James Heckman quotes

James Heckman is an American economist renowned for his pioneering work in econometrics and the economics of human development. His research has had a major influence on understanding education, early childhood investment, and labor markets. He is a Nobel laureate recognized for his contributions to the analysis of selective samples. Here are 17 of his quotes:

Early investment in the lives of disadvantaged children will help reduce inequality, in both the short and the long run.

James Heckman

Self-control, openness, the ability to engage with others, to plan and to persist - these are the attributes that get people in the door and on the job, and lead to productive lives.

James Heckman

We can change who we are. We can improve ourselves in various ways, and we can give ourselves possibilities.

James Heckman

The goal, I think, of American education, for decades, and across many, many scholars, was basically to teach people broad lessons in how to live life, how to engage life, how to essentially be effective citizens and effective people.

James Heckman

For a variety of reasons, I have always felt myself an outsider. I don't know how to classify myself in economics. I am a loner. I do not like groupthink, which, if anything, has become more important in economics. In addition, a lot of the values I hold are not the mainstream values in the profession.

James Heckman

Cognitive and character skills work together as dynamic complements; they are inseparable. Skills beget skills. More motivated children learn more. Those who are more informed usually make wiser decisions.

James Heckman

Schooling after the second grade plays only a minor role in creating or reducing gaps.

James Heckman

My family life is a deep source of satisfaction.

James Heckman

Religion gives you a sense of certainty. It makes you feel that you have the right answers to really big questions and that you've grasped the truth.

James Heckman

I remember sitting there on my father's couch or my mother's couch, listening to this lecture about how there were two groups and we had to be separated. We've come a long way from this kind of open racism. And I think it's wonderful.

James Heckman

I'm instinctively cautious because I'm an academic.

James Heckman

You have kids growing up in some of the worst circumstances financially, living in some of the worst ghettos, and they succeed. They succeed because an adult figure, typically a mother, maybe a grandmother, nourishes the kid, supports the kid, protects the kid, encourages the kid to succeed. It's as if the environment never happened.

James Heckman

There is a responsibility that goes with winning the Nobel Prize, and the responsibility is that if you have a forum, you should use it wisely.

James Heckman

I think race is very important. I think generally speaking, we've to face the general problem, which is that we are seeing more children coming out of families which simply don't give them adequate resources for their development.

James Heckman

It is imperative to change the way we look at education. We should invest in the foundation of school readiness from birth to age 5.

James Heckman