in charitable work, you can often find me out on the open waters, sailing beneath the endless expanse of clear blue skies. Join me on my exploratory voyage through the realms of knowledge, compassion, and the vast oceans of inspiration.

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Robert Sampson, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, is one of the researchers studying the link between poverty and social mobility.

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Unpacking the power of poverty

Peter Reuell

Harvard Staff Writer

Study picks out key indicators like lead exposure, violence, and incarceration that impact children’s later success

Social scientists have long understood that a child’s environment — in particular growing up in poverty — can have long-lasting effects on their success later in life. What’s less well understood is exactly how.

A new Harvard study is beginning to pry open that black box.

Conducted by Robert Sampson, the Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences, and Robert Manduca, a doctoral student in sociology and social policy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the study points to a handful of key indicators, including exposure to high levels of lead, violence, and incarceration as key predictors of children’s later success. The study is described in an April paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“What this paper is trying to do, in a sense, is move beyond the traditional neighborhood indicators people use, like poverty,” Sampson said. “For decades, people have shown poverty to be important … but it doesn’t necessarily tell us what the mechanisms are, and how growing up in poor neighborhoods affects children’s outcomes.”

To explore potential pathways, Manduca and Sampson turned to the income tax records of parents and approximately 230,000 children who lived in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s, compiled by Harvard’s Opportunity Atlas project. They integrated these records with survey data collected by the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, measures of violence and incarceration, census indicators, and blood-lead levels for the city’s neighborhoods in the 1990s.

They found that the greater the extent to which poor black male children were exposed to harsh environments, the higher their chances of being incarcerated in adulthood and the lower their adult incomes, measured in their 30s. A similar income pattern also emerged for whites.

Among both black and white girls, the data showed that increased exposure to harsh environments predicted higher rates of teen pregnancy.

Despite the similarity of results along racial lines, Chicago’s segregation means that far more black children were exposed to harsh environments — in terms of toxicity, violence, and incarceration — harmful to their mental and physical health.

“The least-exposed majority-black neighborhoods still had levels of harshness and toxicity greater than the most-exposed majority-white neighborhoods, which plausibly accounts for a substantial portion of the racial disparities in outcomes,” Manduca said.

“It’s really about trying to understand some of the earlier findings, the lived experience of growing up in a poor and racially segregated environment, and how that gets into the minds and bodies of children.” Robert Sampson

“What this paper shows … is the independent predictive power of harsh environments on top of standard variables,” Sampson said. “It’s really about trying to understand some of the earlier findings, the lived experience of growing up in a poor and racially segregated environment, and how that gets into the minds and bodies of children.”

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Racial and economic disparities intertwined, study finds

The study isn’t solely focused on the mechanisms of how poverty impacts children; it also challenges traditional notions of what remedies might be available.

“This has [various] policy implications,” Sampson said. “Because when you talk about the effects of poverty, that leads to a particular kind of thinking, which has to do with blocked opportunities and the lack of resources in a neighborhood.

“That doesn’t mean resources are unimportant,” he continued, “but what this study suggests is that environmental policy and criminal justice reform can be thought of as social mobility policy. I think that’s provocative, because that’s different than saying it’s just about poverty itself and childhood education and human capital investment, which has traditionally been the conversation.”

The study did suggest that some factors — like community cohesion, social ties, and friendship networks — could act as bulwarks against harsh environments. Many researchers, including Sampson himself, have shown that community cohesion and local organizations can help reduce violence. But Sampson said their ability to do so is limited.

“One of the positive ways to interpret this is that violence is falling in society,” he said. “Research has shown that community organizations are responsible for a good chunk of the drop. But when it comes to what’s affecting the kids themselves, it’s the homicide that happens on the corner, it’s the lead in their environment, it’s the incarceration of their parents that’s having the more proximate, direct influence.”

Going forward, Sampson said he hopes the study will spur similar research in other cities and expand to include other environmental contamination, including so-called brownfield sites.

Ultimately, Sampson said he hopes the study can reveal the myriad ways in which poverty shapes not only the resources that are available for children, but the very world in which they find themselves growing up.

“Poverty is sort of a catchall term,” he said. “The idea here is to peel things back and ask, What does it mean to grow up in a poor white neighborhood? What does it mean to grow up in a poor black neighborhood? What do kids actually experience?

“What it means for a black child on the south side of Chicago is much higher rates of exposure to violence and lead and incarceration, and this has intergenerational consequences,” he continued. “This is particularly important because it provides a way to think about potentially intervening in the intergenerational reproduction of inequality. We don’t typically think about criminal justice reform or environmental policy as social mobility policy. But maybe we should.”

This research was supported with funding from the Project on Race, Class & Cumulative Adversity at Harvard University, the Ford Foundation, and the Hutchins Family Foundation.

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Student Poverty Isn’t an Excuse; It’s a Barrier

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Education policy in the United States has taken a turn in a new direction, and anyone with a stake in public education should celebrate this. Policymakers increasingly recognize that stresses related to student poverty—hunger, chronic illness, and, in too many cases, trauma—are the key barriers to teaching and learning. And calls for tending not only to the academic but also the social, emotional, and physical needs of children are gaining ground across the country. Indeed, the inclusion of the whole-child perspective in the Every Student Succeeds Act shows that this mindset has moved from the margins to the mainstream.

This is a far cry from where we were as a country in June 2008, when a diverse array of education, health, economics, faith, and civil rights leaders—including two of us, Helen Ladd and Pedro Noguera—created the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education to advance an education policy agenda that addresses the barriers poverty poses to children’s educational success. Eight years ago, we urged policymakers to implement quality early-childhood-education programs, health and nutrition supports, and enriching after-school and summer options for students. Research shows that these supports are critical to boosting achievement and helping students graduate with the skills to succeed in college, careers, and life.

Although it was backed by substantial scholarly evidence, many dismissed the agenda as radical. An opposing camp led by civil rights organizations and high-profile district leaders called the initiative’s focus on mitigating the effects of poverty an “excuse” for weak accountability and bad teaching. Their perspective has largely driven education policy, resulting in more high-stakes testing and a “no excuses” mindset for most reform efforts.

But it is clearer every day that their strategy hasn’t worked. Gaps in achievement have persisted and even grown. For example, stagnation or declines in scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, among English-language learners and racial and ethnic minority students have highlighted growing deficits for those students relative to their more advantaged peers. And as Detroit, Newark, N.J., and other high-poverty urban districts that emphasized the use of student test scores to make key decisions show, poverty and structural racism stand in the way of substantially improving academic and social outcomes and limit the success of attempts to improve teaching. The good news is that when poor children have the same opportunities as their better-off peers—high-quality prekindergarten, enriching after-school activities, reliable health care, and nutritious meals—their teachers can teach more effectively, and they can achieve at higher levels.

Our increasing national understanding of the importance of such opportunities has led to a shift toward better education policy. High-quality prekindergarten is a top priority for the Obama administration, and cities from Boston to New York to San Antonio are demonstrating how to make it happen. New York City increased the number of children served in quality, full-day pre-K programs from 13,000 to over 70,000 in just two years. With growing numbers of students coming to class hungry, the community-eligibility provision in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 has helped high-poverty schools not only make lunch available to all students in high-poverty schools, but also serve them breakfast and even dinner. And in teacher-powered schools, those closest to the classroom—teachers, parents, and students themselves, who were sidelined just a few years ago—are taking on a more central role in shaping school policy.

[We must] ground school improvement efforts in community input so that key voices are heard, valuable assets are leveraged, and critical needs are met.

The challenge we now face is to transform these examples into a cohesive response to the widespread injustice and poverty that continue to hold schools and students back. Racial inequities—such as hugely disparate rates of expulsion between black and white students and the lack of college-preparatory coursework in high schools serving students of color—are endemic. And for the first time since the federal government began subsidizing school meals, over half of all U.S. public school students now qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

We need a refreshed policy agenda that builds on this momentum to broadly define public education as a public good that directly mitigates poverty’s impacts and prepares all students for college, careers, and civic engagement by supporting learning from birth year-round.

This means providing schools with the resources to both meet the full range of student needs and attract middle-class families to reduce segregation, which has been on the rise since desegregation efforts were dismantled in the 1980s. It means designing accountability systems that help teachers improve their craft and make working in high-needs schools more attractive. Massachusetts and New Jersey have long been leaders in providing equitable funding across districts. California’s new local-control funding formula, which returns more control over funding to local districts, is designed to deliver more resources to schools serving poor and vulnerable students. California has also pioneered a holistic accountability system to accurately assess conditions that are essential for teaching and learning. We urge other states to follow these examples.

We need to ensure that all schools, including charter schools, are transparent in their use of public and private funds. We must ensure that no school uses low test scores to target students for expulsion. Finally, we must confront the segregation and concentrated poverty that make sustained school improvement virtually impossible, and ground school improvement efforts in community input so that key voices are heard, valuable assets are leveraged, and critical needs are met. The new flexibility that ESSA provides offers states and districts the opportunity to demonstrate that they are up to the task.

With some of the most divisive arguments about poverty and accountability behind us, educators, parents, and policymakers should seize this moment to address education—what former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls “the civil rights issue of our time.” Only a bold agenda that tackles the pernicious effects of poverty will answer that call.

A version of this article appeared in the May 11, 2016 edition of Education Week as Education Policy Should Address Student Poverty

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Education to fight poverty as legacy, not confidential funds

“Mag-aral kang mabuti. ’Yan lang ang maipamamana namin sa ’yo.”

The line may already sound like a cliché, especially in hard-up families in the Philippines whose parents would do everything to make ends meet and ensure their children will finish a college degree. This is how important education is to us. Or is this so-called importance now another cliché and a thing of the past?

It was horrifying to see the Philippines rank the lowest among 79 countries that participated in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), which evaluated reading comprehension. The results were released in December 2019, mere months before the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic hit.

The comprehension assessment was done among 15-year-old students. The reading average set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which held the Pisa worldwide study, was 487 points. China got 555 points, while the Philippines’ average reading score fell to 340.

OECD noted in the Pisa 2018 results the importance of reading proficiency. It is something we all have to master to perform various activities, from the simplest task like reading directions, to more complicated social tasks like communicating with other people.

What led to the Philippines’ poor ranking in reading comprehension?

A study by De La Salle University’s Dr. Andrew L. Tan Data Science Institute (ALTDSI) said that most of the students who failed the reading comprehension test in Pisa 2018 came from low-income families, and 83 percent of them went to public schools.

Poverty has always been a hindrance to quality education. We have often heard of students prioritizing work to help bring food to their families’ tables rather than focusing on academics. Poverty is not something we can fix easily or change overnight. But can’t we do something to improve our country’s education system to ensure that even children in low-income conditions can get quality services, which can boost their knowledge?

If poverty is here to stay, can’t the country’s education system adjust to the fact and prioritize honing the knowledge of our young learners, regardless of their social status?

The Pisa results opened our eyes that it wasn’t only reading comprehension we must focus on. We also scored poorly (second-lowest) both in science and mathematics. OECD explained on their website that the purpose of the assessment is to allow the policymakers and educators to adjust the education systems in their countries according to the strategies being implemented in countries that scored high on the tests.

It is an eye-opener that I rarely hear our politicians and education officials talking about (at least, not publicly).

Instead, what gets in the news is the Department of Education’s request for confidential funds amounting to millions. Is this the time to allocate funds (from the people’s taxes) to projects that can’t even be named or listed publicly?

The problem with the country’s education system is the lack of a system that is deeply rooted in poverty. Instead of making the funds for the very department that should handle the education structure “confidential,” isn’t it high time that we see exactly where taxpayer money is spent?

One in five Filipinos lives below the poverty line. This is according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). This equates to 19.99 million Filipinos or 18.1 percent of our country’s population. These numbers came from a 2021 PSA survey, which could be worse now.

This brings us back to the Pisa 2018 assessment results. Our low reading comprehension rate came mostly from students with poor socioeconomic backgrounds. Poverty is a problem for the country. It affects everything around us, including the quality of education our young learners get.

Gone were the days when most poor parents would push their kids to study hard, for education is key to getting them out of poverty. Most of us may have gotten used to being poor that we couldn’t care less if our kids can read or comprehend as long as we can provide them with food to eat, which is another daily struggle for many Filipinos who have embraced poverty. It is not because they want to, but they were left with no other choice.

It’s time to change our ways. Open our eyes and seek accountability from those in power. We have to find a long-term solution to poverty. This is the only way we can enforce quality education. This is the only way for us to bring back hope to the socially disadvantaged parents that the most important inheritance they can leave to their children is their diploma.

JOANNA MARRIEL C.

VILLAMOR, Ph.D.,

San Miguel National

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UP cum laude graduate refuses glorification of poverty, explains why it’s a hindrance to success

Rene Principe, BS Applied Physics graduate from UP Diliman. Image: Facebook/Rene Principe/KLIK Studio

Clad in the University of the Philippines’ (UP) signature sablay and barong, sporting dyed silver hair and makeup, UP Diliman cum laude graduate Rene Principe declared that “contrary to popular belief, dyeing your hair is not a hindrance to success, but poverty is.”

Principe, who finished his Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics, narrated his journey from eating restaurant leftovers to becoming a degree holder from the country’s top state university, as per his Facebook page last Saturday, July 25. Not only did he earn his degree with honors, he also gets to represent the LGBTQ+ community in the field of science.

Principe was one of the 2,892 candidates for graduation who earned their college degrees during the university’s first virtual commencement exercises on July 26. The graduating batch of 2020 had 28 summa cum laudes, 302 magna cum laudes and 683 cum laudes, according to DZUP’s Facebook post on the same day.

Principe clarified that while his success should be celebrated, it should also make others face the “enraging” truth about the education system.

“I refuse to glorify the extreme poverty that I went through,” he said. “Because the same poverty that everyone might think inspired me to make it all the way is the same poverty which hinders millions of Filipinos access to quality education.”

‘Walang-wala’

At 8 years old, Principe dreamed of becoming an astronaut as a means to escape this world.

He recalled how it used to be painful to see his classmates enjoy fresh food during lunch while he had to make do with a reheated, half-eaten chicken drumstick from people he do not know.

“We just migrated to Cagayan de Oro after we lost our home in Compostella Valley from [a] fire. We’re left with nothing, as in WALANG-WALA (nothing at all),” he said. “Education was our only way out of extreme poverty but even that was hard.”

Fast forward to his college life, Principe got in the university and initially studied Physics, then eventually shifted to Applied Physics, because “that’s the closest I’ll ever be to studying ASTRONOMY.”

Principe also acknowledged how fortunate he was to have support “pouring [from] all directions.”

“I dedicate this victory wholeheartedly to every single Filipino to whom I owe my UP education, and for that I vow to serve this nation with my utmost honor and excellence,” he said.

On ‘glorifying poverty’

“I refuse to be labeled as the cream of the crop, because I believe Filipinos should stand beside me in this victory, not behind me,” Principe explained.

He said he disagrees with the notion that attaining a college degree should be as hard as “passing through the eye of a needle.”

“I believe with all my heart that education is a right, not a privilege,” he stressed.

“I refuse to believe that poverty is NOT a hindrance to success because it is, my victory is an exception but it is not the norm,” Principe added. At the same time, he also refuses to “believe that life is inherently UNFAIR because it shouldn’t be.”

The UP graduate then highlighted the “inequality” maintained by the “ruling class” which makes the “the rich much richer and the poor much poorer.” Principe credited his university for opening his eyes and teaching him that learning is not confined within the four corners of a classroom.

“Let the inaccessibility of our healthcare enrage you. Let the expensiveness of education enrage you…,” he said. “That rage is valid because it is rooted from your empathy towards the oppressed and the underprivileged.”

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3443160952384277&set=a.157127907654281&type=3&theater

‘Queer in Science’

Principe disclosed that growing up, he did not have any role model to look up to as a queer individual.

“There ain’t no queer astronauts or queer versions of Einstein, not that I know of,” he said. “I hardly knew any Filipino scientists too.”

The LGBTQ+ community is often “caged inside a box of what we can achieve and what we’re capable of,” he noted.  He also described how the LGBTQ+ community is viewed by some people as only relevant for “their entertainment,” while pursuing other fields is “just pure abomination.”

“I’m always proud of how our community dominated the entertainment industry and so, let my victory be a symbol that we the LGBTQ+ community has always had something to contribute to the science community too,” he said.

After graduating, Principe will be pursuing a master’s degree in Physics at the university. He will also be working as a junior faculty in its National Institute of Physics this coming semester. JB

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Inspiration

Top 35 quotes about poverty to success.

There is no shortage of stories about people rising from poverty to success. These stories have grown in number, especially in the past century. And, they’ll continue to grow in number, so long as they keep inspiring everyday people from all walks of life to strive for their dreams . So, to help fan those flames of achievement, ambition, and the promise of a better future for you and others, we’ve rounded up the most inspiring quotes about poverty to success.

“When There Is Nothing, There Is The Possibility Of Everything.”

Our hope is that these poverty to success quotes will inspire, motivate, and give you hope, that no matter where you come from, or how rough your start, creating a successful life for yourself is possible.

So, if you are ready for some encouraging words to help you believe that going from rags to riches is possible for you, then let’s dive in:

BEST QUOTES ABOUT POVERTY TO SUCCESS

1. “Where determination is, the way can be found. – George S. Clason

2. “Poverty was the greatest motivating factor in my life.” – Jimmy Dean

3. “Let us be done with thinking of poverty as a virtue. It is a common vice. If you have been living in financial lack and limitation, you have literally been living in vice. That, too, is the shocking truth about prosperity. But you need not continue living in financial vice. There is a way out.” – Catherine Ponder

4. “Hardships, poverty and want are the best incentives, and the best foundation, for the success of man.” – Bradford Merrill

5. “Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.” – Norman Vincent Peale

6. “Poverty and adversity have produced many of the most successful people in the world.” – Dr. T.P. Chia

7. “The first step is clearly defining exactly what it is you’re after, because without knowing that, you’ll never get it.” – Halle Berry

8. “Success, just like poverty is a state of mind . You can become successful instantly with a simple decision and commitment. Long lasting and pronounced success comes to those who renew their commitment to a mindset of abundance every minute, hour, and day.” – Bryant McGill

9. “Nobody is born poor and empty. Each of us have a gift. Talent or intelligence, how we use it to lift our lives, spells our success or failure.” – Ymatruz

10. “It always seems impossible, until its done.” – Nelson Mandela

11. “You have available to you, right now, a powerful supercomputer. This powerful tool has been used throughout history, to take people from rags to riches, from poverty and obscurity to success and fame, from unhappiness and frustration to joy and fulfillment, and it can do the same for you.” – Brian Tracy

12. “There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge. Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.” – Napoleon Hill

13. “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” – Doris Day

14. “Diligence produces success and riches. Laziness creates poverty and failure.” – Dr. T. P. Chia

15. “Poverty is not intrinsically a trap, otherwise we would all still be poor.” – Paul Collier

16. “The path to success is through a continuum of mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and sometimes difficult daily disciplines compounded over time.” – Darren Hardy

17. “Success is messy. But so is life. Deal with it. Poverty is messier.” – James Arthur Ray

18. “Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity , than is required to accept misery and poverty.” – Napoleon Hill

19. “Charity is no solution to poverty.” – Muhamad Yunus

20. “It’s not about your resources, it’s about your resourcefulness.” – Tony Robbins

21. “People ought to be as sensible on the subject of Money Getting as on any other subject. Like causes produce like effects. You cannot accumulate a fortune by taking the road that leads to poverty.” – P.T. Barnum

22. “Self-discipline is the No. 1 delineating factor between the rich, the middle class, and the poor” – Robert Kiyosaki

23. “We did live in dire poverty. And one of the things that I hated was poverty. Some people hate spiders. Some people hate snakes. I hated poverty. I couldn’t stand it.” – Ben Carson

24. “Get what you can, and what you get hold, Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.” – Benjamin Franklin

25. “There is no wealth like knowledge and no poverty like ignorance.” – Buddha

26. “You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” – Frank McCourt

27. “Poverty is not a disgrace, but it’s terribly inconvenient.” – Milton Berle

28. “Poor choices are the leading cause of poorness” – M.J. Demarco

29. “What lies behind us and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

30. “The great thing in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are going.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

31. “Information without execution is poverty.” – Tony Robbins

32. “The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations. – Adam Smith

33. “Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success.” – C.S. Lewis

34. “Poverty is not a hinderance to success.” – Philippine Proverb

35. “Poverty is not a circumstance, it’s an  attitude .” – Rita Gonzalez

Bonus Poverty to Success Quote

Bonus: Here’s the last and final of these poor background quotes. It’s one of our favorites, and we believe it contains the most potential inspiration for increase aspirations. Here it is:

“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” – abraham lincoln –

Final Thoughts

Remember, despite the high life that most successful people seem to be living today, most of them had to face their fare share of struggle and hardship. They had to pay a price for the success they now enjoy. But the great news is, they’ve shown there is a recipe that anyone can follow.

Sure, the end result won’t be exactly the same for everyone. But, it will be similar in that it will get you out of poverty and on track to a more successful life. With that being said, we hope these poverty to success quotes have you doubting your doubts, and eager to pursue the success you deserve and can achieve.

Till next time,

PS – If you enjoyed these poverty to success quotes, then you’ll likely love these self made quotes .

10 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

100+ MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES EVERY ENTREPRENEUR SHOULD LIVE BY

The STRIVE is on a mission to inspire and uplift 1 billion people by 2032. Our primary aim is to help as many people as possible believe in the uncommon thought, that they can be more than they are, do more than they've done, and achieve more prosperity than they've ever dreamed possible. Let's achieve the impossible together.

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50+ INSPIRATIONAL PAULO COELHO QUOTES ON SUCCESS AND CHASING YOUR DREAMS

Paulo Coelho  is the highly successful and well known Brazilian novelist who wrote one of the best-selling books of all-time; ‘The Alchemist’. He’s also authored 28 additional books, selling over 320 million of those books, and he continues to inspire people from just about every walk of life to this day.

With that said, we’ve gathered some of his most inspiring quotes on success and living one’s dreams to help you get inspired and motivated enough to keep reaching for yours. So, if you’re ready to digest some of the most motivational Paulo Coelho quotes of all time, let’s dive right in:

Best Paulo Coelho Quotes

1. “One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now .” – Paulo Coelho

2. “Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.” – Paulo Coelho

3. “You are what you believe yourself to be.” – Paulo Coelho

4. “Don’t allow your mind to tell your heart what to do. The mind gives up easily.” – Paulo Coelho

5. “You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.” – Paulo Coelho

6. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure .” – Paulo Coelho

7. “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” – Paulo Coelho

8. “Passion makes a person stop eating, sleeping, working, feeling at peace. A lot of people are frightened because, when it appears, it demolishes all the old things it finds in its path. No one wants their life thrown into chaos. That is why a lot of people keep that threat under control, and are somehow capable of sustaining a house or a structure that is already rotten. They are the engineers of the superseded.” – Paulo Coelho

9. “Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.” – Paulo Coelho

10. “All battles in life serve to teach us something.” – Paulo Coelho

11. “They live as if they were never going to die, and die as if they had never lived.” – Paulo Coelho

12. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho

13. “Sometimes you have to travel a long way to find what is near.” – Paulo Coelho

14. “If you are brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” – Paulo Coelho

15. “A mistake repeated more than once is a decision” – Paulo Coelho

16. “The more in harmony with yourself you are, the more joyful you are and the more faithful you are. Faith is not to disconnect you from reality — it connects you to reality.” – Paulo Coelho

17. “I wanted to write when I was young, but people said it was impossible. Then my parent locked me in a mental institution — they said I was crazy and would never make a living from writing.” – Paulo Coelho

18. “Miracles only happen if you believe in miracles.” – Paulo Coelho

19. “Life has a way of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen at once.” – Paulo Coelho

20. “ Be brave . Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” – Paulo Coelho

21. “If you want to be successful, you must respect one rule, never lie to yourself.” – Paulo Coelho

22. “If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make.” – Paulo Coelho

23. “No matter what he does, every person on Earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.” – Paulo Coelho

24. “What is a teacher? I’ll tell you: It isn’t someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.” – Paulo Coelho

25. “ God always offers us a second chance in life.” – Paulo Coelho

26. “Don’t waste your time with explanations, people only hear what they want to hear.” – Paulo Coelho

27. “It’s only those who are persistent and willing to study things deeply, who achieve the master work.” – Paulo Coelho

28. “The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and get up eight times.” – Paulo Coelho

29. “You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.” – Paulo Coelho

30. “Whatever you decide to do, make sure it makes you happy.” – Paulo Coelho

31. “What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.” – Paulo Coelho

32. “ Never give up . When your heart becomes tired, just walk with your legs but move on.” – Paulo Coelho

33. “People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” – Paulo Coelho

34. “When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.” – Paulo Coelho

35. “People always judge others by taking as a model their own limitations, and other people’s opinions are often full of prejudice and fear.” – Paulo Coelho

36. “Dreamers can’t be tamed.” – Paulo Coelho

37. “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.” – Paulo Coelho

38. “When you can’t go back, you have to worry only about the best way of moving forward.” – Paulo Coelho

39. “The closer one gets to realizing his destiny , the more that destiny becomes his true reason for being.” – Paulo Coelho

40. “If it is still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk.” – Paulo Coelho

41. “When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change.” – Paulo Coelho

42. “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” – Paulo Coelho

43. “Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.” – Paulo Coelho

44. “Listen to your heart. It knows all things.” – Paulo Coelho

45. “Stress, anxiety, and depression are caused when we are living to please others.” – Paulo Coelho

46. “Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worse kind of suffering.” – Paulo Coelho

47. “Success does not come from having one’s work recognized by others. It is the fruit of the seed that you lovingly planted .” – Paulo Coelho

48. “You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” – Paulo Coelho

49. “Don’t forget, beautiful sunsets need cloudy skies.” – Paulo Coelho

50. “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.” – Paulo Coelho

51. “I can choose either to be a victim of the world or an adventurer in search of treasure. It’s all a question of how I view my life.” – Paulo Coelho

Bonus Paulo Coelho Quote

Bonus: Alright, here is our last and final Paulo Coelho quote to inspire you to find the success you seek. Enjoy:

“If You Don’t Care About What People Think, You Already Passed The First Step Of Success.” – paulo coelho –

There you have it, the best of the best Paulo Coelho quotes on success and staying true to one’s dreams. We hope they inspired you to reflect a little more on the importance taking risks, some of Paulo Coelho’s keys to success, and why you should follow your heart.

PS – If you enjoyed these inspiring Paulo Coelho quotes on success and the importance of following your dreams, then you’ll likely love these quotes on success and achievement , or these truly inspiring quotes on following your dreams .

50 INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT KNOWING YOUR WORTH

So many of us struggle with feelings of self-worth these days. We underestimate our value, we doubt our potential , and question what we bring to the table. We let people walk all over us, allow companies to take advantage of us, and accept relationships that actively diminish us. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can decide at any moment to begin trusting in our own opinions of ourself, vs. the opinions of others. External validation is expendable; meaning, we don’t really need it. All we need is a healthy opinion of ourselves, which is why we’ve pulled together this powerful collection of quotes about knowing your worth.

Our hope is that this collection of know your worth quotes serves as a reminder to you that you are more than the opinions of others, and that you can truly be as valuable and worthy as you set out to be. So, allow these quotes to wash over you, inspire you, and rekindle that silent self-belief that exudes your worth to the world.

BEST QUOTES ABOUT KNOWING YOUR WORTH

1. “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right here.” – Venus Williams

2. “If you don’t know your own value, somebody will tell you your value, and it’ll be less than you’re worth.”

3. “If you want to improve your self-worth, stop giving other people the calculator.” – Tim Fargo

4. “Know your worth. You must find the courage to leave the table if respect is no longer being served.” – Tene Edwards

5. “A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of sheep.” – Lionel Messi

6. “Only you can make the decision for what you believe your worth is and that will determine how you allow other people to treat you.” – Germany Kent

7. “Know your worth and don’t settle for anything else. You were born to win!” – June Doyle

8. “Knowing your worth and believing that you are indeed worthy is essential for happiness and well-being.” – Tchiki Davis, Ph.D.

9. “When someone treats you like you’re just one of many options, help them narrow their choice by removing yourself from the equation.” – Marc Chernoff

10. “Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.” – Mike Ditka

11. “Two things you will never have to chase: True friends & true love.” – Mandy Hale

12. “Anytime you look outside yourself to determine your value, your looking in the wrong place. Look inside you. You know your worth. Your value is inside you.” – Jody Urquhart

13. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson

14. “Just being born makes you worthy enough to be here.” – Oprah Winfrey

15. “To double your net worth, double your self-worth. Because you will never exceed the height of your self-image.” – Robin Sharma

16. “Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth.” – Anonymous

17. “If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.” – T. Harv Eker

18. “You are worthy of love and respect. You are beautiful, gifted, and intelligent. Don’t let the storm make you forget it.” – Russell T. Davies

19. “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” – Mark Twain

20. “You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.” – Lou Holtz

21. “Dignity will only happen when you realize that having someone in your life doesn’t validate your worth.” – Shannon L. Alder

22. “Don’t give part-time people a full-time position in your life. Know your value and what you have to offer, and never settle for anything less than what you deserve.” – Marc Chernoff

23. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt 

24. “You’re worthy of being chosen, fought for, and loved. Remember that.” – Mark Groves

25. “The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone.” – Orison Swett Marden

26. “When your self-worth goes up, your net worth goes up with it.” – Mark Victor Hansen

27. “Know your worth. Hold your own power. Be you.” – Morgan Harper Nichols

28. “If you know your worth, you will know you are worthy of the beautiful and higher life.” – Anyaele Sam Chiyson

29. “Self-worth comes from one thing – thinking that you are worthy.” – Wayne Dyer

30. “Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” – Abraham Lincoln

31. “You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.” – Brene’ Brown

32. “Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need other’s approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.” – Lao Tzu

33. “When you start seeing your worth, you’ll find it harder to stay around people who don’t.” – Anonymous

34. “I don’t know why we all hang on to something we’re better off letting go of.” – Meredith Grey

35. “We are what we believe we are.” – C.S. Lewis

36. “Know your worth. People always act like they’re doing more for you than you’re doing for them.” – Kanye West  

37 . “A lot of doubt and uncertainty in our lives comes from not knowing that we are worthy.” – Anonymous

38. “What other people think about you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.” – Jen Sincero

39. “Be with someone who knows exactly what they have when they have you, not someone who will realize it once they’ve lost you.” – Kevin Hart

40. “There will always be someone who can’t see your worth. Don’t let it be you.” – Mel Robbins

41. “It’s not a bad thing to demand that everyone that comes into your life meet you at your worth. And I ain’t talking money.” – Tyler Perry

42. “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” – E.E. Cummings

43. “The only thing that matters in life is your own opinion of yourself.” – Osho

44. “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball

45. “If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and career life, you must become a worthwhile person in your self-development.” – Brian Tracy

46.  “If you shape your life according to nature, you will never be poor; if according to people’s opinions, you will never be rich.” – Epicurius

47 . “There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

48. “If your life’s worth living, it’s worth recording.” – Tony Robbins

49. “As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

50. “When you know how much you’re worth, you’ll stop giving people discounts.” – Helen Keller

Related: Trust Yourself Quotes

FINAL THOUGHTS

Great job making it to the end of these quotes about knowing your worth. We hope they’ve helped you see yourself in a new and better light than before you got here.

And remember, you are special and unique. You have positive qualities that not everyone can see. But you can see, therefore only you know your value. You are one of a kind and there are undoubtedly things you can do that no one else can do, like be you. So, starting today hold your head up high and go out and get what you’re worth.

That said, if you found any of these quotes inspiring, please share them or the page with someone who may need a few inspiring words at this point in their life.

Till you reach your aims,

PS – If you enjoyed these know your worth quotes then we have a hunch you’ll also enjoy these quotes to help you boost your confidence .

75+ INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT POSSIBILITIES

One of the greatest things about life is that how you perceive it, determines what you can get out of it. If you perceive a world of limitations, that’s what you’ll get. Similarly, if you perceive a world of endless possibilities, that’s what the world will give you. Our mindset and our perspectives matter, which is why we’ve rounded up these inspirational quotes about possibilities.

If you’re looking for some encouraging words to help you shake up your mindset, and renew your perspective that world is yours for the taking, then you’ll love these quotes. So, if you’re ready to start living your life in possibility vs. probabilities, then let’s dive into these quotes about endless possibilities:

BEST QUOTES ABOUT POSSIBILITIES

1. “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn

2. “You have to be open minded to the possibilities, ‘that I can do this’. Once you shut your mind down to the possibility that it can be achieved, it’s no way it can happen.” – David Goggins

3. “Your mindset is the key that unlocks the doors to unlimited possibilities.” – Anonymous

4. “Imagination belongs to hope. It’s the creative dance of possibility.” – Sharon Weil

5. “If you live your life in possibilities instead of probabilities you have a greater chance of finding happiness.” – Steve Harvey

6. “Potential is not a thing, it’s an idea.” – Eddie Pinero

7. “All things are possible until they are proved impossible and even the impossible may only be so, as of now.” – Pearl S. Buck

8. “You’ve done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, unstoppable determination.” – Ralph Marston

9. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this — you haven’t.” – Thomas Edison

10. “It is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” – Paulo Coelho

11. “Do not become so attached to any one belief that you cannot see past it to another possibility.” – Christopher Paolin

12. “When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life.” – Eckhart Tolle

13. “If we can see past preconceived limitations, then the possibilities are endless.” – Amy Purdy

14. “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” – Pablo Picasso

15. “The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react.” – George Bernard Shaw

16. “When nothing is sure, everything is possible.” – Margaret Drabble

17. “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” – Mahatma Gandhi

18. “Turn your obstacles into opportunities and your problems into possibilities.” – Roy T. Bennett

19. “I saw all these people around me making all this money and I was like, ‘If they can do i, then I can do it.’ If it’s a possibility for anyone, then it’s a possibility for me.” – Myron Golden

20. “Every new day begins with possibilities.” – Ronald Reagan

21. “I dwell in possibility.” – Emily Dickinson

22. “I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary.” – Elon Musk

23. “It’s the way you think about yourself and your possibilities that, more than anything else, determines your successes.” – Brian Tracy

24. “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis of Assisi

25. “Anything you want is possible.” – Tyler Perry

26. “You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope.” – Thomas Merton

27. “No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities-always see them for they’re always there.” – Norman Vincent Peale

28. “The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today.” – Les Brown

29. “The Wright brother flew right through the smoke screen of impossibility.” – Charles Kettering

30. “Hope is a passion for the possible.” – Søren Kierkegaard

31. “In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.” – Miguel de Cervantes

32. “What is now proved, was once only imagined.” – William Blake

33. “The possible’s slow fuse is lit by the Imagination.” – Emily Dickinson

34. “The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities.” – George Eliot

35. “Nothing in this world is impossible to a willing heart.” – Abraham Lincoln

36. “You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” – Deepak Chopra

37 . “I am too much of a skeptic to deny the possibility of anything.” – Thomas Henry Huxley

38. “I love those who yearn for the impossible.” – Goethe

39. “Think bigger. Forget limits. Embrace the idea of endless possibility…. It will change you.” –  Marianne Williamson

40. “Everything that is done in the world is done by hope .” – Martin Luther

41. “I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities.” – Whoopi Goldberg

42. “One of the fundamental keys to success and inner peace is allowing yourself to be open to the infinite array of possibilities in your life.” – Wayne Dyer

43. “We all have possibilities we don’t know about. We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.” – Dale Carnegie

44. “The limits of the possible can only be defined by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke

45. “Whether you believe you can or not, you’re right.” – Henry Ford

46.  “One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.” – Abraham Maslow

47 . “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” – Albert Einstein

48. “Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done.” – Louis D. Brandeis

49. “There is always tension between the possibilities we aspire to and our wounded memories and past mistakes.” – Sean Brady

50. “I am neither an optimist nor pessimist, but a possibilist.” – Max Lerner

51. “1 year equals 365 possibilities.” – Anonymous

52. “Invincibility lies in the defense; the possibility of victory in the attack.” – Sun Tzu

53. “When you focus on problems, you’ll have more problems. When you focus on possibilities, you’ll have more opportunities.” – Possibility Quote

54. “When you look at the possibilities instead of the problems, the future is filled with endless opportunities.” – Zig Ziglar

55. “The possibilities are endless when you work hard and never give up.” – Anonymous

56. “Tomorrow is filled with as much possibility as you are willing to see.” – Kathyrn Lang

57. “If you embrace possibility thinking, your dreams will go from molehill to mountain size, and because you believe in possibilities, you put yourself in position to achieve them.” – John C. Maxwell

58. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda

59. “Believe all the time that.. it’s going to be possible.” – Cristiano Ronaldo

60. “If you believe in yourself, anything is possible.” – Anonymous

61. “A world of possibilities awaits you. Keep turning the page.” – Oprah Winfrey

62. “We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

63. “You must find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible.” – Deepak Chopra

65. “Life is a journey with almost limitless possibilities.” – Ken Poirot

66. “Behind me is infinite power, before me is endless possibility, around me is boundless opportunity.” – Mac Anderson

67. “Our thoughts and imaginations are the only real limits to our possibilities.” – Orison Swett Marden

68. “The greatest waste in the world is the difference between what we are and what we could become.” – Ben Herbster

69. “Within us is the unborn possibility of limitless experience. Ours is the privilege of giving birth to it!” – Ernest Holmes

70. “With God, all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

71. “All that is within the limits of possibility may and shall be accomplished.” – Jules Verne

72. “Our aspirations are our possibilities.” – Samuel Johnson

73. “We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aid, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.” – Henry David Thoreau

74. “Positivity = Possibility.” – Grant Cardone

75. “Anything is possible with the right mindset. If you believe in yourself and you sacrifice and dedicate, with the right help you can come back.” – Tyson Fury

76. “Strive for that greatness of spirit that measures life not by its disappointments but by its possibilities.” – W.E.B. Du Bois

77. “The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit.” – Jim Rohn

78. “When you hang out with whiners, pessimists, tweakers, bleakers, freakers-outers and life-is-so-unfairers, it’s an uphill climb to keep yourself in a positive headspace.  Stay away from people with tiny minds and tiny thoughts and start hanging out with people who see limitless possibility as the reality.” – Jen Sincero

79. “Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you’ll be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” – Golda Meir

80. “When you believe in yourself you believe in possibility.” – Dr. Joe Dispenza

81. “If you can see it in your mind, you will hold it in your hand.” – Bob Proctor

There you have it, the very best quotes about possibilities. We hope they inspired you think and believe beyond what’s been possible for you until now. We hope they’ve encouraged you to open your mind to a future that is filled with endless possibilities.

And remember, most people would rather cling to the familiar than take a chance in possibility. But not you! Believe in yourself and in your possibilities.

PS – If you liked these quotes about possibilities then you’ll love these quotes about achieving the impossible .

100+ LIFE GOES ON QUOTES TO KEEP YOU INSPIRED FOR YOUR BETTER FUTURE

If you’re in need of a few words of encouragement or some helpful life goes on quotes, then this page is for you.

Life constantly throws curve balls. Setbacks and major challenges are a part of life. But sometimes, no matter how much we prepare ourselves for those obstacles, they still have the ability to devastate our lives and derail our best plans. And they do, especially for those who are slow to embrace their setbacks, and realize that life always goes on.

With that said, we know that the best way to get back on track and moving towards our better brighter futures quickly, is to keep looking forward, to stay optimistic, and to continually embrace the fact that life goes on. As such, we’ve pulled together this powerful list of Life Goes On quotes to help people stay inspired and hopeful for the promise of a better future.

So, if you are currently experiencing any setbacks in your life, or if things have been looking bleak lately, allow some of these Life Goes On quotes to convince you that your better future is just around the corner, because it is…..

Best Life Goes On Quotes

1. “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” – Robert Frost

2. “Life is like the waves on the ocean, it keeps going.” – Anonymous

3. “If you’re brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello.” – Paulo Coelho

4. “Things change. Stuff happens. Life goes on.” – Elizabeth Scott

5. “Removing someone out of your life can hurt like a knife but sometimes, it may be the only way for you to survive.” – Mouloud Benzadi

6. “No matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.” – Maya Angelou

7. “To help yourself, you must be yourself. Be the best that you can be. When you make a mistake, learn from it, pick yourself up and move on.” – Dave Plezer

8. “Sometimes you’re flush and sometimes you’re bust, and when you’re up, it’s never as good as it seems, and when you’re down, you never think you’ll be up again, but life goes on.” – George Jung

9. “When you lose what you love, remember to stay strong. Look out the window and remember life goes on.” – Drew Chadwick

10. “I walk slowly, but I never walk backwards.” – Abraham Lincoln

11. “You can’t keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.” – Oprah Winfrey

12. “Regardless of how it goes down, life goes on.” – Rick Ross

13. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein

14. “Remember, whether you choose to move on or stay stuck in the past, life goes on!” – Billy Cox   

15. “We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.” – William Arthur Ward

16. “Mistakes do happen and life goes on.” – Sourav Ganuly

17. “Life goes by too quickly. So laugh, love, and try new things. Forgive, forget and don’t hold grudges.” – Anymous

18. “We take nothing away and we put nothing back, we pass by and we forget; And the sun is always punctual every day.” – Alberto Caeiro

19. “Life goes on, even when you think it can’t. Even when you don’t especially want it to.” – Jan Strand

20. “Life is an operation which is done in a forward direction. One lives toward the future, because to live consists inexorably in doing, in each individual life making itself.” – Jose Ortega Gasset

21. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca

22. “Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Herman Hesse

23. “Life goes on, but the scars remain.” – Lil Wayne

24. “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” – Epictetus

25. “You carry on no matter what are the obstacles. You simply refuse to give up — and, when the going gets tough, you get tougher. And, you win.” – Vince Lombardi

26. “You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.” – Life Goes On Quote

27. “Keep moving forward.” – Walt Disney

28. “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Dalai Lama

29. “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.” – Lao Tzu

30. “Life goes on if you’re one of the lucky ones.” – Judy Blume

31. “It’s hard to turn the page when you know someone won’t be in the next chapter, but the story must go on.” – Thomas Wilder

32. “This moment is but another chance to change your life. Cease brooding about the past, realize that life will go on, and go confidently in the direction of your dreams.” – Anonymous

33. “There is no passion to be found playing small — in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela

34. “Do something today for a better tomorrow.” – Anonymous

35. “ It’s never too late  to be who you might have been.” – George Eliot

36. “People change and things go wrong but just remember life goes on.” – Mac Miller

37. “God gave us rain to remind us that life will not always be sunny but it will keep going on.” – Anonymous

38. “If something does go wrong, here is my advice… keep calm and carry on.” – Maira Kalman

39. “I’ll be strong, I’ll be wrong, oh but life goes on. Oh, I’m just a girl, trying to find a place in this world.” – Taylor Swift

40. “There’s no time for regrets. You’ve just got to keep moving forward.” – Mike McCready

41. “Even though we have been hurt, we must find a way to get through it, life goes on whether we want it to or not. The world keeps turning no matter how bad we feel. This is why we have to learn how to bounce back and keep moving forward.” – Rashida Rowe

42. “If you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

43. “You can’t have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time.” – Charles Kettering

44. “Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti

45. “Everyday is the opportunity for a better tomorrow.” – Hugh Laurie

46. “Life goes on, and one should look ahead and not backward.” – Sonali Bendre

47. “If you’re not okay, that’s okay. It will happen sometimes. But you have to tell yourself that things will be better tomorrow. Eve if they’re not better tomorrow, keep telling yourself they will be. Because eventually, tomorrow will be better .” – Sam Miller

48. “Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.” – Allen Saunders

49. “You can’t stop living just because it hurts. Life goes on and so should you!” – Anonymous

50. “Morning will come, it has no choice.” – Marty Rubin

Halfway There: You’re more than halfway through these life goes on quotes, great job! This next section consists of quotes about life goes on as well, but, they are more focused more on inspiring you. We hope they succeed in doing so.

51. “It’s always darkest before the dawn. So hold on to hope and be strong because it doesn’t last forever this darkness.” – Astrid Alauda

52. “It is not what happens that determines the major part of your future. What happens, happens to us all. It is what you do about what happens that counts.” – Jim Rohn

53. “One thing always sure. Life goes on with you or without you, no matter how much you have seen.” – Lalita Tademy

54. “As life goes on, the more you allow any negativity to consume your thoughts, the less room you have for positivity to enter them.” – Demi Lovato

55. “We can’t become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” – Oprah Winfrey

56.  “Head up. Shoulders back. Tomorrow is a new day.” – Anonymous

57. “Nature knows no pause in progress and development, and attaches her curse on all inaction.” – Johan Wolfgang Von Goethe

58. “We cannot control the wind but we can adjust our sails.” – Anonymous

59. “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

60. “Tomorrow the sun will rise on all your doubts.” – Marty Rubin

61. “Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” – Steve Maraboli

62. “Life isn’t about waiting around for things that happen tomorrow. It’s about what we do right now while were alive!” – Anonymous

63. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E Cummings

64. “Whether you choose to move on from your struggles and enjoy life or waddle in your misery, life will continue.” – Germany Kent

65. “Life goes on. People move on, but God remains on your side.” – Gift Gugu Mona

66. “Accidents happen. Our bones shatter, our skin splits, our hearts break. We burn, we drown, we stay alive.” – Moïra Fowley-Doyle

67. “You cannot be truly humble, unless you truly believe that life can and will go on without you.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana

68. “Empires collapse, civilizations disappear, health deteriorates, and bodies turn to ash, but life will always go on” – Mouloud Benzadi

69. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is to smash my own spiders and get on with my day. There will be another!” – Hoda Kotb

70. “In the end, we all become stories.” – Anonymous

71. “There’s always tomorrow and it always gets better.” – Ariana Grande

72. “If you fail today there is always tomorrow to try again. You always have that second chance tomorrow.” – Avina Celeste

73. “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can .” – Anonymous

74. “Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard

75. “Mistakes happen and life goes on.” – Sourav Ganguly

76. “Sooner or later we’ve all got to let go of our past.” – Dan Brown

77. “Note to self: Nobody is worth stressing over. Move on, leave people behind and go find yourself. The world is your. Life goes on.” – Anonymous

78. “Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.” – Guy Finley

79. “Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.” – Roy T. Bennett

80. “You can’t turn the clock back, so you have to look ahead.” – Mel Gibson

81. “The longer your life goes on, the more death you face.” – Patrick Swayze

82. “Trust the wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” – Anonymous

83. “Don’t forget you’re simply human. It’s okay to have a meltdown, just don’t unpack and live there. Cry it out and then refocus on where you are headed. Life goes on.” – Anonymous

84. “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” – Steve Maraboli

85. “The beginning is always today.” – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

86. “Life is about change. Sometimes it’s painful. Sometimes it’s beautiful. But most of the time, it’s both.” – Lana Lang

87. “As long as you’re still alive, you always have the chance to start again.” – Emily Acker

88. “Be strong, because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it never rains forever.” – Anonymous

89. “Be strong, because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it never rains forever.” – Anonymous

90. “Through every dark night, there’s a bright day after that, so no matter how hard it get, stick your chest out, keep your head up, and handle it.” – Tupac Shakur

91. “Life doesn’t stop for anybody.” – Kevin Hart

92. “Never underestimate the power you have to take your life in a new direction.” – Germany Kent

93 . “… of all things this was the saddest, that life goes on: if one leave’s one’s lover, life should stop for him, and if one disappears from the world, then the world should stop, too: and it never did. And that was the real reason for most people getting up in the morning: not because it would matter but because it wouldn’t.” – Truman Capote

94. “One day the world stopped without any warning, spring didn’t know how to wait, showed up not even a minute late.” – BTS

95. “Nothing is permanent. Not even the end of the world.” – Isaac Marion

96. “The sky is blue, the grass is green and life will go on.” – Aly Aubrey

97. “I will go anywhere as long as it is forward.” – David Livingston

98. “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them — that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” – Lao Tzu

99. “There is nothing permanent except change.” – Heraclitus

100. “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach

Bonus Life Goes on Quote

Bonus: Here is our last and final Life Goes on Quote. We hope it will inspire you to shake off your past, and look forward to the promise of a better future:

 “Stop Acting As If Life Is A Rehearsal. Live This Day As If It Were Your Last. The Past Is Over And Gone. The Future Is Not Guaranteed.” – wayne dyer –

Related: Moving On Quotes

We hope you enjoyed these inspirational Life Goes On quotes. Please consider sharing this page or a quote or two with someone who could might appreciate a few encouraging words that life does indeed go on, and that tomorrow is a new day.

With that said, thanks for stopping by.

PS – If you enjoyed our Life Goes On Quotes then you’ll love these inspirational quotes about life and struggles .

50 INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES FROM THE OBSTACLE IS THE WAY

Dream chasing is not for the faint of heart. Not only does it take massive courage to reach for the dreams and goals that many shrug off as impossible, but it also takes grit, tenacity, and an almost god-like will power to see things through. Indeed, success demands the overcoming of obstacles. And having and handful of powerful quotes to inspire you to keep moving forward against all odds is wise. As such, we’ve decided to publish the best The Obstacle Is The Way quotes to inspire you to succeed in the face of failure.

So, if you’re a fellow dreamer, or an aspiring high achiever, these inspiring words will keep you going strong. And if you’re ready to get started, let’s dive in.

50 Best Quotes From The Obstacle is The Way

1. “It’s okay to be discouraged. It’s not okay to quit. To know you want to quit but to plant your feet and keep inching closer until you take the impenetrable fortress you’ve decided to lay siege to in your own life—that’s persistence.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

2. “To argue, to complain, or worse, to just give up, these are choices. Choices that more often than not, do nothing to get us across the finish line.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

3. “Failure shows us the way—by showing us what isn’t the way.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

4. “You know what’s better than building things up in your imagination? Building things up in real life.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

5. “ Uncertainty and fear are relieved by authority. Training is authority. It’s a release valve.” – Ryan, Holiday The Obstacle is The Way

6. “Remember that this moment is not your life, it’s just a moment in your life.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

7. “He knew that to aim low meant to accept mediocre accomplishment. But a high aim, if things went right, create something extraordinary.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

8. “Like Earhart, Rommel knew from history that those who attack problems and life with the most initiative and energy usually win .” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

9. “We talk a lot about courage as a society, but we forget that at its most basic level it’s really just taking action—whether that’s approaching someone you’re intimated by or deciding to finally crack a book on a subject you need to learn.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

10. “Genius often really is just persistence in disguise.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

11. “It doesn’t matter whether this is the worst time to be alive or the best, whether you’re in a good job market or a bad one, or that the obstacle you face is intimidating or burdensome. What matters is that right now is right now.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

12. “It’s a huge step forward to realize that the worst thing to happen is never the event, but the event and losing your head.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

13. “Problems are rarely as bad as we think—or rather, they are precisely as bad as we think.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

14. “This is one thing all great men and women of history have in common. Like oxygen to a fire, obstacles became fuel for a blaze that was their ambition. Nothing could stop them, they were (and continue to be) impossible to discourage or contain. Every impediment only served to make the inferno within them burn with greater ferocity.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

15. “We blame our bosses, the economy, our politicians, other people, or we write ourselves off as failures or our goals as impossible. When really only one thing is at fault: our attitude and approach .” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

16. “The most harmful dragon we chase is the one that makes us think we can change things that are simply not ours to change.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

17. “It’s supposed to be hard. Your first attempts aren’t going to work. It’s going to take a lot out of you- but energy is an asset we can always find more of. It’s a renewable resource. Stop looking for an epiphany, and start looking for weak points. Stop looking for angels, and start looking for angels. There are options. Settle in for the long haul and then try each and every possibility, and you’ll get there.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

18. “You’ll have far better luck toughening yourself up, than you ever will trying to take the teeth out of a world that is, at best, indifferent to your existence” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

19. “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

20. “Think progress, not perfection.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

21. “Today most of our obstacles are internal, not external.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

22. “Like any good school, learning from failure isn’t free. The tuition is paid in discomfort or loss and having to start over.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

23. “The good thing about true perseverance is that it can’t be stopped by anything besides death.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

24. “Each time, you’ll learn something. Each time, you’ll develop strength, wisdom, and perspective. Each time, a little more of the competition falls away. Until all that is left is you: the best version of you.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

25. “Where the head goes, the body follows. Perception precedes action. Right action follows the right perspective.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

26. “The one way to guarantee we don’t benefit from failure—to ensure it is a bad thing – is to not learn from it.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

27. “Bad companies are destroyed by crisis. Good companies survive them. Great companies are improved by them.” – Andy Grove, The Obstacle is The Way

28. “Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

29. “Failure puts you in corners you have to think your way out of. It is a source of breakthroughs.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

30. “The things that hurt, instruct.” – Benjamin Franklin , The Obstacle is The Way

31. “If you think it is simply enough to take advantage of the opportunities that arise in your life, you will fall short of greatness. Anyone sentient can do that. What you must do is learn how to press forward precisely when everyone around you sees disaster.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

32. “ True will is quiet humility, resilience , and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised as bluster and ambition. See which lasts longer under the hardest of circumstances.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

33. “Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing and wherever we are going, we owe it to ourselves, to our art, to the world to do it well. That’s our primary duty. And our obligation.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

34. “There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

35. “We forget: In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you or where you came from. It matters what you do with what happens and what you’ve been given.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

36. “Failure really can be an asset if what you’re trying to do is improve, learn, or do something new.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

37. “No one said you can’t ever cry. Forget ‘manliness.’ If you need to take a moment, by all means, go ahead. Real strength lies in the control or, as Nassim Taleb put it, the domestication of one’s emotions, not in pretending they don’t exist.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

38. “If an emotion can’t change the condition or the situation you’re dealing with, it is likely an unhelpful emotion. Or, quite possibly, a destructive one. But it’s what I feel. Right, no one said anything about not feeling it.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

39. “Death doesn’t make life pointless, but rather purposeful.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

40. “Blessings and burdens are not mutually exclusive.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

41. “How we interpret the events in our lives, our perspective, is the framework for our forthcoming response—whether there will even be one or whether we’ll just lie there and take it.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

42. “First, see clearly. Next, act correctly. Finally, endure and accept the world as it is.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

43. “An entrepreneur is someone with faith in their ability to make something where there was nothing before. To them, the idea that no one has ever done this or that is a good thing.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

44. “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

45. “Our actions may be impeded . . . but there can be no impeding our intentions or dispositions. Because we can accommodate and adapt. The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

46. “Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

47. “There are far more failures in the world due to a collapse of will than there will ever be from objectively conclusive external events.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

48. “You will come across obstacles in life—fair and unfair. And you will discover, time and time again, that what matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

49. “Our perceptions determine, to an incredibly large degree, what we are and are not capable of. In many ways, they determine reality itself. When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph?” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

50. “We decide what story to tell ourselves. Or whether we will tell one at all.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

Bonus Obstacle is The Way Quote

“Focus on the moment, not the monsters that may or may not be up ahead.” – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is The Way

Related: Best Stoic Quotes

There you have it friend, 50 of the best quotes from The Obstacle is The Way . Study these remarkable quotes, and then put them into action in your daily life. Certainly the few gems we shared on this page should be enough to at least get you started on smashing through some of those daily obstacles we all face in life.

Lastly, if there is one book we would recommend to all entrepreneurs, artists, athletes, or even big dreamers who find themselves deep into the fire and fury that inevitably follows such pursuits, it would be the book we derived these great quotes from, The Obstacle Is The Way . It definitely is a book every dreamer and achiever should have in their library.

Note: We’re reader supported, if you buy through one of the links above, we may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

With that being said, we hope you enjoyed these encouraging quotes. Now get out there and start leveraging this wisdom to turn your toughest trials into your greatest triumphs.

PS – If you enjoyed these The Obstacle Is The Way Quotes, then you’ll like enjoy these Inspirational Quotes About Life and Struggles .

100+ EARL NIGHTINGALE QUOTES TO HELP YOU SUCCEED IN THE WORLD TODAY

Earl Nightingale was a highly influential personality who came to fame in the 20th century. He retired early by the age of 35, pioneered one of the first audio-recordings in the success and self-development industry, and eventually published one the most well thought-out and masterfully narrated success guides ever created. Having discovered the secret to success , and then generously sharing that secret with the rest of the world, his contribution to modern society is for all intents and purposes, unmatched. As such, we aim to ensure his legacy and sage advice continues to change peoples lives. Which is why, we’ve decided to publish this collection of the very best Earl Nightingale quotes from a variety of his best works.

“Earl Nightingale Has Inspired More People Toward Success And Fortune Than Any Other Motivational Speaker On The Planet.” – zig ziglar –

So, if you’re ready to learn from the wise words of one of the world’s most prominent scholars on the subject of success, and learn the very secret to success while you’re at it, then let’s dive into these quotes:

BEST EARL NIGHTINGALE QUOTES

1. “Every one of us is the sum total of his own thoughts.” – Earl Nightingale

2. “People are where they are because that is exactly where they really want to be whether they will admit that or not.” – Earl Nightingale

3. “Your world is a living expression of how you are using and have used your mind.” – Earl Nightingale

4. “Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality.” – Earl Nightingale

5. “When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself” – Earl Nightingale

6. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” – Earl Nightingale

7. “ Our attitude toward life determines life’s attitude towards us.” – Earl Nightingale

8. “It is not what happens to you in life that makes the difference. It is how you react to each circumstance you encounter that determines the result.” – Earl Nightingale

9. “Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; wherever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable.” – Earl Nightingale

10. “The strangest secret in the world is that you become what you think about.” – Earl Nightingale

Earl Nightingale Quotes on Success

This next batch of quotes is some of Earl’s wisest words on the topic of finding and achieving success. No doubt, all of his advice can be attributed to success, but this next handful of quotes are the most poignant.

With that said, if you’re here in search of success insights then these Earl Nightingale quotes on success will do the trick. Enjoy.

11. “People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.” – Earl Nightingale

12. “Whatever the majority of people are doing, under any given circumstance, if you’ll do the exact opposite, you will probably never make another mistake as long as you live.” – Earl Nightingale

13. “We are all self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” – Earl Nightingale

14. “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.” – Earl Nightingale

15. “Success is not the result of making money; making money is the result of success… and success is in direct proportion to our service.” – Earl Nightingale

16. “A success is anyone who is doing deliberately a worthy predetermined job, because that’s what he decided to do deliberately.” – Earl Nightingale

17. “There is no success without suffering. I think that the word ‘suffering’ was meant to mean tremendous effort and direction.” – Earl Nightingale

18. “Successful people form the habit of doing what failures don’t like to do. They like the results they get by doing what they don’t necessarily enjoy.” – Earl Nightingale

19. “Men credited with all kinds of ability, talent, brains and know how, including the ability to see into the future, frequently have nothing more than the courage to keep everlastingly at what they set out to do. They have that one great quality that is worth more than all the rest put together. They simply will not give up! When a man makes up his mind to do something then it’s only a matter of time. Staying with time takes bulldog persistence. This seems to be the entrance examination to success – lasting success — of any kind!” – Earl Nightingale

20. “We tend to live up to our expectations.” – Earl Nightingale

21. “Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render.” – Earl Nightingale

22. “ Successful people are not without problems. They’re simply people who’ve learned to solve their problems.” – Earl Nightingale

23. “Most people tiptoe through life, hoping to make it safely to death.” – Earl Nightingale

24. “A success is the school teacher who is teaching because that’s what she wants to do.” – Earl Nightingale

25. “The only person who succeeds is the person who is progressively realizing a worthy ideal.” – Earl Nightingale

26. “All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” – Earl Nightingale

27. “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” – Earl Nightingale

28. “A person who does not read is no better than one cannot read.” – Earl Nightingale

29. “Any person who contributes to prosperity must prosper in turn.” – Earl Nightingale

30. “A great attitude is not the result of success; Success is the result of a great attitude.” – Earl Nightingale

31. “If the grass is greener on the other side it’s probably getting better care.” – Earl Nightingale

32. “Each of us creates his or her own life largely by our attitude.” – Earl Nightingale

33. “One extra hour of study per day and you’ll be a national expert in five years or less.” – Earl Nightingale

34. “If you don’t have a good model for success, just look at what everybody else is doing and do the opposite.” – Earl Nightingale

35. “Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.” – Earl Nightingale

36. “Plant your goal in your mind. It’s the most important decision you’ll ever make in your entire life.” – Earl Nightingale

37. “The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” – Earl Nightingale

38. “We must radiate success before it will come to us. We must first become mentally, from an attitude standpoint, the people we wish to become.” – Earl Nightingale

39. “Just one great idea can completely revolutionize your work and, as a result, your life.”

40. “You must radiate success before it will come to you.” – Earl Nightingale

Inspiring Earl Nightingale Quotes

If you’ve never read or listened to any of Earl Nightingales books or audio books, we highly recommend the investment. Quotes are a great starting place to get you accustomed to his line of thinking, but you’ll get the most out of his teachings by studying his material thoroughly.

With that said, here are some of the most inspiring Earl Nightingale quotes we collected during our study. Enjoy.

41. “A person’s discontent can be said to be measured by the distance between what he has and what he wants.” – Earl Nightingale

42. “We will receive not what we idly wish for, but what we justly earn. Our rewards will always be in exact proportion to our service.” – Earl Nightingale

43. “You are now and you do become, what you think about.” – Earl Nightingale

44. “Perseverance is another word for faith!” – Earl Nightingale

45. “Act the part of the successful person whom you’ve decided to become.” – Earl Nightingale

46. “We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light.” – Earl Nightingale

47. “A bad attitude is like a flat tire. You can’t go anywhere till you change it.” – Earl Nightingale

48. “The key that unlocks energy is ”Desire’.’ It’s also the key to a long and interesting life. If we expect to create any drive, any real force within ourselves, we have to get excited.” – Earl Nightingale

49. “Creativity is an expression of our enthusiasm.” – Earl Nightingale

50. “Everything begins with an idea.” – Earl Nightingale

51 . “Work never killed anyone. It’s worry that does the damage. And the worry would disappear if we’d just settle down and do the work.” – Earl Nightingale

52. “Problems are challenges to creative minds. Without problems, there would be little reason to think at all.” – Earl Nightingale

53. “The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else.” – Earl Nightingale

54. “Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now.” – Earl Nightingale

55. “Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach .” – Earl Nightingale

56. “You’ll find boredom where there is the absence of a good idea.” – Earl Nightingale

57. “There is a time when one must decide either to risk everything to fulfill one’s dreams or sit for the rest of one’s life in the backyard.” – Earl Nightingale

58. “Don’t concern yourself with the money. Be of service … build … work … dream … create! Do this and you’ll find there is no limit to the prosperity and abundance that will come to you.” – Earl Nightingale

59. “Do each day all that can be done that day. You don’t need to overwork or to rush blindly into your work trying to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible time.” – Earl Nightingale

60. “What’s going on in the inside shows on the outside.” – Earl Nightingale

Earl Nightingale Quotes from The Greatest Discovery

Earl Nightingale’s first published book was ‘The Greatest Discovery’ which won him the Napoleon Hill Gold Medal for Literary Excellence. [1] As such, this next batch consists of some of the best Earl Nightingale quotes from his book ‘The Greatest Discovery’. We hope you enjoy this rare collection of inspiring quotes.

If you want to learn more about Earl Nightingale before you dive into this next batch of quotes, this is a terrific place to start here: Who His Earl Nightingale?

61. “The best is never the most popular.” – Earl Nightingale

62. “Using our intuition along with our intelligence as a guide, can be the best way to produce super ideas.” – Earl Nightingale

63. “Planting a problem or question deep in the subconscious by first turning it every which way during an in-depth conscious attempt to solve it, usually results in the answer eventually appearing completely unbidden in our consciousness.” – Earl Nightingale

64. “When can think better, more profitably, and serve more people through ideas than we can ever do physically.” – Earl Nightingale

65. “The ideas we hold should be in concert with our goals, if our goals are to be successfully achieved.” – Earl Nightingale

66. “An idea is the bringing together of known increments to provide a new result.” – Earl Nightingale

67. “Service, we are here to serve each other. And every one of us does who receives anything back in the way of return. Those who do not serve, do not receive anything.” – Earl Nightingale

68. “The greatest thing in the world is the opportunity to be of service to others.” – Earl Nightingale

69. “Attitude comes very close to being everything about success or failure.” – Earl Nightingale

70. “There’s a place for every person who will persevere .” – Earl Nightingale

71. “My habit of muttering to myself, “Stay with it!” had paid off, just as it always does.” – Earl Nightingale

72. “It’s staying with it that separates the winners from the losers.” – Earl Nightingale

73. “A person can have a great education, but if he also has a poor attitude, he will almost certainly fail.” – Earl Nightingale

74. “We are what we repeatedly do, but what we do is a matter of choice.” – Earl Nightingale

75. “We become successful to the extent of our true desires and determination, and we do so by building on our strong points; our forte.” – Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret Quotes by Earl Nightingale

Earl Nightingale’s claim to fame and lasting legacy was his creation of the audiobook ‘The Strangest Secret’. We’ve provided a few quotes from this masterpiece in earlier sections; however, this batch focuses on the very Strangest Secret quotes by Earl Nightingale.

76. “Books are filled with ideas, and ideas spur us into action.” – Earl Nightingale

77. “I can determine what I think about, therefore I can determine what I become and what I have.” – Earl Nightingale

78. “Our minds are the gyrocompasses of our lives, we can only go were they direct us, and we are in charge of our minds.” – Earl Nightingale

79. “You will do more good for the rest of the human race enthusiastically going full bore after the things you want, than in any other way, because the only way you can get the things you want is by providing service to others — and the more intense and enthusiastic you are about it, the better will be your service. It’s the way the free-market private enterprise American system works.” – Earl Nightingale

80. “The universal key to success simply put is this… as you think , so shall you become.” – Earl Nightingale

81. “You’ll do best at what you most want to do in the pursuit of your personal goals, in so doing, you’ll provide the maximum service to those you need to help you.” – Earl Nightingale

82. “Ideas are the most important things on earth, and each of us has his or her our own idea factory — it comes as standard equipment at birth.” – Earl Nightingale

83. “Don’t ever say, I’d like to get to the point where I can start taking things easy.” – Earl Nightingale

84. “Our rewards, all the years of our lives, will be in proportion to our service. We are here, we live, in order to serve one another.” – Earl Nightingale

85. “Without ideas, we’d still be sitting in the trees grooming one another.” – Earl Nightingale

86. “There are no guarantees. Don’t confuse opportunity with guarantee.” – Earl Nightingale

87. “It’s best you get rid of that terrible word “security” now, once and for all, there’s no such thing as security as long as you’re alive. Dead you’re secure. Unborn you’re secure. If you’re alive, you’re the very epitome of insecurity.” – Earl Nightingale

88. “People will make you rich, or keep you broke, depending on the way you serve them. You should make up your mind at the outset if you are planning to become a successful entrepreneur , that you are going to make people outside the organization and inside the organization your special concern.” – Earl Nightingale

89. “You can’t lose money on a customer if you treat him or her the way they should be treated.” – Earl Nightingale

90. “Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.” – Earl Nightingale

91. “The successful person does things. The unsuccessful person has done things done to him or her.” – Earl Nightingale

92. “Life should be an exciting adventure. It should never be a bore. A man should live fully , be alive. He should be glad to get out of bed in the morning. He should be doing a job that he likes to do because he does it well.” – Earl Nightingale

93. “Your success will always be measured by the quality and quantity of service you render.” – Earl Nightingale

94. “There is no fragment of this freedom of ours, that can’t be turned into the success we seek.” – Earl Nightingale

95. “There are no jobs so humble, that they do not have lurking within them the opportunity for greatness and all the success we could possibly want, but it takes that expectant attitude to see it.” – Earl Nightingale

96. “More than any other factor perhaps, the unsuccessful person can usually be identified with a group.” – Earl Nightingale

97. “The person who succeeds in America is the person who sets his or her own wages, goals, and lifestyle.” – Earl Nightingale

98. “The American people can become whatever it is they want to become – the trouble is, they seldom make that decision.” – Earl Nightingale

99. “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice… it is conformity.”

100. “The unsuccessful person sowing little , reaps little.” – Earl Nightingale

101. “The law is, that our financial return will be in direct proportion to our service.” – Earl Nightingale

102. “If you believe you can enrich yourself by deluding others, you can end only by deluding yourself.” – Earl Nightingale

103. “ Money is the harvest of our production.” – Earl Nightingale

104. “No man can get rich himself unless he enriches others.” – Earl Nightingale

105. “The greatest journey is the journey of the mind.” – Earl Nightingale

Bonus Earl Nightingale Quote

Bonus: Here’s our last and final Earl Nightingale quote. It’s been said in one of the earlier quotes in a different way. But, it’s being rehashed here because we believe it’s one of his best, and it’s the one you’ll stand to gain the most from. So, if you take any quote from this page to run with, this is the one to take, Enjoy.

“We Become What We Think About Most Of The Time, And That’s The Strangest Secret.” – earl nightingale –

There you have it, the most comprehensive collection of Earl Nightingale quotes on the web. We hope the wisdom found in his words inspires you to learn more about this inspiring human.

But most importantly, we hope his quotes will eventually lead to your own serious study of his time-tested philosophy of success.

That said, if you enjoyed these quotes, please share them. Or, if you think there’s a Millennial or Gen Z’er out there who could benefit from the learning of Earl Nightingale’s timeless wisdom, please share these quotes with them as well. Because there’s no doubt, that his success philosophy is one of the best kept secrets of this generation.

PS – If you enjoyed these Earl Nightingale quotes, then there’s a good chance you’ll also stand to benefit from studying the wise words of these success-minded individuals as well:

Napoleon Hill | Zig Ziglar | Bob Proctor | Jim Rohn

75 INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT RESPECT

Respect is a fundamental human need. We all crave respect and admiration from others, and we all have a deep need for self-respect as well. As Maya Angelou once put it, “I think it’s important to respect yourself because if you don’t then nobody else is going to respect you.”

Thus, both having and giving respect is essential to a happy and fulfilling life. It’s the foundation of a healthy self-esteem, a positive self-image, and our ability to give respect to others. Respect is an important part of life, and it’s critical to earn if one is striving for more success and influence in their lives.

So, if you’re looking for a little bit of inspiration and some of the best sayings and quotes about respect, you’ll find both here:

BEST QUOTES ABOUT RESPECT

1. “Respect is earned by action alone, not self-graticulation.” – Paul Combs

2. “Self-respect knows no considerations.” – Mahatma Gandhi

3. “You can’t force someone to respect you, but you can refuse to be disrespected.” – Barb Schmidt

4. “As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others.” – Robert Schuller

5. “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” – Albert Einstein

6. “Do not tolerate disrespect, not even from yourself.” – Unknown

7. “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein

8. “You should never be surprised when someone treats you with respect, you should expect it.” – Sarah Dessen

9. “Self respect is the fruit of discipline ; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. ” – Abraham Heschel 

10. “Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.” – John Herschell

11. “Respect is a two-way street, if you want to get it, you’ve got to give it.” – R.G. Risch

12. “If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.” – John W. Gardner

13. “Blood, sweat and respect. First two you give, last one you earn.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

14. “Never respect men merely for their riches, but rather for their philanthropy; we do not value the sun for its height, but for its use.” – Gamaliel Bailey

15. “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us.” – Arapaho proverb

16. “Respect other people’s feelings. It might mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.” – Roy T. Bennett

17. “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” – Jackie Robinson

18. “One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say.” – Bryant H. McGill

19. “How people treat you with their karma. How you react is yours.” – Wayne W. Dyer

20. “I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self-respect.” – Mahatma Gandhi

21. “There is no respect for others without humility in one’s self.” – Henri Amiel

22. “Be you. The world will adjust.” – Barry Popik

23. “Love yourself enough to surround yourself with people who respect you.” –  Anonymous

24. “Life is short, and we should respect every moment of it.” – Orhan Pamuk

25. “A human being is not to be handled as a tool but is to be respected and revered.” – Felix Adler

26. “When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.” – Dalai Lama

27. “The right to be respected is won by respecting others.” – Vasyl Sukhomlynsky

28. “Always respect another’s opinion and another’s point of view.” – Sri Sathya Sai Baba

29. “Responsibility and respect for others and their religious beliefs are also part of freedom.” – Horst Koehler

30. “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” – Louis D. Brandeis

31. “One of the surprising things in this world is the respect a worthless man has for himself.” E. W. Howe

32. “Have a big enough heart to love unconditionally, and a broad enough mind to embrace the differences that make each of us unique.” – D.B. Harrop

33. “To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness. ” – Robert Moley

34. “You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful.” – Amy Bloom

35. “The fact that someone else loves you doesn’t rescue you from the project of loving yourself.” – Sahaj Kohli

36. “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.” – Laurence Sterne

37. “Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.” – Robert Tew

38. “Everyone’s a STAR and deserves the right to twinkle.” – Marilyn Monroe

39 “Respect is how to treat everyone.” – Richard Branson

40. “Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.” – Bruce Lee

41. “Respect is as important as love in a relationship!” – Anonymous

42. “Life is too short to waste your time on people who don’t respect, appreciate, and value you.” – Roy T. Bennett

43. “Respect yourself and others will respect you.” – Confucius

44.   “I am who I am. That’s why my friends and peers respect and appreciate me.” – Kevin Hart

45. “The idea of respect is more than just being polite.” – Bruce Glassman

46. “Little people are indifferent. Superior people are caring.” – Maxima Lagac’e

47. “I can be hurt only by people I respect.” – Mary Balogh

48. “I must respect the opinions of others even if I disagree with them.” – Herbert H. Lehman

49. “Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.” – Leo Tolstoy

50. “Everyone should be respected as an individual, but no one is idolized.” – Albert Einstein

51. “Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.” – Ed Mylett

52. “Show up early, treat people with respect and perform at the highest levels till the world can’t deny you.” – Grant Cardone

53. “Our lives are a work of art. Plant seeds of love and respect and reap a harvest of prosperity and peace.” – Joan Pillen

54. “We can’t expect to be respected if we can’t respect ourselves.” – Derrick Jackson

55. “Don’t worry what others think of you, be confident and straightforward with decency and others will respect you.” – Lori Greiner

56. “Respect is earned, not demanded.” – Stacy Halls

57. “The respect you give others is a dramatic reflection of the respect you give yourself.” – Robin Sharma

58. “The only authority I respect is the one that causes butterflies to fly south in the fall and north in the springtime.” – Tony Robbins

59. “In many ways, effective communication begins with mutual respect, communication that inspires, encourages others to be their best.” – Zig Ziglar

60. “My company survives because I’ve learned to respect the ideas of people younger than me and recognize when my wisdom is obsolete.” – Robert Kiyosaki

61. “To undermine a man’s self-respect is a sin.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

62. “Service to many leads to greatness, great respect, great satisfaction.” – Jim Rohn

63. “No matter how they’re treating you there is one way to not only their respect, but turn the tables. Excellence.” – David Goggins

64. “The more that you treat your troops with respect, the more they’re going to respect you.” – Jocko Willink

65. “The highest form of self love and self respect is being fit.” – Bedros Keuilian

66. “People don’t have to like you, they have to respect you.” – Kevin O’Leary

67. “The more you respect yourself, the less disrespect you’ll put up with from others.” – Mel Robbins

68. “When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet in his private heart no man much respects himself.” – Mark Twain

69. “Reject rejection! If someone says no, just say NEXT.” – Jack Canfield

70. “Don’t ask for respect. Earn it.” – Robin Sharma

71. “People really do respect those who are willing to speak their truth.” – Wayne Dyer

72. “I don’t want to be liked, I want to be respected. Because if you like me you can throw me away too quick. If you respect me, you may not even like what I was wearing, but you’ll say, “I respect that.” – Ray Lewis

73. “We should respect all people.” – Helen Keller

74. “We do not covet anything from any nation expect for their respect.” – Winston Churchill

75. “You must find the courage to leave the table if respect is no longer being served.” – Mel Robbins

Related: Short Quotes On Life

Bonus Quote on Respect

Bonus: Here’s one last and final respect quote. We think it holds the key to a better life and a better world. Enjoy:

“Respect Is One Of The Greatest Expressions Of Love.” – miguel angel ruiz –

We hope you enjoyed these inspiring respect quotes. If any caught your eye please feel free to share it, and if you found inspiration in this page, please bookmark or share it with others.

PS – If you enjoyed these inspirational quotes about respect, then you’ll probably also enjoy these quotes about self-confidence or these truly inspiring believe in yourself quotes .

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• The Chairman
• The Committee
• Subcommittees
• Internships
• Biden’s 2025 Tax Hike
• Biden Impeachment Inquiry
• Listening To Americans
• Whistleblowers

Chairman Smith Opening Statement – Hearing on Expanding on the Success of the 2017 Tax Relief to Help Hardworking Americans

“The 2017 Trump tax cuts provided a critical blueprint that Congress can build upon to make lasting improvements to our tax code.”

As prepared for delivery.

“Seven years ago, Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act under President Trump, delivering relief to millions of families and small businesses and creating the best economy in our lifetime.

“In the first two years after passage of that tax relief, real wages grew nearly five percent – the fastest growth in twenty years. Real median household income increased by $5,000, a bigger gain than the prior eight years combined. The officially reported poverty rate dropped to its lowest level in history, and black and Hispanic unemployment reached historic lows.

“I expect my colleagues will use the same tired talking points about that bill being all about tax breaks for the wealthy. But the truth is the Congressional Budget Office found that the 2017 tax law increased the share of taxes paid by the top one percent of households while reducing the burden paid by lower income earners. As a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Americans earning under $100,000 received an average tax cut of 16 percent. Facts are Facts.

“On the other hand, President Biden’s so-called Inflation Reduction Act forced taxpayers to subsidize big banks and corporations. More than 90 percent of that bills special interest tax subsidies for electricity go to companies with over $1 billion in sales.

“They also included $7,500 tax credits to purchase luxury EVs – more than 80 percent of those credits are claimed by households earning six figures. 

“Democrats want to blame the 2017 tax cuts for adding to the debt while ignoring the $10 trillion they and President Biden spent during the first two years of total Democrat control of Congress.

“Under the Republican’s tax law, revenues reached a record high of $4.9 trillion in 2022 — nearly a trillion more than CBO’s projections. Corporate tax revenues were 17 percent above projections. In fact, in the four years following enactment of the tax law, revenues averaged an increase of $205 billion per year above what was estimated.

“The 2017 Trump tax cuts provided a critical blueprint that Congress can build upon to make lasting improvements to our tax code. The House has already shown strong bipartisan support for key provisions of the 2017 law by passing the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act earlier this year. But there is still much work to be done.

“Unfortunately, President Biden has shown he is willing to throw away these hard-won gains. 

“The President has repeatedly said that a budget is a statement of values. His most recent budget shows that he clearly values higher taxes and more inflationary spending over the wellbeing of the American people. The current price tag on Biden’s tax hikes is $5 trillion, exploding to $7 trillion with his suggestion to fill the gap if middle-class tax cuts are extended.

“Here’s the bottom line: Congress must act soon to prevent what will be the largest tax hike in history on workers, families, farmers, and small businesses. If the 2017 tax cuts expire, the average family of four earning $75,000 will see their taxes increase by $1,500 a year, starting in 2026. A family of five with two earners making around $100,000 would see a tax increase of nearly $7,500 a year. President Biden and many other Democrats have called for repeal of the Trump tax cuts. Republicans won’t let that happen because middle-income earners will be hit hardest by the coming tax hikes.

“Small businesses will also face massive hardship. With the expiration of the 199A small business deduction, we will see even more “closed for business” signs up and down main street when their federal tax rate jumps to over 40 percent.

“The hard work this committee put into doubling the Child Tax Credit, which we reaffirmed just a couple months ago in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, will be slashed in half after 2025.  

“The safeguards we put in place to make it harder for the IRS to go after family farms and ranches will sunset after 2025. 

“Democrats continue to rave about the economy but they’re forgetting one thing: you can’t pay your mortgage, feed your family, or put gasoline in your car with a jobs report. We need pro-growth solutions that will restore the economy we had under President Trump.

“Our committee has already made progress on pro-growth and pro-family tax policies this Congress. Now we need to come together and look at other ways we can strengthen our competitive edge against China and ensure our tax code is a help – not a hindrance – to workers, families, farmers, and small businesses just trying to get by.”