--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: None of us got where we are solely by…" description: "\"None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody - a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ef/thurgood-marshall-10063_bent_none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pu_928769.jpg" --- # None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up… ![“None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody - a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns - bent down and helped us pick up our boots.” quote by Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ef/thurgood-marshall-10063_bent_none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pu_928769.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ef/thurgood-marshall-10063_bent_none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pu_928769.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2ef/thurgood-marshall-10063_bent_none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pu_928769.jpg) > “None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody - a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns - bent down and helped us pick up our boots.” [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success often depends on external support, not just personal effort; community lifts individuals. **In simple terms:** We need help to succeed. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and give support. Themes equality education solidarity Mood grateful motivational Type ethical inspirational When to use this quote - academic pursuits - career advancement - entrepreneurship - personal setbacks Key Concepts social capital mentorship structural advantage Questions to Reflect On - Who helped you along the way? - How can you pay it forward? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on individualism can ignore systemic barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bent/) [Bent Helped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bent-helped-1496822/) [Boots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boots/) [Bootstraps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bootstraps/) [Bootstraps Got](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bootstraps-got-1496821/) [Ivy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ivy/) [Ivy league](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ivy-league/) [League](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/league/) [Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parent/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Pick Boots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pick-boots-1496820/) [Pulling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pulling/) [Pulling Bootstraps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pulling-bootstraps-455625/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) ## Related quotes > [None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pulling-ourselves-up-by-our/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible — I saw this guy do it once in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/i-believe-in-pulling-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps-i-believe-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It's an appeal as old as America and its presidency: This is an extraordinary country populated by hard-working, big-dreaming, freedom-loving people graced by God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/it-s-an-appeal-as-old-as-america-and-its-presidency-this-is-an/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [I'm actually loving the soundtrack to 'The Secret Circle' that our music supervisor Liza Richardson puts together, like Washed Out and Cults, but my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelley-hennig/i-m-actually-loving-the-soundtrack-to-the-secret-circle-that-our/) [Shelley Hennig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelley-hennig/) > [I think that now most people know someone in their family that is coping with something, but there is still a tremendous amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/i-think-that-now-most-people-know-someone-in-their-family-that-is/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [Computers bootstrap their own offspring, grow so wise and incomprehensible that their communiqués assume the hallmarks of dementia: unfocused and irrelevant to the barely-intelligent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-watts/computers-bootstrap-their-own-offspring-grow-so-wise-and/) [Peter Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-watts/) > [I don't want people who are in poverty, in pain, or suffering, to suffer because it's for their own good and they can pull…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/i-don-t-want-people-who-are-in-poverty-in-pain-or-suffering-to-suffer/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [President Obama is casting his lot in the middle of a debate as old as America itself: Are we rugged individualists pulling ourselves up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-fournier/president-obama-is-casting-his-lot-in-the-middle-of-a-debate-as-old/) [Ron Fournier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-fournier/) > [‎It is a cruel injustice to tell a bootless man to pull himself up by his bootstraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/it-is-a-cruel-injustice-to-tell-a-bootless-man-to-pull-himself-up-by/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We live in a world where not everyone has the urge to help others... It is OK to encourage others to pull themselves up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/we-live-in-a-world-where-not-everyone-has-the-urge-to-help-others-it/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [You are not obligated to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find a way to conquer the odds, to be stronger or transform…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tullian-tchividjian/you-are-not-obligated-to-pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps-and-find/) [Tullian Tchividjian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tullian-tchividjian/) > [I think everyone has some sort of connection to Gatsby as a character... he's created himself according to his own emotions and dreams and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/i-think-everyone-has-some-sort-of-connection-to-gatsby-as-a-character/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [If there is still an American dream, reading is one of the bootstraps by which we can all pull ourselves up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karin-slaughter/if-there-is-still-an-american-dream-reading-is-one-of-the-bootstraps/) [Karin Slaughter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karin-slaughter/) > [Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/salvation-is-not-some-felicitous-state-to-which-we-can-lift-ourselves/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [We at the Bureau have the most exciting and satisfying jobs in the world. In a society that stresses individual achievement - where you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-wilhelm-joseph-schelling/we-at-the-bureau-have-the-most-exciting-and-satisfying-jobs-in-the/) [Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-wilhelm-joseph-schelling/) ## More by Thurgood Marshall > [None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/none-of-us-got-where-we-are-solely-by-pulling-ourselves-up-by-our/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [This is a great country, but fortunately for you, it is not perfect. There is much to be done to bring about complete equality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/this-is-a-great-country-but-fortunately-for-you-it-is-not-perfect/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Classifications and distinctions based on race or color have no moral or legal validity in our society. They are contrary to our constitution and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/classifications-and-distinctions-based-on-race-or-color-have-no-moral/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/our-whole-constitutional-heritage-rebels-at-the-thought-of-giving/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [We are all the same](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/we-are-all-the-same/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [We could get more action in the South because the Negroes had a feeling that they were being oppressed. But you take New York,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/we-could-get-more-action-in-the-south-because-the-negroes-had-a/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [We must dissent from the fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/we-must-dissent-from-the-fear/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [I have a lifetime appointment and I intend to serve it. I expect to die at 110, shot by a jealous husband.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/i-have-a-lifetime-appointment-and-i-intend-to-serve-it-i-expect-to/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [The Ku Klux Klan never dies. They just stop wearing sheets because sheets cost too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/the-ku-klux-klan-never-dies-they-just-stop-wearing-sheets-because/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Some may more quietly commemorate the suffering, struggle, and sacrifice that has triumphed over much of what was wrong with the original document, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/some-may-more-quietly-commemorate-the-suffering-struggle-and/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [It is now well established that the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas. ... This right to receive information and ideas,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/it-is-now-well-established-that-the-constitution-protects-the-right/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring several amendments, a civil war and momentous social transformation to attain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/to-the-contrary-the-government-they-devised-was-defective-from-the/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Today's Constitution is a realistic document of freedom only because of several corrective amendments. Those amendments speak to a sense of decency and fairness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/today-s-constitution-is-a-realistic-document-of-freedom-only-because/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [Truth is more than a mental exercise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/truth-is-more-than-a-mental-exercise/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) > [I wish I could say that racism and prejudice were only distant memories. We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thurgood-marshall/i-wish-i-could-say-that-racism-and-prejudice-were-only-distant/) [Thurgood Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) [Explore all 68 Thurgood Marshall quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thurgood-marshall/) ## More Bent quotes > [I have heard that if you pull a bent breath through the second hole of a harmonica tuned to the key of Georgia while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-wakefield/i-have-heard-that-if-you-pull-a-bent-breath-through-the-second-hole/) [Buddy Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-wakefield/) > [The longer I live, the more it grieves me to see man, who occupies his supreme place for the very purpose of imposing his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/the-longer-i-live-the-more-it-grieves-me-to-see-man-who-occupies-his/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Old age likes to dwell in the recollections of the past, and, mistaking, the speedy march of years, often is inclined to take the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-kossuth/old-age-likes-to-dwell-in-the-recollections-of-the-past-and-mistaking/) [Lajos Kossuth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-kossuth/) > [The Lord expects us to enjoy our lives. He says there will be some brutal times, but we shouldn't get all bent out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-henderson/the-lord-expects-us-to-enjoy-our-lives-he-says-there-will-be-some/) [Paul Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-henderson/) > [I was married to a law student, and I used to attend classes with him at Georgetown University Law Center. Being of dramatic bent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luanne-rice/i-was-married-to-a-law-student-and-i-used-to-attend-classes-with-him/) [Luanne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luanne-rice/) > [The person who is bent on killing you will follow you wherever you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-koch/the-person-who-is-bent-on-killing-you-will-follow-you-wherever-you-are/) [Ed Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-koch/) > [My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water'd shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-rossetti/my-heart-is-like-a-singing-bird-whose-nest-is-in-a-water-d-shoot-my/) [Christina Rossetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christina-rossetti/) > [If art is singular expression, then by nature, the best art is controversial. But when art stirs debate for reasons besides its artistic integrity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ridley/if-art-is-singular-expression-then-by-nature-the-best-art-is/) [John Ridley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ridley/) > [I refer to the misunderstanding of Soviet Russia as an aggressive power, militaristically and ideologically bent upon world domination 'seeing', to quote a recent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enoch-powell/i-refer-to-the-misunderstanding-of-soviet-russia-as-an-aggressive/) [Enoch Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enoch-powell/) > [Blessed are the flexible for they will not allow themselves to become bent out of shape!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ludlum/blessed-are-the-flexible-for-they-will-not-allow-themselves-to-become/) [Robert Ludlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ludlum/) > [But how carve way i' the life that lies before, If bent on groaning ever for the past?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/but-how-carve-way-i-the-life-that-lies-before-if-bent-on-groaning/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [Be Yourself -The man who is neither bent upon pleasing his fellows nor afraid of offending them will enjoy great peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/be-yourself-the-man-who-is-neither-bent-upon-pleasing-his-fellows-nor/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [When the world grinds you down, bent to tear you apart, cling to what you hold dear, and stay true to your heart. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-fesler/when-the-world-grinds-you-down-bent-to-tear-you-apart-cling-to-what/) [Wes Fesler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-fesler/) > [At the drabber moments of my life (swilling some excrement from the steps, for instance, or rooting with a bent coat-hanger down a blocked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bennett/at-the-drabber-moments-of-my-life-swilling-some-excrement-from-the/) [Alan Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bennett/) > [It's very confusing when fame comes early on in your career. You get a little bit bent out of shape in terms of what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-clayton/it-s-very-confusing-when-fame-comes-early-on-in-your-career-you-get-a/) [Adam Clayton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-clayton/) [Browse all 641 Bent quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bent/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. 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