I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.
Yes, we now have to divide up our time like that, between politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever.
I claim to be no more than the average person with less than average ability. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith.
To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.
I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.
"The Newspaper That Obstructs The Law On A Trivial Pretext, For Money's Sake, Is A Dangerous Enemy To The Public Weal. That Awful Power, The Public Opinion Of A Nation, Is Created In America By A Horde Of Ignorant, Self-complacent Simpletons Who Failed At Ditching And Shoemaking And Fetched Up In Journalism On Their Way To The Poorhouse."