"I've always paid my own way, I've never lived off anyone"
About this Quote
The line also reveals how narrow the acceptable script still is. Brook doesn’t just claim independence; she feels compelled to claim moral cleanliness. "Never lived off anyone" is a defensive phrase that assumes the audience is already suspicious. It’s not enough to say she earns money. She has to reject the entire category of being "kept", a label that collapses relationships, privilege, and labor into a single insult.
Context matters: modeling sits at the intersection of glamour and disbelief. It’s work that is both hyper-visible and routinely dismissed as not-work, which makes the demand for credibility relentless. Brook’s sentence is an attempt to reframe her public image from ornamental to self-directed: not someone’s accessory, not an economic parasite, not a punchline.
There’s a quieter subtext, too: independence is exhausting to perform. The statement isn’t just about finances; it’s about dignity in an industry and media ecosystem that often profits from stripping it away.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Brook, Kelly. (2026, January 16). I've always paid my own way, I've never lived off anyone. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-always-paid-my-own-way-ive-never-lived-off-135199/
Chicago Style
Brook, Kelly. "I've always paid my own way, I've never lived off anyone." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-always-paid-my-own-way-ive-never-lived-off-135199/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I've always paid my own way, I've never lived off anyone." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/ive-always-paid-my-own-way-ive-never-lived-off-135199/. Accessed 20 Feb. 2026.




