Part of the American ethos is that you want to leave something better for your kids than you had and I know that my parents felt that way and I know that my grandparents felt that way and everybody worked hard so that their kids had a better chance. I just don't want to be the first generation that doesn't do that.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the desire to improve opportunities for future generations.
In this quote, Matt Damon reflects on the American ideal of striving to provide a better life for one's children than what one has experienced. He expresses a deep-rooted belief, shared by his ancestors, that hard work and dedication should lead to improved chances for the next generation, and he feels a strong responsibility not to let that legacy diminish.
In practice
In a graduation speech highlighting the importance of family values and personal responsibility.
Some people get into this business and they're so afraid to lose anything. They try to protect their position like clinging to a beachhead. These actors end up making really safe choices. I never wanted to go that route. If I go down, I'm going down swinging.
Being known as a writer did change the relationships I had with directors. The rap on actors is that they always want to inflate their parts. But when directors know you write screenplays and have a different view of things, you really get invited into the huddle in a much fuller way. And those collaborations end in friendships.
You will never solve poverty without solving water and sanitation.
Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage
It's just better to be yourself than to try to be some version of what you think the other person wants.
If I had a bucket list, I'd say raising my four girls to be strong, good women would be No. 1.
What do most people say on their deathbed? They don't say, 'I wish I'd made more money.' What they say is, 'I wish I'd spent more time with my family and done more for society or my community.'
As a parent, if give yourself what you need, your children will watch you doing that and will give themselves what they need.
Chemo days make me tired, though it's hard to say that's because of the chemo when you have kids who have inherited their dad's usual energy level.
My family was mostly unemployed working class.
My mother sang with me in her stomach; I sang with Bobbi Kris in my stomach. I believe the child starts to develop within, and whatever you read, whatever you think, whatever you do affects the child.
All mothers are mothers of great people, and it is not their fault that life later disappoints them.
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