Robert Reich quotes: wise famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Robert Reich

Robert Reich Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from Robert Reich on Wise Famous Quotes.

Well-trained and dedicated employees are the only sustainable source of competitive strength.

Those who analogize the federal budget to a family's budget must know nothing about either.

Technology is changing so fast that knowledge about specifics can quickly become obsolete. That's why so much of what technicians learn is on the job.

I'm all in favor of supporting fancy museums and elite schools, but face it: These aren't really charities as most people understand the term.

If you give up on democracy, you might as well give up on everything.

Any bank that is too big to fail is too big. Period.

Corporations aren't people. They have no brains, no consciences, no capacity for intent or guilt.

It's not government's business what people do in their private bedrooms.

We need to expand Social Security to prevent the looming retirement crisis, and we can do it simply by asking billionaires to pay their fair share.

Social change occurs when the gap between the ideals that people hold and the reality that they see every day gets too large.

Globalization and free trade do spur economic growth, and they lead to lower prices on many goods.

Terrorism itself is not the greatest danger we face,

Those who take their money abroad in an effort to avoid paying American taxes should lose their American citizenship.

We don't have to sit by and watch our meritocracy be replaced by a permanent aristocracy, and our democracy be undermined by dynastic wealth.

It is hard to bite the hands that feed you, especially when you are competing for food.

Average working people need more fresh starts. Big corporations, banks, and Donald Trump need fewer.

Public institutions are supported by all taxpayers and are available to all.

So why don't nurses do home visits to Americans with acute conditions? Hospitals aren't paid for it.

Limits should be placed on how big big banks can become.

I want a shot for people like me to grow up and do something with themselves.

It's true that redistributing income to the needy is politically easier in a growing economy than in a stagnant one.

The job creators are members of America's vast middle class and the poor, whose purchases cause businesses to expand and invest.

We need a national infrastructure bank to rebuild our crumbling highways and water and sewer systems, thereby putting additional people back to work.

Money buys the most experienced teachers, less-crowded classrooms, high-quality teaching materials, and after-school programs.

Cynicism is the last refuge of those who don't want to do the work of creating a better society.

Corporations are not people, despite what the Supreme Court says, and they don't need or deserve handouts.

A lot of attention has been going to social values - abortion, gay rights, other divisive issues - but economic values are equally important.

As we segregate by income into different communities, schools in lower-income areas have fewer resources than ever.

More people are killed by stray bullets every day in America than have been killed by Ebola here. More are dying because of poverty and hunger.

Media outlets that are exploiting Ebola because they want a sensational story and politicians using it to their own ends ought to be ashamed.

Drug company payments to doctors are a small part of a much larger strategy by Big Pharma to clean our pockets.

Too many young people graduate laden with debts that take years, if not decades, to pay off.

Our young people - their capacities to think, understand, investigate, and innovate - are America's future.

I'm 40 years old. What I have seen my whole life is widening income inequality.

Inequality is bad for everyone, not just the middle class and the poor

On the Republican playing field, Republicans always win.

In the '90s it was irrational exuberance. Now it may be irrational doom and gloom.

Government subsidies to elite private universities take the form of tax deductions for people who make charitable contributions to them.

Bill Clinton was a great politician. Bill Clinton loved a fight. He was willing to fight. But he also wanted to be loved. He wanted to be admired.

Centrism is bogus.

True patriotism isn't cheap. It's about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.

In America, people with lots of money can easily avoid the consequences of bad bets and big losses by cashing out at the first sign of trouble.

Britain's is traditionally a rigid class society.

Only if everyone buys insurance can insurers afford to cover people with preexisting conditions or pay the costs of catastrophic diseases.

The United States is a safe harbor.

The 'free market' is the product of laws and rules continuously emanating from legislatures, executive departments, and courts.

Socialism for rich bankers and capitalism for everyone else.

When I was a small boy, I was bullied more than most, mainly because I was a foot shorter than everyone else.

You can't inspire people if you are going to be uninspiring.

In truth, government has been good to Wall Street and big business.

When times are tough, public employees should have to make the same sacrifices as everyone else.

In Washington, it's dog eat dog. In academia, it's exactly the opposite.

The fastest growing occupation in the private sector is security guards. The fastest growing occupation in the public sector is prison guards. (1992)

If we give up on politics, we're done for. Powerlessness is a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Liberals are concerned about the concentration of wealth because it almost inevitably leads to a concentration of power that undermines democracy.

There is a deep desire to change the power structure.

Bankruptcy laws allow companies to smoothly reorganize, but not college graduates burdened by student loans.

Every organization, no matter who it is, just follow the money.

What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society.

Evidence suggests jobs are crucial not only to economic well-being but also to self-esteem.

Most Americans are on a downward escalator. Median wage in the United States, adjusted for inflation, keeps on dropping.

Public employees should have the right to bargain for better wages and working conditions, just like all employees do.

In the life of a nation, few ideas are more dangerous than good solutions to the wrong problems.

The problem right now is jobs. The problem right now is the economy and economic growth.

You can't create a political movement out of pabulum.

The Tea Party is but one manifestation of a widening perception that the game is rigged in favor of the rich and powerful.

Standing up to bullies is the hallmark of a civilized society.

Median wages of production workers, who comprise 80 percent of the workforce, haven't risen in 30 years, adjusted for inflation.

Radical conservatives want to police bedrooms.

The largest party in America, by the way, is neither the Democrats nor the Republicans. It's the party of non-voters.

Look, any cut in greenhouse gases is going to be expensive for American consumers, who are in no mood to bear additional costs.

Universities have to tame their budgets, especially for student amenities that have nothing to do with education.

I grew up poor. My mother raised a family of four on between $9,000 and $15,000 a year.

I have found over the years that the most important way of getting people to relax is self-deprecating humor.

America's real business leaders understand unless or until the middle class regains its footing and its faith, capitalism remains vulnerable.

In journalism, there are only two stories - "Oh, the wonder of it," and "Oh, the shame of it."

Increasingly, corporate nationality is whatever a corporation decides it is.

There will always be a business cycle, and white-collar workers will get hit in the next recession like they always do in recessions.

It is impossible to fight bullies merely by saying they're going too far.

There is a crisis of public morality. Instead of policing bedrooms, we ought to be doing a better job policing boardrooms.

Regardless of how you interpret the facts, you have to come to the conclusion that inequality is widening in the US and in almost every other country.

The Democratic Party is DEAD.

Averages don't always reveal the most telling realities. You know, Shaquille O'Neal and I have an average height of 6 feet.

In reality, most of America's poor work hard, often in two or more jobs.

Conservatives believe the economy functions better if the rich have more money and everyone else has less. But they're wrong. It's just the opposite.

America is one of few advanced nations that allow direct advertising of prescription drugs.

The only way to make sure no bank is too big to fail is to make sure no bank is too big.

If you want to be a change agent, you have to ready to fail.

Public fear isn't something to be played with.