Nellie Bly Quotes

Powerful Nellie Bly for Daily Growth

About Nellie Bly

Nellie Belyea, more famously known as Nellie Bly (May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922), was an American journalist, industrialist, and social reformer who significantly impacted the world of investigative journalism in the late 19th century. Born Elizabeth Cochran Seaman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she adopted the pen name Nellie Bly from a popular song character to gain anonymity as she pursued her career in journalism. At just 21 years old, Nellie embarked on a groundbreaking undercover assignment, posing as a mentally ill patient at Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum in New York City. This investigation led to the series "Ten Days in a Mad-House" and was published by Joseph Pulitzer's New York World newspaper, where she worked. The series exposed the deplorable conditions of mental health institutions and resulted in improved laws for patient care. A year later, inspired by Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in 80 Days," Nellie Bly undertook her most famous adventure: a solo journey around the world with the goal of beating Phileas Fogg's fictional record. She accomplished the feat in just 72 days, setting a new record and becoming an international sensation. In her career, Nellie also covered the Spanish-American War as a war correspondent and founded her own industrial town, Irondequoit, New York, where she aimed to provide better working conditions for factory workers. Despite facing numerous challenges in her personal life, including mental health issues, multiple marriages, and financial struggles, Nellie Bly's pioneering spirit, investigative journalism, and advocacy for women's rights continue to inspire journalists and social reformers today.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"I have determined to go around the world in less time than it took Fogg."

This quote by Nellie Bly, an American journalist, indicates her ambition and competitive spirit. In 1889, she set out to travel around the world faster than Phileas Fogg, a fictional character in Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in Eighty Days". This bold endeavor demonstrated her determination to break boundaries, challenge societal norms for women, and showcase her journalistic skills.


"The more I travel the more I realize that fear makes cowards of us all."

This quote emphasizes the universal aspect of fear and its impact on human behavior, especially in new or unfamiliar environments. Traveling often exposes people to situations and cultures that may induce fear, but Nellie Bly suggests that this fear can prevent us from experiencing growth and understanding if we let it. By overcoming fear, one can become less timid, more courageous, and ultimately, a better version of themselves.


"If a woman has spent her life in doing good, she should be commended, not pitied for her spinsterhood."

This quote by Nellie Bly suggests that women who dedicate their lives to doing good deeds deserve recognition and appreciation, not pity because they remain unmarried (a spinster). The implication is that a woman's worth should not be determined by her marital status but rather by the positive impact she makes on society. It highlights the importance of celebrating women who pursue personal growth and service to others over conforming to traditional expectations of femininity.


"A successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her."

This quote by Nellie Bly emphasizes that success for women, like anyone else, requires resilience in the face of adversity. Instead of viewing obstacles as hindrances, she posits that these challenges can serve as building blocks for personal growth and achievement. In essence, it suggests that a successful woman is not only one who achieves her goals but also one who has overcome setbacks by turning them into opportunities to strengthen her character and establish a strong foundation for future accomplishments.


"I am too practical to trifle with sentiment."

Nellie Bly's quote, "I am too practical to trifle with sentiment," suggests that she prioritizes pragmatic actions over emotional or sentimental considerations. She values tangible results and practical solutions, choosing not to waste time on unnecessary emotional distractions or non-essential feelings. This mindset helped her become a renowned journalist who was not afraid to challenge societal norms for the sake of progress and truth.


I took upon myself to enact the part of a poor, unfortunate crazy girl, and felt it my duty not to shirk any of the disagreeable results that should follow.

- Nellie Bly

Myself, Took, Unfortunate, Disagreeable

Even that was all consumed after two days, and the patients had to try to choke down fresh fish, just boiled in water, without salt, pepper or butter; mutton, beef, and potatoes without the faintest seasoning.

- Nellie Bly

Consumed, Pepper, Seasoning, Choke

I had looked forward so eagerly to leaving the horrible place, yet when my release came and I knew that God's sunlight was to be free for me again, there was a certain pain in leaving.

- Nellie Bly

Pain, Forward, Looked, Eagerly

People in the world can never imagine the length of days to those in asylums. They seemed never ending, and we welcomed any event that might give us something to think about as well as talk of.

- Nellie Bly

Think, Give, Imagine, Welcomed

On the wagon sped, and I, as well as my comrades, gave a despairing farewell glance at freedom as we came in sight of the long stone buildings.

- Nellie Bly

Long, Despairing, Wagon, Farewell

I hardly expected the grand jury to sustain me, after they saw everything different from what it had been while I was there. Yet they did, and their report to the court advises all the changes made that I had proposed.

- Nellie Bly

Changes, Been, Had, Advise

What a mysterious thing madness is. I have watched patients whose lips are forever sealed in a perpetual silence. They live, breathe, eat; the human form is there, but that something, which the body can live without, but which cannot exist without the body, was missing.

- Nellie Bly

Body, Without, Perpetual, Missing

I always had a desire to know asylum life more thoroughly - a desire to be convinced that the most helpless of God's creatures, the insane, were cared for kindly and properly.

- Nellie Bly

Desire, Always, Thoroughly, Kindly

I shuddered to think how completely the insane were in the power of their keepers, and how one could weep and plead for release, and all of no avail, if the keepers were so minded.

- Nellie Bly

Think, Could, Avail, Plead

In our short walks we passed the kitchen where food was prepared for the nurses and doctors. There we got glimpses of melons and grapes and all kinds of fruits, beautiful white bread and nice meats, and the hungry feeling would be increased tenfold.

- Nellie Bly

Prepared, Increased, Kinds, Nurses

I had, toward the last, been shut off from all visitors, and so when the lawyer, Peter A. Hendricks, came and told me that friends of mine were willing to take charge of me if I would rather be with them than in the asylum, I was only too glad to give my consent.

- Nellie Bly

Been, Shut, Rather, Asylum

All the asylum clothing is made by the patients, but sewing does not employ one's mind. After several months' confinement the thoughts of the busy world grow faint, and all the poor prisoners can do is to sit and ponder over their hopeless fate.

- Nellie Bly

Fate, Employ, Several, Asylum

I have watched patients stand and gaze longingly toward the city they in all likelihood will never enter again. It means liberty and life; it seems so near, and yet heaven is not further from hell.

- Nellie Bly

Life, City, Hell, Gaze

How can a doctor judge a woman's sanity by merely bidding her good morning and refusing to hear her pleas for release? Even the sick ones know it is useless to say anything, for the answer will be that it is their imagination.

- Nellie Bly

Woman, Bidding, Refusing, Hear

I always made a point of telling the doctors I was sane, and asking to be released, but the more I endeavored to assure them of my sanity, the more they doubted it.

- Nellie Bly

Always, Telling, Doubted, Assure

Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell's Island? I said I could and I would. And I did.

- Nellie Bly

Week, Pass, Would, Ward

I had never been near insane persons before in my life, and had not the faintest idea of what their actions were like.

- Nellie Bly

My Life, Been, Before, Near

They were being driven to a prison, through no fault of their own, in all probability for life. In comparison, how much easier it would be to walk to the gallows than to this tomb of living horrors!

- Nellie Bly

Living, Comparison, Through, Easier

It is only after one is in trouble that one realizes how little sympathy and kindness there are in the world.

- Nellie Bly

World, How, Only, Trouble

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