Daily Inspiration Quote by Donna Shalala

A small sentence that quietly stages a whole philosophy of power: the idea that real thinking has to happen before the day’s machinery starts grinding. Coming from Donna Shalala - a public servant who’s moved through academia, cabinet government, and institutional leadership - it reads less like a humble habit and more like a survival tactic. “Serious reading” isn’t leisure here; it’s preemptive self-defense against the tyranny of meetings, headlines, and urgent-but-shallow tasks.

The phrasing is doing political work. “Try” signals discipline under pressure, not aesthetic preference. It’s the language of someone who knows the schedule will win if you let it. “Before work” draws a hard line between intellectual formation and bureaucratic performance: first you load the mind with history, evidence, and arguments; then you enter the arena where decisions get made. The subtext is a critique of public life’s default setting, where policy is too often shaped by inboxes, talking points, and the day’s outrage cycle rather than by sustained attention.

It also offers a subtle rebuke to the romantic myth that leadership is mostly instinct and charisma. Shalala’s version of authority is built in private, in advance, and in print. In an era that rewards speed, this reads as a reminder that seriousness is a practice - and that competence is often just preparation people don’t see.