QUOTES by David Lammy
Find most favourite and famour Authors from A.A Milne to Zoe Kravitz.
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis' by JD Vance made me entirely rethink U.S. republicanism, Donald Trump and the American white working class.
Quote by -David Lammy
I love the theatre and Miller is one of my all-time favourite playwrights. 'All My Sons' is a very socialist play, which exposes the lack of empathy that can accompany capitalism when it is left unchecked.
Quote by -David Lammy
I spend much of my time in a suit and tie with my top button done up and my sensible shoes neatly polished. When it comes to work, my appearance is about communicating professionalism and confidence.
Quote by -David Lammy
Active dads make a positive contribution: they are good for children and they are good for mothers.
Quote by -David Lammy
Dads are not a risk to be managed, but a resource to be used for the benefit of the whole family.
Quote by -David Lammy
Family policy is not a zero-sum game: any gain for dads need not come at the expense of mums.
Quote by -David Lammy
I like the state of being self-aware, it's interesting when you start to look at your own habits.
Quote by -David Lammy
The great thing about running is that so often you wake up and you think: 'I really don't feel like this.' And even when you're up and out, that first kilometre is tough. But then once you get to 3km and you're getting to the end of the run, it's really fantastic.
Quote by -David Lammy
I love to run outdoors, being outside, enjoying nature, looking up through the trees, being out among the elements... I don't think there's a better way to start the day.
Quote by -David Lammy
In Britain, we ought to be in a position where doctors and therapists are able to prescribe mindfulness, acupuncture, osteopathy de rigueur, and it not only be available in certain fantastic surgeries in London and Brighton.
Quote by -David Lammy
A workplace culture where fathers are encouraged to take paternity leave would result in stronger families, a more equal labour market and a better economy.
Quote by -David Lammy
It is the responsibility of all of us to create a culture that encourages and enables fathers to spend more time with their families.
Quote by -David Lammy
Universities are not like supermarkets: their job is to serve the country, not just the customers who happen to walk through their doors.
Quote by -David Lammy
I remember singing as a chorister in Peterborough Cathedral, having won a music scholarship to go to school there, and realising for the first time in my life what true excellence was.
Quote by -David Lammy
Being in opposition takes some getting used to. As a former minister, you don't just lose your job and the enormous resources of the civil service, you also have to watch programmes that you were involved in being gradually dismantled.
Quote by -David Lammy
From protecting consumers to establishing common standards and promoting free trade, the E.U. plays a central role. And nation states alone cannot tackle common threats such as climate change without the co-ordination that the E.U. and other supranational institutions provide.
Quote by -David Lammy
We have to challenge head-on the way the BNP takes legitimate concerns and manipulates them in the interests of its fascist agenda.
Quote by -David Lammy
If we want to raise the aspirations of young men, we should be praising their achievements, not talking them down.
Quote by -David Lammy
Parents' evenings were a big event in our social calendar and school reports were taken very seriously; 'C' was not a grade my mother recognised. Her favourite shop was WH Smith, where every week there would be a new book or pen or calculator to buy. But most importantly, she was my best friend.
Quote by -David Lammy
Mum was born in 1938 in Guyana and came to Britain at the end of the 60s. She settled in Tottenham, north London, and worked for London Transport and then as a home help, a care assistant and finally a local authority officer. Bringing up five children singlehandedly with little money can't have been easy, but she did it with tremendous style.
Quote by -David Lammy
Throughout her life my mother, Rose, prayed for good health. My father left when I was 12 and money was tight, so she couldn't afford to take time off work. I have a younger sister and three older brothers, and she used to panic that we'd be taken into care if she wasn't able to look after us.
Quote by -David Lammy
The idea of a family sitting round the kitchen table and carefully planning their future family size based on the certainty of years to come is a complete fantasy. Back in the real world, jobs are lost, livelihoods taken away, families break apart, partners leave or pass away.
Quote by -David Lammy
Our political class obsesses over social mobility from one generation to the next - whether or not people are doing better than their parents did - but we rarely talk about those who are already in work and want to progress.
Quote by -David Lammy
The New Labour doctrine that skills training was the responsibility of employers was flawed. The idea that employers should take on a bigger role ignores the reality that employers have no incentive to train staff to leave. We can hardly expect Tesco to train checkout staff to become dental nurses.
Quote by -David Lammy
We should not let those with a political agenda use London's growing population to support their anti-immigration rhetoric, and we should challenge those who want to label London's global attraction a flaw rather than a strength.
Quote by -David Lammy
Unemployed people should be treated as potential to be realised, not a problem to be solved.
Quote by -David Lammy
As the MP for an area like Tottenham you quickly learn that the factors leading to unemployment are as numerous as they are diverse.
Quote by -David Lammy
It is hard to speak the truth about valued national institutions. But when they are not fit for purpose, we must speak out.
Quote by -David Lammy
A university education is a privilege, but we should be proud that in Britain it is also a right, no matter what your income or class or ethnic background.
Quote by -David Lammy
While at Harvard, I was struck by the palpable sense of noblesse oblige that surrounds their sophisticated outreach and bursary programmes. It is almost as if they view extending opportunity to disadvantaged individuals as their highest mission.
Quote by -David Lammy
We cannot afford to lose talented young black people, who make it to university, overseas, or worse, to let other talented black people be put off by the notion that university is somehow not for them.
Quote by -David Lammy
Edgy' music has always formed the cornerstone to any teenage rebellion. Most indulge in it precisely because adults like me don't like them doing so.
Quote by -David Lammy
People who have no stake in society are the least likely to have respect for it.
Quote by -David Lammy
My father was a taxidermist, not a run-of-the-mill profession for a West Indian immigrant. Having given up on becoming a vet, he settled for working with dead animals rather than live ones. Dad was a true craftsman, an artist.
Quote by -David Lammy
Many single mothers do a heroic job looking after their children, as mine did with us; but as she found, it becomes twice as hard to set boundaries with half the number of parents.
Quote by -David Lammy
My biggest fear growing up was that I would end up in prison. That was the fate of growing numbers of my peers.
Quote by -David Lammy
For even the most seasoned observers of American politics, Barack Obama is a phenomenon.
Quote by -David Lammy
Cities can be paradoxical places. In the mornings they buzz with commuters, in the evenings they come alive with diners and partygoers, at weekends the streets fill with shoppers and market traders. But amidst the hustle and bustle, even the greatest city can be a lonely place.
Quote by -David Lammy