Jacob A. Riis Quotes & Sayings

How shall the love of God be understood by those who have been nurtured in sight only of the greed of man? — Jacob A. Riis

He may have been a trifle wild. — Jacob A. Riis

The world forgets easily, too easily, what it does not like to remember. — Jacob A. Riis

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter
hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as
much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first
blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last
blow that did it, but all that had gone before. — Jacob A. Riis

Long ago it was said that "one half of the world does not know how the other half lives." That was true then. It did not know because it did not care. The half that was on top cared little for the struggles, and less for the fate of those who were underneath, so long as it was able to hold them there and keep its own seat. There came a time when the discomfort and consequent upheavals so violent, that it was no longer an easy thing to do, and then the upper half fell to inquiring what was the matter. Information on the subject has been accumulating rapidly since, and the whole world has had its hands full answering for its old ignorance. — Jacob A. Riis

Oh, God! That bread should be so dear, And flesh and blood so cheap! — Jacob A. Riis

In self-defence, you know, all life eventually accommodates itself to its environment, and human life is no exception. — Jacob A. Riis