Bootstraps

Tom pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.

I guess I'll lift up my bootstraps and fly away.

This "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" concept is not universal.

I'd pull myself up by my bootstraps, but I don't have any.

I'd pull myself up by my bootstraps, but somebody stole them.

In America, anyone can make it by pulling themselves up by their bootstraps.

My father tells me to pull myself up by my bootstraps.

The minister is a great proponent of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, even though he was born into the 14th richest family in the country.