The difference between a child's aspiration and that family's situation, is the exact measurement of that family's frustrations.
Benjamin Todd JealousRead
With all the other -isms that we deal with, that sort of nameless -ism that we have in too many of our hearts against the poor in this country is what wounds us most broadly.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote addresses the underlying prejudices against the poor that affect society as a whole.
Benjamin Todd Jealous highlights the pervasive, often unacknowledged biases or 'isms' that individuals hold against those who are impoverished. He suggests that these negative attitudes create wounds in our society, causing harm not only to the individuals who suffer from poverty but also reflecting poorly on our collective humanity. This statement serves as a call to recognize and address these injustices within our hearts and communities.
Themes
PovertyPrejudiceSocietyInjusticeCompassion
In practice
Example use cases
In a community meeting discussing social welfare programs.
More from Benjamin Todd Jealous
All quotes →Civil marriage, like all civil rights provided by the government, must be provided equally to all Americans.
Benjamin Todd JealousRead
Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them. It misdirects crucial resources and undercuts the trust needed between law enforcement and the communities they serve. It has no place in our national discourse, and no place in our nation's police departments.
Benjamin Todd JealousRead
Similar quotes
The life-fate of the modern individual depends not only upon the family into which he was born or which he enters by marriage, but increasingly upon the corporation in which he spends the most alert hours of his best years.
C. Wright MillsRead
A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is.
LaoziRead
Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience. A rustling in the leaves drives him away.
Walter BenjaminRead
Our brain is mapping the world. Often that map is distorted, but it's a map with constant immediate sensory input.
E. O. WilsonRead
Women have seldom sufficient employment to silence their feelings; a round of little cares, or vain pursuits frittering away all strength of mind and organs, they become naturally only objects of sense.
Mary WollstonecraftRead
As we discern a fine line between crank and genius, so also (and unfortunately) we must acknowledge an equally graded trajectory from crank to demagogue. When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.
Stephen Jay GouldRead