Sometimes when I'm asked what I've been doing since retirement, I'm tempted to answer, 'I accept honors.' That may sound egotistical, but the truth is that almost every honor or award - and I've collected quite a few, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom - has embarrassed me. Why single me out just for doing what was asked of me? I didn't go out and serve, but was always recruited for some service or another.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- She accepts honors reluctantly, feeling service should not demand special recognition.
- In plain terms
- Awards embarrass her because she just did what was asked.
- What can you take from it?
- Do good work without expecting rewards.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do we award service?
- Would you accept an honor?
Another view
Recognition often encourages further public service.
More from Helen Hayes
Sometimes I became so melancholic that I felt all actresses should be spayed so they couldn't have children. It's so very difficult to balance the careers of m…
Permalink to quote #39 The hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy.
Permalink to quote #41 Science has taught us to lengthen life. Now we must learn to make a longer life worth living. Older people deserve choices that let us live out our days as we …
Permalink to quote #38
Related quotes
He is the lord of goodly things That make the poor man's table gay, Yet of his worth no minstrel sings And on his tomb there is no bay.
Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #11 General Crook gave me a very agreeable present this afternoon - a pair of his old brigadier-general straps. The stars are somewhat dimmed by hard service, but …
Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes quote #24 I work now as I have always worked: with my face into the wind... I'm only an instrument that God is using for the moment. Afterwards, things will be as God wa…
Alexander MenAlexander Men quote #2