---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A very good case can be made, on moral as…"
description: "\"A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic grounds, for a system in which the individual is required to stand on his own feet, not to l..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg"
---

#  A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic…

![“A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic grounds, for a system in which the individual is required to stand on his own feet, not to lean on the state for handouts. Character, resourcefulness, capacity are formed and developed in struggle with obstacles, not in waiting passively…” quote by William Henry Chamberlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg)

> “A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic grounds, for a system in which the individual is required to stand on his own feet, not to lean on the state for handouts. Character, resourcefulness, capacity are formed and developed in struggle with obstacles, not in waiting passively for benefits from outside.”

William Henry Chamberlin

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Self‑reliance builds character and skills, while dependence on state aid hampers personal development.

**In simple terms:** Relying on yourself builds strength.

Key Takeaway

Foster independence and resilience.

Themes

self‑reliance character economics politics

Mood

thoughtful serious

Type

philosophical political

When to use this quote

- career building
- financial planning
- education access

Key Concepts

personal responsibility resourcefulness obstacle navigation

Questions to Reflect On

- What role should society play in supporting the disadvantaged?
- How can we balance aid with empowerment?

A Different Perspective

Overlooks social safety nets needed for vulnerable populations.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Obstacles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obstacles/) [Resourcefulness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resourcefulness/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/)

## Related quotes

> [I try to have the right thing happen at the end of the case, try to have the case have a moral compass to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-sheindlin/i-try-to-have-the-right-thing-happen-at-the-end-of-the-case-try-to/)

[Judy Sheindlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-sheindlin/)

> [I am an old fashioned guy. I want to first stand on my two feet and then start thinking about settling down. At the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uday-chopra/i-am-an-old-fashioned-guy-i-want-to-first-stand-on-my-two-feet-and/)

[Uday Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uday-chopra/)

> [Its not up to you how you fall. Its up to you how far you let yourself fall and how long it takes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/its-not-up-to-you-how-you-fall-its-up-to-you-how-far-you-let-yourself/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [You cannot give up, even if all you do is cry. Swallow your tears, stand on your own two feet & show them that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-cannot-give-up-even-if-all-you-do-is-cry-swallow-your-tears-stand/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [There are many, many difficult times, god knows. If a person wants to stand on her own two feet, I recommend undertaking the care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/banana-yoshimoto/there-are-many-many-difficult-times-god-knows-if-a-person-wants-to/)

[Banana Yoshimoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/banana-yoshimoto/)

> [If you want success first of all rise and stand on your feet even than you are above those who are still a sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ankit-agroiya/if-you-want-success-first-of-all-rise-and-stand-on-your-feet-even/)

Ankit Agroiya

> [Let the man stand on his feet. Let religion cease to be occasional; and the pulses of thought that go to the borders of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/let-the-man-stand-on-his-feet-let-religion-cease-to-be-occasional-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [You are doing the best you can, and that best results in good to yourself and to others. Do not nag yourself with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/you-are-doing-the-best-you-can-and-that-best-results-in-good-to/)

[Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/)

> [It was my wish since I was a child to become something, to be able to stand on my own two feet, to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/qandeel-baloch/it-was-my-wish-since-i-was-a-child-to-become-something-to-be-able-to/)

[Qandeel Baloch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/qandeel-baloch/)

> [“Be strong enough to stand on your own two feet, but wise enough to know when to ask for help.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-sonnenberg/be-strong-enough-to-stand-on-your-own-two-feet-but-wise-enough-to/)

[Frank Sonnenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-sonnenberg/)

> [Yoga is not only learning to stand on your head but also learning to stand on your feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-satchidananda/yoga-is-not-only-learning-to-stand-on-your-head-but-also-learning-to/)

[Swami Satchidananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-satchidananda/)

> [I don't think you should go into politics until you can stand on your own two feet economically, if possible, and you know enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-kemp/i-don-t-think-you-should-go-into-politics-until-you-can-stand-on-your/)

[Ross Kemp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-kemp/)

> [I will be my own saviour and stand on my own 2 feet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adele/i-will-be-my-own-saviour-and-stand-on-my-own-2-feet/)

[Adele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adele/)

> [Books should stand on their own feet ... If they need shoring up by a preface here, an introduction there, they have no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/books-should-stand-on-their-own-feet-if-they-need-shoring-up-by-a/)

[Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/)

> [Every time when you fall, Do your best and stand back up on your own two feet What you realize is it makes you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-when-you-fall-do-your-best-and-stand-back-up-on-your-own/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

## More by William Henry Chamberlin

> [The proliferation of bureaucrats and its invariable accompaniment, much heavier tax levies on the productive part of the population, are the recognizable signs, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/the-proliferation-of-bureaucrats-and-its-invariable-accompaniment/)

William Henry Chamberlin

> [One of the most insidious consequences of the present burden of personal income tax is that it strips many middle class families of financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/one-of-the-most-insidious-consequences-of-the-present-burden-of/)

William Henry Chamberlin

> [Famine was quite deliberately employed as an instrument of national policy, as the last means of breaking the resistance of the peasantry to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/famine-was-quite-deliberately-employed-as-an-instrument-of-national/)

William Henry Chamberlin

Explore all 4 William Henry Chamberlin quotes

## More Benefits quotes

> [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/)

[Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/)

> [ \[The Dalai Lama\] told me some years ago, "I've made every concession to China, and I've been as open and tolerant as I could,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pico-iyer/the-dalai-lama-told-me-some-years-ago-i-ve-made-every-concession-to/)

[Pico Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pico-iyer/)

> [Anger is a rough water; if you can canalize it into a water mill, you can benefit from it. Anything bad can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/anger-is-a-rough-water-if-you-can-canalize-it-into-a-water-mill-you/)

[Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/)

> [Shortly after I turned 50, both Ted Turner and the AARP came into my life. The only difference? With AARP, there were benefits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/shortly-after-i-turned-50-both-ted-turner-and-the-aarp-came-into-my/)

[Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/)

> [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/)

[Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/)

> [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/)

[Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/)

> [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/)

[Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/)

> [Trust is about keeping commitments, but in many instances, circumstances change and organizations therefore shed commitments, things such as retiree medical benefits, pension obligations,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-pfeffer/trust-is-about-keeping-commitments-but-in-many-instances/)

[Jeffrey Pfeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-pfeffer/)

> [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-us-think-of-education-as-the-means-of-developing-our-greatest/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [To really be of benefit to others as the Buddha always taught, we ourselves must first get out of the swamp. One of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/to-really-be-of-benefit-to-others-as-the-buddha-always-taught-we/)

[Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/)

> [I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauline-hanson/i-won-the-seat-of-oxley-largely-on-an-issue-that-has-resulted-in-me/)

[Pauline Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauline-hanson/)

> [Intelligence is a separate gift, for the benefit of students, so that they may think of themselves as intellectual and not very intelligent, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/intelligence-is-a-separate-gift-for-the-benefit-of-students-so-that/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [I've always said that I benefit, as an actor, from not having the illusion of security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-sparks/i-ve-always-said-that-i-benefit-as-an-actor-from-not-having-the/)

[Hal Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-sparks/)

> [Benefits received are a delight to us as long as we think we can requite them; when that possibility is far exceeded, they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tacitus/benefits-received-are-a-delight-to-us-as-long-as-we-think-we-can/)

[Tacitus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tacitus/)

Browse all 3,616 Benefits quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic grounds, for a system in which the individual is required to stand on his own feet, not to lean on the state for handouts. Character, resourcefulness, capacity are formed and developed in struggle with obstacles, not in waiting passively for benefits from outside.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Henry Chamberlin"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as-well-as-economic-grounds-for/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Benefits"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as-well-as-economic-grounds-for/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb8/william-henry-chamberlin-69757_benefits_a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as_2398493.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“A very good case can be made, on moral as well as economic grounds, for a system in which the individual is…” — William Henry Chamberlin",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "William Henry Chamberlin",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-chamberlin/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "A very good case can be...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as-well-as-economic-grounds-for/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-chamberlin/a-very-good-case-can-be-made-on-moral-as-well-as-economic-grounds-for/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```