Home / Quotes / Quote by Michelle Singletary

Quote by Michelle Singletary

“My Big Mama is my No. 1 financial role model. Much of my advice stems from what she taught me. She never made more than $13,000 a year, yet she paid off her home before she retired. She saved money from every paycheck. She taught me to be skeptical. It makes me cry to think that I'm a nationally syndicated personal finance columnist for one of the world's best newspapers and my core advice comes from my black grandmother who was a nurse's aide with just a high school education.”

Quote by Michelle Singletary

Author

Michelle Singletary

Michelle Singletary is a renowned columnist whose work focuses on personal finance, consumerism, and lifestyle. Her articles frequently appear in The Washington Post, and she is also the author of the best-selling book 'The Smart Money Guide to Financial Security'. more

You May Also Like

“[My grandmother] managed her money better than some financial professionals I know. I give credit always to her because she is the reason I have my column and national recognition.”

Knows Giving Reason Financial Credit Recognition Grandmother My Grandmother Columns

Author:Michelle Singletary

“So many people joke that life with me - a professed lifelong penny pincher - must be tough. But [my husband] is a great money manager. And he helps me let go of my fear of spending while still being frugal.”

People Stills Helping Husband Letting Go Jokes Tough Spending Managers Help Me My Husband Lifelong Pennies Frugal Great Money

Author:Michelle Singletary

“I also admire my pastor, John K. Jenkins Sr. (First Baptist Church of Glenarden). My pastor taught me the importance of tithing and giving back, that it has to be at the top of my budget. And he is one of the most generous folks I know.”

Knows Giving Firsts Church Taught Importance Folks Admire Budgets Generous Pastor Giving Back Baptists Tithing

Author:Michelle Singletary

“I first became interested in Ho Chi Minh in 1964-1965 while I was stationed at the U.S. Embassy in South Vietnam as a foreign service officer with the Department of State. The government in Saigon was at the point of collapse and the [Lyndon] Johnson administration was preparing to send U.S. combat troops to prevent a communist victory there. I became convinced that the U.S. effort would not succeed because of the lack of conviction in the Saigon government compared to the discipline and sense of self-sacrifice among the Viet Cong.”

“I did not feel - in President [J.F.] Kennedy's words - that we could win the war for [the government in Saigon]. When I sought the reason for the dedication shown by the enemy, it seemed to me that the leadership and charisma shown by Ho Chi Minh was a major part of the answer.”

Feels War Reason Government Winning President Answers Enemy Majors Dedication Charisma Saigon

Author:William J. Duiker

“I decided that after returning to the US to pursue an academic career I would eventually study the life of Ho Chi Minh to find the secret of his success.”

Secret Careers Study Decided Pursue Academic

Author:William J. Duiker

“Ho Chi Minh rarely wrote about Sun Tzu, but when he did mention the ancient Chinese military strategist, he was always laudatory, and he sometimes cited his ideas as a model for the Vietnamese revolutionary movement to follow.”

Ideas Sometimes Sun Military Movement Models Ancient Chinese Revolutionary Strategist Vietnamese

Author:William J. Duiker

“There were various aspects of Sun Tzu's approach that appealed to Ho Chi Minh: a) to learn to understand both the enemy and yourself, to seek out his weaknesses and your own strengths, and act accordingly, b) to make ample use of subterfuge and stratagem in order to defeat or disarm your adversary, and c) to use outright violence only when absolutely necessary in the belief that political struggle was more effective than military struggle.”

Use Political Order Belief Enemy Struggle Sun Violence Military Approach Weakness Aspect Defeat Various Adversaries Stratagem Subterfuge Political Struggle

Author:William J. Duiker

“Sun Tzu's ideas as expressed above had a profound effect on Ho Chi Minh, who sought to defeat both the French and the Americans without recourse to violence - or at least to conventional battle tactics.”

Ideas Sun Violence Effects Battle Profound Defeat Conventional Tactics Recourse

Author:William J. Duiker

“Ho Chi Minh was well aware that the enemy possessed more firepower than did his own forces, and sought to use what he viewed as the superior political and moral position of his own revolutionary movement as a trump card to defeat a well-armed adversary. These ideas were originally generated during his early years as a revolutionary in the 1920s and 1930s, and continued to influence his recommendations in the wars against the French (1946-1954) and the United States (1959-1965).”