Therese Rein Quotes

102 Therese Rein Quotes

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What I do at work is my life support… It’s a mission for me to help people who are highly disadvantaged back into jobs that are lasting and decent.
Therese Rein

This is not a battle for dominance, or power or money, it’s about purpose.
Therese Rein

I know that when you have someone alongside you saying, ‘I think you can’ – which is what my mum did for my dad, she was the urger, she was the encourager – when that’s happening, people can do the extra-ordinary…
Therese Rein

[On her father even though he was less physically abled (Paraplegia).] He wanted to work. I suppose that’s where I learnt about the importance of work in people’s lives.
Therese Rein

It’s nice to reach out to people.
Therese Rein

I am not unique… I have remarkable parents.
Therese Rein

I am one of those people who is really blessed with a surfeit of joy. I think it's a gift, it feels like a gift, an undeserved but welcome gift.
Therese Rein

[In July 2012 on the international part of the business.] What we do internationally, is we help people who are long-term unemployed regain their confidence, regain their sense of what their purposeful contribution is, what their mastery is, how they can find a way and be part of the economic life... of the country.
Therese Rein

We know that work really matters to people… Research shows that people who are long-term unemployed have five years' shorter life expectancy.
Therese Rein

What is it about work that matters? It's purposeful, it has routine, people are connected, they are learning and having a sense of mastery and accomplishment. If they have structured it, they are working in their field of fascination.
Therese Rein



I think it's possible to help people get in touch with the thing that turns their lights on.
Therese Rein

I remember this man, he had moved from the north of England to London and he underestimated what the rent would be, and he found himself on the streets for five years. The seasons would come and go and he was just kind of stuck on the streets. And he came in to see us and we helped him find somewhere to live, so he could get some sleep, some nutrition ... And then we said to him, ‘so what job have you done before’, ‘Oh, I've been a storeman’. ‘Can you operate a forklift?’ ‘I can.’ ‘What fascinates you, what do you love, what could you spend hours doing and not even know the time has gone?’ ‘That's easy, I love antiques.' So we rang Sotheby's and said we have someone here who has storeman's skills, and he loves antiques, he hasn't worked for a while, would you give him a go. Now they ring us and ask us; we need another Henry. They had never ever had a storeman who was as respectful and knowledgeable about what he was doing.
Therese Rein

Do we want to keep growing? We want to keep growing in lots of ways. We want to keep growing in terms of being more and more and more effective at what we do, and we want to grow in terms of the number of people we serve.
Therese Rein

What we do, it works, we know it crosses cultures ...
Therese Rein

[On getting into the BRW rich list.] It's not a driver for me... It's not been a goal, it's not what motivates me, it's not what interests me. So, I feel awkward about it.
Therese Rein

Our commitment is excellence with integrity...
Therese Rein

My grandfather was a chief stipendiary magistrate of Queensland, and he used to say to me, ‘Therese, if it's not on paper, it isn't, it doesn't exist.’
Therese Rein

Betrayal would leach emotional energy from me.
Therese Rein

No one can take away our commitment to the country. No one can take away the wonderful experiences... of meeting so many Australians...
Therese Rein

The role of PM [Prime Minister] is more than full-time. It is a massive role.
Therese Rein



I don't think it's possible to run a government as a one-man band… I saw him constantly with his colleagues...
Therese Rein

I guess I fundamentally believe in the possibility of healing...
Therese Rein

I do believe that relationships heal, not without a lot of work.
Therese Rein

[On the secret of her marriage.] Is there a secret? We've always believed in each other, we always encourage each other and we always have a laugh.
Therese Rein

I encourage my children to find their field of fascination, what they care about, what they care about that's bigger than they are and I encourage them to follow their hearts and dreams and skills and their capabilities.
Therese Rein

What I’m interested in doing is ensuring there are not artificial barriers, either of prejudice, or negative expectations, or physical barriers to entry, or, kind of, invisible barriers to participation for people.
Therese Rein

I hope to have at least started a conversation about the myth of the superwoman, because I think a lot of people beat themselves up.
Therese Rein

Don’t stress yourself about some kind of perfection.
Therese Rein

If you watch television, a TV show about a family on television, their houses never look like my house, you know, like those really perfect houses where everyone is colour coordinated, you know with the sheets, and she’s got three little kids and she’s greeting him in a negligee and her hair done and make up done, hello, that’s not my house.
Therese Rein

[On Kevin Rudd] We came from very different backgrounds and yet we were so very similar.
Therese Rein



[In May 2007] Like when you get a baby, there is no instruction manual. Similarly with this, there is no instruction manual.
Therese Rein

[In May 2007 on her marriage with Kevin Rudd] It’s been a partnership since the beginning; it’s been a partnership of equals since the beginning. We’re different… we have different strengths, but we’re both equally contributing and equally important.
Therese Rein

To put a label like political wife on it just doesn’t feel like me.
Therese Rein

We’re in the 21st century now, and it’s important to understand that, whilst I might be different to some of my predecessors in the fact that I have a business and I am working, and it’s a global business… I’m not going to be the last.
Therese Rein

I’m actually a very independent person.
Therese Rein

As a child I wanted to be a doctor of medicine… Then I wanted to be a doctor for animals… Then I wanted to be a doctor of laws… and then maybe a doctor of psychology.
Therese Rein

We did what you would call a side step and twist. We took something that was applied in one area and took it to work with people to help them dream again. To help them believe in themselves again. To help them have confidence that they had a future. To help them think that tomorrow could be better than today.
Therese Rein

[On her mother.] She taught me to believe in something bigger than I am and to have the courage to commit my whole and best self to doing something about that.
Therese Rein

I hope people have courage and courage to hold true to themselves; to find something that really matters that they want to make a difference in the world and the courage to use all of their energy to follow that dream.
Therese Rein

[In June 2012] I have very recently become a grandma.
Therese Rein



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