You Just Can't Be Too Careful

"What does it mean when someone can see the self-discipline of the millionaire but not the double - and triple - shifts of the working poor?

 

I know they work. I’m a witness.

They catch the early bus.
They work every day.

They raise other people’s children.
They work every day.

They clean streets.
They work every day.

They drive vans with cabs.
They work every day.

They change the beds you slept in these hotels last night and can’t get a union contract. They work every day. No more.

They’re not lazy. Someone must defend them because it’s right, and they cannot speak for themselves.

They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commode.

No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick, they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day.

America, that is not right. We are a better nation than that."

- Jessie Jackson,

via Peter Dorman at econospeak.

Discipline, Hard Work and Obscene Wealth

 

A FEW ODDS & ENDS

As I was wandering, I ran across Margaret Atwood's website, O.W. TOAD, and found myself captured by a couple of quotes she has posted. I am not sure what exactly caught me or what they have in common, but I offer them for your consideration.


Interviewer: To what do you attribute your success?
Joan Sutherland: Bloody hard work, Duckie!

*

Charming villains have always had a decided social advantage over well-meaning people who chew with their mouths open.
— Miss Manners


I adore quotes. I have a stack of 3X5 cards collected through the years, as well as a dedicated file on my computer for current collections. I also have a few quote sites bookmarked, because you never know when they'll come in handy.

In case you're interested: Brainy Quote, The Quotations Page, Quoteland, The Quote Garden

I personally believe we developed language because of our deep inner need to complain. ~Jane Wagner