--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: change starts at the bottom. I think…" description: "\"change starts at the bottom. I think we're disempowered by the idea that it starts at the top, when really change is like a tree. It does start at the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9e/gloria-steinem-277_bottom_change-starts-at-the-bottom-i-think-we-r_2198311.jpg" --- # change starts at the bottom. I think we're disempowered by… ![“change starts at the bottom. I think we're disempowered by the idea that it starts at the top, when really change is like a tree. It does start at the bottom.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9e/gloria-steinem-277_bottom_change-starts-at-the-bottom-i-think-we-r_2198311.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9e/gloria-steinem-277_bottom_change-starts-at-the-bottom-i-think-we-r_2198311.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a9e/gloria-steinem-277_bottom_change-starts-at-the-bottom-i-think-we-r_2198311.jpg) > “change starts at the bottom. I think we're disempowered by the idea that it starts at the top, when really change is like a tree. It does start at the bottom.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True change begins with grassroots effort; top‑down approaches overlook foundational work. **In simple terms:** Change starts from the ground up. Key Takeaway Build from the bottom. Themes change grassroots empowerment Mood inspirational pragmatic Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - community organizing - policy reform - business innovation - environmental activism Key Concepts systems theory bottom‑up dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What small actions can you start today? - How can you support bottom‑up initiatives? A Different Perspective Top leaders can still drive change; ignoring them may stall progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bottom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Change Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-like/) [Change Starts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change-starts-271541/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Really Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/really-change/) [Starts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starts/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) ## Related quotes > [The electoral system is not where change starts - it usually starts in communities and from the bottom up - but it is where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-electoral-system-is-not-where-change-starts-it-usually-starts-in/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [You don't really have to change for me. I like you the way you are :3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramandeep-singh/you-don-t-really-have-to-change-for-me-i-like-you-the-way-you-are-3/) [Ramandeep Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramandeep-singh/) > [Change always starts with a girl,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-calvin/change-always-starts-with-a-girl/) [Kathy Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-calvin/) > [Change starts from within first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vonzetta/change-starts-from-within-first/) [Vonzetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vonzetta/) > [The reality, I believe, is that all change starts small. The big picture is just too unwieldy, too incomprehensible and seemingly immovable. But give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-ebeling/the-reality-i-believe-is-that-all-change-starts-small-the-big-picture/) [Mick Ebeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-ebeling/) > [The change starts within each one of us. And ends only when all children are free to be children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-kielburger/the-change-starts-within-each-one-of-us-and-ends-only-when-all/) [Craig Kielburger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-kielburger/) > [I happen to believe the world will change only when we change ourselves. And that starts with finding ourselves: learning to quiet the clamor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-cutrone/i-happen-to-believe-the-world-will-change-only-when-we-change/) [Kelly Cutrone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-cutrone/) > [We have to look in the mirror first. What are we doing? How can we make a change? It always starts with looking in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-earle/we-have-to-look-in-the-mirror-first-what-are-we-doing-how-can-we-make/) [Sylvia Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-earle/) > [I see a deep connection between peace and change: peace always starts from within, for communities and people alike. The same is true of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forest-whitaker/i-see-a-deep-connection-between-peace-and-change-peace-always-starts/) [Forest Whitaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forest-whitaker/) > [Meaningful and lasting change starts on the inside and works its way out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/meaningful-and-lasting-change-starts-on-the-inside-and-works-its-way/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Step out, trust yourself and allow the path to emerge. Change starts within, where you learn to trust your intuition, and then change happens…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/step-out-trust-yourself-and-allow-the-path-to-emerge-change-starts/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [Change starts when someone sees the next step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-drayton/change-starts-when-someone-sees-the-next-step/) [William Drayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-drayton/) > [All change starts with a distant rumble at the grassroots level.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-coburn/all-change-starts-with-a-distant-rumble-at-the-grassroots-level/) [Tom Coburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-coburn/) > [Change starts in someone life, when they decide to stop doing the same shit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/merle-rutledge-jr/change-starts-in-someone-life-when-they-decide-to-stop-doing-the-same/) [Merle Rutledge Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/merle-rutledge-jr/) > [Change always starts in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/change-always-starts-in-your-mind-the-way-you-think-determines-the/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Bottom quotes > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Filmmaking, like sex, isn't a polite enterprise. It involves a lot of mess and the bottom line is, if somebody ain't screaming, you're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-woods/filmmaking-like-sex-isn-t-a-polite-enterprise-it-involves-a-lot-of/) [James Woods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-woods/) > [I was terrible student. I was capable, but I never like being told what to do, so I was always in the bottom class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-lilley/i-was-terrible-student-i-was-capable-but-i-never-like-being-told-what/) [Chris Lilley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-lilley/) > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [I plead with my Moonlight fans to give this show a chance if they let me give it a chance. I can’t do Moonlight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-o-loughlin/i-plead-with-my-moonlight-fans-to-give-this-show-a-chance-if-they-let/) [Alex O'Loughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-o-loughlin/) > [Well, the bottom line is that I'm extremely pleased with 'The Stupids.' I'm pleased that it's coming out, and it should look good. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-landis/well-the-bottom-line-is-that-i-m-extremely-pleased-with-the-stupids-i/) [John Landis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-landis/) > [Search for the seed of good in every adversity. Master that principle and you will own a precious shield that will guard you well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/search-for-the-seed-of-good-in-every-adversity-master-that-principle/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [I would have had a clause in my contract; I would've definitely put some fine print in my contract that said, "If the president…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-budden/i-would-have-had-a-clause-in-my-contract-i-would-ve-definitely-put/) [Joe Budden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-budden/) > [Of course the Dharma-body of the Buddha was the hedge at the bottom of the garden. At the same time, and no less obviously,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/of-course-the-dharma-body-of-the-buddha-was-the-hedge-at-the-bottom/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When I hit bottom, I can attack the problem and get to where I want to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-rodman/when-i-hit-bottom-i-can-attack-the-problem-and-get-to-where-i-want-to/) [Dennis Rodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-rodman/) > [If I had lost the popular vote but won the electoral college and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/if-i-had-lost-the-popular-vote-but-won-the-electoral-college-and-in/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [The bottom line, in the professional level, no matter where you go, there's going to be competition. That's what it is. At the end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-tolzien/the-bottom-line-in-the-professional-level-no-matter-where-you-go/) [Scott Tolzien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-tolzien/) > [Life is a climb and it's a struggle getting to the top but the drop to the bottom can be quick and so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/life-is-a-climb-and-it-s-a-struggle-getting-to-the-top-but-the-drop/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [One thing you learned as a Cubs fan: when you bought you ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-garagiola/one-thing-you-learned-as-a-cubs-fan-when-you-bought-you-ticket-you/) [Joe Garagiola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-garagiola/) > [The political satirist usually votes against their own interests, but the bottom line is that it doesn't really matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lizz-winstead/the-political-satirist-usually-votes-against-their-own-interests-but/) [Lizz Winstead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lizz-winstead/) [Browse all 2,558 Bottom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "change starts at the bottom. 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