Roosevelt presents human ability as a resource of exceptional social value. Her emphasis is not simply on economic productivity, but on the capacities, skills and potential that individuals can develop and contribute. By saying that these resources are urgently needed, she suggests that societies lose something important when people lack the opportunity to discover or make use of their abilities.

The surrounding passage places particular emphasis on young people and the experience of recognising previously unknown capacities. Learning and development can therefore be understood as processes of discovery as well as instruction. The quotation implies that education, opportunity and encouragement can help individuals identify abilities that might otherwise remain unused. Its broader argument is that investment in people benefits both the individual and the wider community, because social progress depends in part on enabling as many people as possible to develop and apply their talents.

Full quotation

“Human resources are the most valuable assets the world has. They are all needed desperately. Certainly for the young person the discovery of his own unsuspected capacity is an exciting, a liberating experience.”