"I'm still very connected to my family, to the world I grew up in. I understand what it means to be afraid that you can't pay a doctor's bill. Or to have to make the choice between buying a band uniform for a seventh-grader and making the insurance payment on time. That will never leave me. It was how I lived until I was well into my adult years"
About this Quote
The intent is twofold. First, it inoculates her against the classic attack line that power inevitably detaches you from ordinary people. "Still very connected" is less sentimental than strategic, a preemptive answer to the question she knows will hover over any successful politician: When did you stop knowing what things cost? Second, it reframes economic policy as moral memory. She isn't asking for sympathy; she's asserting standing. If you have lived inside these tradeoffs, you get to speak with authority about bankruptcy law, insurance regulation, wage stagnation.
The subtext also sharpens a broader critique: that in a wealthy country, middle-class stability is so fragile it can be undone by a single appointment in a fluorescent-lit clinic. The line "That will never leave me" does rhetorical heavy lifting, turning biography into a permanent credential. It's an argument that empathy isn't a personality trait; it's a practiced skill, forged by consequence, and it's the prerequisite for governing.
Quote Details
| Topic | Family |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Warren, Elizabeth. (2026, January 16). I'm still very connected to my family, to the world I grew up in. I understand what it means to be afraid that you can't pay a doctor's bill. Or to have to make the choice between buying a band uniform for a seventh-grader and making the insurance payment on time. That will never leave me. It was how I lived until I was well into my adult years. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-still-very-connected-to-my-family-to-the-world-132315/
Chicago Style
Warren, Elizabeth. "I'm still very connected to my family, to the world I grew up in. I understand what it means to be afraid that you can't pay a doctor's bill. Or to have to make the choice between buying a band uniform for a seventh-grader and making the insurance payment on time. That will never leave me. It was how I lived until I was well into my adult years." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-still-very-connected-to-my-family-to-the-world-132315/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm still very connected to my family, to the world I grew up in. I understand what it means to be afraid that you can't pay a doctor's bill. Or to have to make the choice between buying a band uniform for a seventh-grader and making the insurance payment on time. That will never leave me. It was how I lived until I was well into my adult years." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-still-very-connected-to-my-family-to-the-world-132315/. Accessed 25 Feb. 2026.
