--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: she quickly hired a housekeeper and a…" description: "\"“she quickly hired a housekeeper and a kitchen staff for the White House and then threw herself into what mattered far more to her—civil rights, women’..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/laura-shapiro-28882_civil-rights_she-quickly-hired-a-housekeeper-and-a-ki_2204125.jpg" --- # she quickly hired a housekeeper and a kitchen staff for… ![“she quickly hired a housekeeper and a kitchen staff for the White House and then threw herself into what mattered far more to her—civil rights, women’s equality, poverty, housing, employment, and the war. She was the busiest, most public, most productive First Lady in history, and complaints about…” quote by Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/laura-shapiro-28882_civil-rights_she-quickly-hired-a-housekeeper-and-a-ki_2204125.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/laura-shapiro-28882_civil-rights_she-quickly-hired-a-housekeeper-and-a-ki_2204125.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/laura-shapiro-28882_civil-rights_she-quickly-hired-a-housekeeper-and-a-ki_2204125.jpg) > ““she quickly hired a housekeeper and a kitchen staff for the White House and then threw herself into what mattered far more to her—civil rights, women’s equality, poverty, housing, employment, and the war. She was the busiest, most public, most productive First Lady in history, and complaints about dinner just didn’t register. But”” [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Eleanor Roosevelt prioritized civil rights and social issues over ceremonial duties, delegating household tasks to focus on activism. **In simple terms:** She chose activism over tradition. Key Takeaway Focus on impact, not appearances. Themes activism leadership gender equality Mood determined inspirational Type historical biographical When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community organizing - public speaking - media engagement Key Concepts social reform public service Questions to Reflect On - How can leaders delegate routine tasks to pursue larger goals? - What sacrifices are necessary for social change? A Different Perspective Balancing personal life with public expectations can be taxing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civil Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-right/) [Civil rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-rights/) [First lady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-lady/) [Hired Housekeeper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hired-housekeeper-4853659/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Housekeeper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housekeeper/) [Housekeeper Kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housekeeper-kitchen-4853663/) [Productive Lady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/productive-lady-4853657/) [Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trump/) [White house](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-house/) ## Related quotes > [The earth doesn't have a housekeeper to do the dusting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/the-earth-doesn-t-have-a-housekeeper-to-do-the-dusting/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“All these years I've been...I'm...' He still seemed to be choking. 'I'm...an orphan. I'm...I'm alone. I'm...I'm...I'm...free.' He pushed himself up on one elbow, staring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hardinge/all-these-years-i-ve-been-i-m-he-still-seemed-to-be-choking-i-m-an/) [Frances Hardinge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hardinge/) > [“Even his housekeeper communicated with him by letter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/even-his-housekeeper-communicated-with-him-by-letter/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [Sunday is the day I do my laundry and clean. I'm always trying to get rid of stuff. Truthfully? I have a housekeeper that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-yee/sunday-is-the-day-i-do-my-laundry-and-clean-i-m-always-trying-to-get/) [Angela Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-yee/) > [Marriage is a bribe to make the housekeeper think she's a householder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thornton-wilder/marriage-is-a-bribe-to-make-the-housekeeper-think-she-s-a-householder/) [Thornton Wilder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thornton-wilder/) > [“Routine is the housekeeper of inspiration”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-ruiz-zafon/routine-is-the-housekeeper-of-inspiration/) [Carlos Ruiz Zafón](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-ruiz-zafon/) > [“And Your modest ambition is to be a good housekeeper, isn't it?" "Well, yes, Papa; but not only that. I was thinking about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-wells/and-your-modest-ambition-is-to-be-a-good-housekeeper-isn-t-it-well/) [Carolyn Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-wells/) > [I wasn't put on this earth to be housekeeper to my own child or to anyone else for that matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-freed/i-wasn-t-put-on-this-earth-to-be-housekeeper-to-my-own-child-or-to/) [Lynn Freed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-freed/) > [Im an excellent housekeeper..Every time I get divorce I keep the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-an-excellent-housekeeper-every-time-i-get-divorce-i-keep-the-house/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never felt I could give up my life of freedom to become a man's housekeeper. When I was young, if a girl married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-b-anthony/i-never-felt-i-could-give-up-my-life-of-freedom-to-become-a-man-s/) [Susan B. Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-b-anthony/) > [“Joy is your heart's housekeeper.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-wray/joy-is-your-heart-s-housekeeper/) [Gayle Wray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-wray/) > [“He called the operator from the phone in the kitchen and then left a message for Mr. Keane at his office. As luck would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-mcdermott/he-called-the-operator-from-the-phone-in-the-kitchen-and-then-left-a/) [Alice McDermott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-mcdermott/) > [God bless my mother - she's long gone now, but she'd work all day and go to school at night. She started out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-banks/god-bless-my-mother-she-s-long-gone-now-but-she-d-work-all-day-and-go/) [Jonathan Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-banks/) > [I'm an excellent housekeeper. Every time I get a divorce, I keep the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zsa-zsa-gabo/i-m-an-excellent-housekeeper-every-time-i-get-a-divorce-i-keep-the/) [Zsa Zsa Gabo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zsa-zsa-gabo/) > [“I am a good housekeeper. You can eat off my kitchen floor. Just scoop all the crumbs together and you've got quite a meal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janene-murphy/i-am-a-good-housekeeper-you-can-eat-off-my-kitchen-floor-just-scoop/) [Janene Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janene-murphy/) ## More by Laura Shapiro > [“Julia’s attitude toward British food—that it was inedible, that it had little relevant history apart from being inedible, and that a more sensible population…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/julia-s-attitude-toward-british-food-that-it-was-inedible-that-it-had/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Any morsel that wasn’t low-calorie was “sinful,” “naughty,” “gobble gobble gobble,” “heavy sinning,” or “a cruel but devastating lover.” Just”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/any-morsel-that-wasn-t-low-calorie-was-sinful-naughty-gobble-gobble/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Tell me what you ate when you were a child, and whether the memory cheers you up or not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/tell-me-what-you-ate-when-you-were-a-child-and-whether-the-memory/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“These new friends had fought for suffrage, they had won, and now they were determined to use the vote to advance women’s interests. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/these-new-friends-had-fought-for-suffrage-they-had-won-and-now-they/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“At Cornell she had discovered that domesticity had a brain; here, in the beloved, safe home that was entirely hers, she was learning that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/at-cornell-she-had-discovered-that-domesticity-had-a-brain-here-in/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“I had erected someone outside myself who was the President’s wife. I was lost somewhere deep down inside myself. That is the way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/i-had-erected-someone-outside-myself-who-was-the-president-s-wife-i/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Hitler’s aide, used to see her sitting with Hitler in his study at night, wearing a dressing gown, having champagne while he drank tea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/hitler-s-aide-used-to-see-her-sitting-with-hitler-in-his-study-at/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“To be a wife was to cook. Not to eat—that was a different matter entirely—but to cook.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/to-be-a-wife-was-to-cook-not-to-eat-that-was-a-different-matter/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“But what struck me as I followed the paper trail through each life was that while extraordinary circumstances produce extraordinary women, food makes them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/but-what-struck-me-as-i-followed-the-paper-trail-through-each-life/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Her favorite place to watch human behavior was a restaurant, for there she could sit quietly in the background while people interacted with food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/her-favorite-place-to-watch-human-behavior-was-a-restaurant-for-there/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Culinary historians looking back at the first decades of the twenty-first century will be blessed with vast quantities of material to study, thanks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/culinary-historians-looking-back-at-the-first-decades-of-the-twenty/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“We’re meant to read the lives of important people as if they never bothered with breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or took a coffee break,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/we-re-meant-to-read-the-lives-of-important-people-as-if-they-never/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“After all, academic reputations were at stake. Home cooking was associated with women, which was bad enough, and housework, which was fatal. Luckily”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/after-all-academic-reputations-were-at-stake-home-cooking-was/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“Toward the end of February 1954, James Beard was at work in his Greenwich Village kitchen doing what he most loved to do: cooking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/toward-the-end-of-february-1954-james-beard-was-at-work-in-his/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) > [“She was the rare feminist, possibly the only feminist, with an unabashed commitment to male supremacy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-shapiro/she-was-the-rare-feminist-possibly-the-only-feminist-with-an/) [Laura Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) [Explore all 19 Laura Shapiro quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-shapiro/) ## More Civil rights quotes > [Every one knows that the exercise of military power is forever dangerous to civil rights; and we have had recent instances of violences that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-adams/every-one-knows-that-the-exercise-of-military-power-is-forever/) [Samuel Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-adams/) > [I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-for-freedom-of-religion-and-against-all-maneuvers-to-bring-about/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [I speak not for myself, but so those without a voice can be heard. Those who have fought for their rights. Their right to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malala-yousafzai/i-speak-not-for-myself-but-so-those-without-a-voice-can-be-heard/) [Malala Yousafzai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malala-yousafzai/) > [The Patriot Act is certainly a concern; all of those things are dangerous. I think more important than me preaching is that we as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/the-patriot-act-is-certainly-a-concern-all-of-those-things-are/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/american-civil-rights-leader-where-do-we-go-from-here-chaos-or/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Why do we apologize for advocating for ourselves? Why do we apologize for taking up space that we are entitled to? Why do we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-tambascio/why-do-we-apologize-for-advocating-for-ourselves-why-do-we-apologize/) [Elizabeth Tambascio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-tambascio/) > [We are a nation of innovators and problem-solvers who sparked revolutions in democratic government, civil rights, communications, flight, rural electrification and technology. We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-a-mcchrystal/we-are-a-nation-of-innovators-and-problem-solvers-who-sparked/) [Stanley A. McChrystal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-a-mcchrystal/) > [“Mental illness is not something you misunderstand in this era. Get educated because bias is no different than racism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/mental-illness-is-not-something-you-misunderstand-in-this-era-get/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [Civil rights leaders are involved in helping poor people. That's what I've been doing all my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-young/civil-rights-leaders-are-involved-in-helping-poor-people-that-s-what/) [Andrew Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-young/) > [I grew up in the early '60s, and there was a lot of civil rights, a lot of unrest in our country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herm-edwards/i-grew-up-in-the-early-60s-and-there-was-a-lot-of-civil-rights-a-lot/) [Herm Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herm-edwards/) > [The great paradox of the civil rights revolution is that instead of enforcing and expanding equality before the law, the revolution created differential rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-craig-roberts/the-great-paradox-of-the-civil-rights-revolution-is-that-instead-of/) [Paul Craig Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-craig-roberts/) > [The world - and America - has been defined by people who haven't necessarily abided by the laws and the rules. Civil disobedience is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rory-kennedy/the-world-and-america-has-been-defined-by-people-who-haven-t/) [Rory Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rory-kennedy/) > [I do not believe that defending traditional marriage between one man and one woman excludes anybody or usurps anybody's civil rights and denies anybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-autry/i-do-not-believe-that-defending-traditional-marriage-between-one-man/) [Alan Autry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-autry/) > [Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/truth-is-on-the-side-of-the-oppressed-today-it-s-against-the-oppressor/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [The notion of women being written out of history is as old as the Bible, but it always seems more galling when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-thornberry/the-notion-of-women-being-written-out-of-history-is-as-old-as-the/) [Emily Thornberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-thornberry/) [Browse all 1,552 Civil rights quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-rights/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“she quickly hired a housekeeper and a kitchen staff for the White House and then threw herself into what mattered far more to her—civil rights, women’s equality, poverty, housing, employment, and the war. 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