Today, for many people, being a union member simply means paying dues, but in the early days there were so few of us that if a majority of the members were not active, the union ceased to exist.

there is nothing more American than the trade-union movement.

What the woman who labors wants is the right to live, not simply exist ... the right to life, and the sun and music and art ... The worker must have bread, but she must have roses too.

The life of men and women is so cheap and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if 146 of us are burned to death.

I know from my experience it is up to the working people to save themselves. The only way they can save themselves is by a strong working-class movement.

... it is the spirit of trade unionism that is most important, the service of fellowship, the feeling that the hurt of one is the concern of all and that the work of the individual benefits all.

Then came a big strike. About 100 girls went out. The result was a victory, which netted us - I mean the girls - $2 increase in our wages on the average.

We have tried you citizens; we are trying you now, and you have a couple of dollars for the sorrowing mothers, brothers and sisters by way of a charity gift.

All the time our union was progressing very nicely. There were lectures to make us understand what trades unionism is and our real position in the labor movement.

I cannot think of a thing that was better in those good old days.

You have nothing that the humblest worker has not a right to have also.

Rejection isn't failure. Failure is giving up. Everybody gets rejected. It's how you handle it that determines where you'll end up.

So my father was a person who never lied to me. If I had a question, he answered it. I knew a lot of things at a young age because I was intrigued.

The soul was not cured, it was as full as a clothes closet of dresses that did not fit.

Best wide-angle lens? Two steps backward. Look for the 'ah-ha'.

It is the height of professionalism to be able to make an ordinary piece of music sound good. When playing routine melodic studies the player must treat them as if they are musical value.

The fact is I am growing old too fast, alas! I feel it, and yet work I will, and may God grant me life to see the last plate of my mammoth work finished.

Before I can accept someone's help, I must accept their presence.

The first axiom of the family vacation is that someone, possibly everyone, will get sick.

I don’t deny that there can be an element of escapism in mountaineering, but this should never overshadow its real essence, which is not escape but victory over your own human frailty.

Pitching always beats batting — and vice-versa.