"Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service"
About this Quote
The mechanics are deliberately practical. “Start where you are” is a command that shrinks the timeline to now, not “when things settle down.” Then Collier pivots to “opportunity,” a word that flatters the reader with agency while also disciplining them: if opportunity lies “right where you are,” you can’t blame geography, timing, or gatekeepers. That’s classic early 20th-century American uplift rhetoric, tuned for an audience living through rapid social mobility myths and real economic volatility. As a publisher, Collier understood both hunger and attention; this is a slogan built to stick because it turns a diffuse anxiety into an actionable script.
The final clause is the tell: “every opportunity of service.” This is ambition laundered through virtue. Service reframes self-advancement as moral duty, making hustle feel like character. It also hints at a networking truth without naming it: usefulness is a kind of currency. In Collier’s world, you don’t wait to be chosen; you become indispensable where you stand.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Collier, Robert. (2026, January 17). Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/start-where-you-are-distant-fields-always-look-24618/
Chicago Style
Collier, Robert. "Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/start-where-you-are-distant-fields-always-look-24618/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/start-where-you-are-distant-fields-always-look-24618/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




