“I noticed how the attitude of women varies with a man's clothes. When a badly dressed man passes them they shudder away from him with a quite frank movement of disgust, as though he were a dead cat. Clothes are very powerful things.”
Source: Down and Out in Paris and London
“On election season politicos dawn their timber boots and red handkerchiefs. Many claim salt of the earth roots every time they eat a watermelon, but they never bite the bitterness of the rind. Everyone likes a good show and the politics of poverty never disappoint.”
Source: Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy
“Nowadays there really is no primary poverty left in this country. In Western countries we are left with the problems which aren't poverty. All right, there may be poverty because people don't know how to budget, don't know how to spend their earnings, but now you are left with the really hard fundamental character—personality defect.”
Source: Margaret Thatcher In Her Own Words
“There are two ways to dehumanize: the first is to strip people of all virtue, the second is to clear them of all sin.”
Source: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
“A nation is illiterate and uneducated if a child is labored”
“I shouldn't ca' fo' the disgrace of bein' poo' if it wasn't fo' the inconvenience.”
Source: A Hazard of New Fortunes
“The sad news is, those born into poverty usually remain in poverty. The good news is, these people are among the first to turn to God. The pain of life has made them seek for something better. When they find it, they are no longer poor.”
Source: The Golden Prayer Devotional: Everything Belongs to God
“True money can’t buy life but you can lose a life because of poverty.”
Source: Weighty 'n' Worthy African Proverbs - Volume 1
“Poverty is not necessarily a sign of laziness or imbecility. Sensitivity to indecency and being a victim of unfortunate unforeseen events also contribute.”
Source: Weighty 'n' Worthy African Proverbs - Volume 1
“Ubóstwo to stan niemożności wypowiedzenia się. Ludzie ubodzy nie mają głosu, nie są nigdzie szanowani, nie są tolerowani. Ktoś musi mówić w ich imieniu. To jest przyczyna, dla której o nich piszę.”
Source: Dałem głos ubogim. Rozmowy z młodzieżą