Daily Inspiration Quote by Liz Smith

The line lands like a polite slap at a culture that loves the aesthetics of humility while quietly coveting influence. Liz Smith, a journalist who spent decades watching reputations rise and fall on access, understands that “power” isn’t just smoke-filled rooms and backroom deals; it’s the practical ability to make something happen. By pairing “need and want,” she rejects the comforting fiction that only villains crave leverage. The verb “deny” does double duty: it suggests moral posturing (I’m above that) and self-deception (I don’t have to admit what motivates me).

Her most revealing move is the pivot to “hope.” Hope sounds innocent, even virtuous, but Smith tethers it to “effective,” a word that strips sentimentality away. You can’t hope to change outcomes, protect people, build a career, or tell consequential stories without some form of power: attention, money, platform, credibility, proximity to decision-makers. The quote isn’t a pep talk for domination; it’s an argument against performative powerlessness, the stance that confers moral purity at the cost of results.

In the context of journalism, the subtext is especially pointed. Reporters are trained to claim distance from power even as they trade in it daily: cultivating sources, shaping narratives, deciding what becomes “a story.” Smith’s sentence exposes the bargain behind that dance. If you want to matter, you’re already in the power business. The honest question isn’t whether you want it, but what you’re willing to do with it once you have it.