Quotes About Opportunity

Carter also was trying to deal with a flood of illegal immigrants from Mexico. He suggested that nothing could be done about that immigration as long as there was a great gap in opportunity and living standards between the United States and Mexico. Rather than spending money on border guards and barriers, he said, we should spend money helping to build the Mexican economy, and we should continue to do so until the immigration stopped.

Oh, so seldom does fate cast our enemy into our hands, to do with as we will

Of course, thirty would be nice again. I screwed that decade up and could really use a do-over.

Shortly thereafter, some friends encouraged me to try out for the Miss South Carolina World beauty pageant. To my surprise, I won - and was sent to New York City to compete nationally.

Higher education is one of few areas where this country competes with the rest of the world and wins. The best of American higher education outstrips any in the world. Look where the rest of the world goes for higher education, for graduate degrees. They come here.

Every year, I am reminded of the kids who aren't in the freshman class and aren't graduating. I remember every single one of them. That is the worst of times for me, to see the future snuffed out.

You go to college not only for the latest knowledge but also to meet people from different backgrounds. That's the genius of the American higher-education system compared with the Europeans'. We don't simply skim the elite.

It is better to have bounced and bumped than never to have bounced at all.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." — HELEN KELLER (1880–1968)

A real democracy would be a meritocracy where those born in the lower ranks could rise as far as their natural talents and discipline might take them.

self-selecting process of elimination for most things life offered, such as risk and adventure.

An alternative method is this: from time to time give yourself a day on which you say "Yes" to every request made of you which is at all reasonable. The more you tend to retire from society in your leisure, the more valuable this will be.

A system designed to build white wealth will ultimately not work to build black wealth.

Grab your coat and get your hat,Leave your worry on the doorstep,Just direct your feetTo the sunny side of the street.

from Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat: "Set not thy heart on any good or gain, Life means but pleasure, or means but pain; when Time lets slip a little perfect hour, O take it - for it will not come again.

She'd once told me that I was probably the only person on earth who'd be given more than one soapbox in their lifetime because their first one had been worn out.

Every second counts

Always regret the things you did do, never the things you didn't.

A friend of ours, when she trips over some surprisingly intense emotional response, says, philosophically, "Oh well—AFOG," which stands, she says, for Another Fucking Opportunity for Growth.

My mother explained it for him once. "There is nothing there for anyone who has ambition and intelligence," she said.

Sometimes failure isn't an opportunity in disguise, it's just you.

No matter how impressive the structure, or how lengthy the preparation, or how unique the design, Christian communication—whether it's a sermon, a talk, a Bible study, or a devotional—that doesn't help people connect to God is a waste of time, effort, and opportunity. It's a bridge to nowhere, and a bridge to nowhere is no bridge at all.

When there is darkness there is no point to be down. It is your chance to shine!

Having already worked in publishing for a number of years, I was not naive when I entered the submission fray. I knew I would have only one chance to submit my fiction to my agent, and that she would have only one chance to submit it to publishers. So I held on to it, revising and polishing obsessively over twenty-three drafts before I shared it with my agent.