"In her whole life Mom never earned more than five or six dollars a week. Being without a husband, it was hard for her to find any place at all for us to live."

Motivation

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Motivation as articulated by Ethel Waters. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Motivation provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "Dinah", "Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Chlo-e, "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", "Am I Blue?", "Birmingham Bertha", "Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

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More by Ethel Waters

"Mom was the greatest influence of my childhood. She wanted to save me from the vice, lust, and drinking that was all about me."

— Ethel Waters
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"We never had a bathtub. Mom would bathe me in the wooden or tin washtub in the kitchen, or in a big lard can."

— Ethel Waters
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"I had always loved John Ford's pictures. And I came to love him, too, but I was frightened to death working for him. He used the shock treatment while directing me."

— Ethel Waters
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"Mom never quit on me. My only regret is that she didn't live long enough to share some of the money and comforts my work in show business has brought me."

— Ethel Waters
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More about Motivation

"I love changing. I hate it when people try to box me in to a relationship or in a work context. Any situation where I feel boxed in freaks me out. And I feel the need to reinvent myself or I'll get bored."

— Stephen Daldry
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"Truth is the silliest thing under the sun. Try to get a living by the Truth and go to the Soup Societies. Heavens! Let any clergyman try to preach the Truth from its very stronghold, the pulpit, and they would ride him out of his church on his own pulpit bannister."

— Herman Melville
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"I try to keep it real. I don't have time to worry about what I'm projecting to the world. I'm just busy being myself."

— Demi Lovato
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"It's pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness. Poverty and wealth have both failed."

— Kin Hubbard
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