quotations about poverty
Poverty is the discoverer of all the arts.
APOLLONIUS
De Magia
Men praise poverty, as the African worships Mumbo Jumbo, from terror of the malign power, and a desire to propitiate it.
ALEXANDER SMITH
Alfred Hagart's Household
It is better to be poor and walk in integrity than to be stupid and speak lies.
SOLOMON
Proverbs 19:1
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.
JAMES BALDWIN
Esquire, April 1960
If the difficulty can be surmounted of persuading the poor to be contented with their portion in this world, there will be little or no trouble in overcoming the reluctance of the rich to prefer their larger share.
RICHARD SHARP
"On Poverty", Letters and Essays in Prose and Verse
No, madam, 'tis not so well that I am poor, though many of the rich are damned.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
All's Well That Ends Well
If the time ever comes when there is no longer poverty in the world, there will be a wonderful freedom for the higher qualities of the human race.
JOHN DANIEL BARRY
"God's Poor", Reactions and Other Essays
It requires a great deal of poetry to gild the pill of poverty, and then it will pass current only in theory; the reality is a dead failure.
MME. DELUZY
attributed, Day's Collacon
The poor, by thinking unceasingly of money, reach the point of losing the spiritual advantages of non-possession, thereby sinking as low as the rich.
E. M. CIORAN
The Trouble with Being Born
No two things differ more than abstract and actual poverty.
MARY FERRIER
attributed, Day's Collacon
The fact is, people work hard and rely on Food Stamps ... to be able to feed their families. When they work full-time they still live in poverty. That's wrong in our nation. Students who are losing hope because of the difficulty of finding jobs in this tough economy. What we need to do, what is best for America, is to raise wages, create jobs, and then we will move forward. Hard-working people are trying their best, but those who hold on to capital are not sharing the wealth, and there is the problem.
SIMONE CAMPBELL
"Nun Responds To Hannity's 'Communist' Comparison: 'Name Calling Is About All That Exists On That Side'", Media Matters for America
Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! I have as much soul as you -- and full as much heart!
CHARLOTTE BRONTË
Jane Eyre
We're not stupid! We're just poor! And we have a right to insist on this distinction!
ORPHAN PAMUK
Snow
An avowal of poverty is a disgrace to no man; to make no effort to escape from it is indeed disgraceful.
THUCYDIDES
attributed, Day's Collacon
There is a solitude in poverty, but a solitude which restores to each thing its value.
ALBERT CAMUS
"Between Yes and No", World Review, March 1950
There is no doubt of course that poverty develops much that is precious in life, not talent or genius alone, but valuable qualities of character. But it does vastly more harm than good. Whenever a man succeeds in spite of poverty we recognize the wonder and eagerly give it acclaim. But the failures resulting from poverty we pass over. Indeed, they are so common as to be almost uninteresting. We speak of them by the bulk.
JOHN DANIEL BARRY
"God's Poor", Reactions and Other Essays
It's simply a national acknowledgement that in any kind of priority, the needs of human beings must come first. Poverty is here and now.... And if we don't respond to it -- we may well wind up sitting amidst our own rubble, looking for the truck that hit us -- or the bomb that pulverized us. Get the license number of whatever it was that destroyed the dream. And I think we will find that the vehicle was registered in our own name.
ROD SERLING
Commencement Address at the University of Southern California, March 17, 1970
The tragedy of the poor is that they can afford nothing but self denial. Beautiful sins, like beautiful things, are the privilege of the rich.
OSCAR WILDE
Oscariana
Poverty palls the most generous spirits; it cows industry, and casts resolution itself into despair.
JOSEPH ADDISON
attributed, Day's Collacon
It is too difficult to think nobly when one thinks only of earning a living.
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Confessions