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Poverty Quotes

Browse 6296 quotes about Poverty.

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Poverty Quotes

“When I wrote 'The Giver,' it contained no so-called 'bad words.' It was set, after all, in a mythical, futuristic, and Utopian society. Not only was there no poverty, divorce, racism, sexism, pollution, or violence in the world of 'The Giver'; there was also careful attention paid to language: to its fluency, precision, and power.”

WorldLanguageAttentionPovertyViolenceRacismPaidCarefulDivorceSexismPollutionGiverPrecisionUtopianFuturisticBad WordFluency
Author:Lois Lowry
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“Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish.”

MenHumansHeartSeemsOrderLeftWishWealthLordPovertyPrideAdvantageMiseryExtraordinaryProsperityDisplayGoddessHuman HeartDisadvantagesSerpent
Author:Thomas More
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“It's so hard for me to even acknowledge America without talking about race. If you look at our society, if you look at the prisons, if you look at the poverty and which side of the line the majority of people are, we have to acknowledge how we divide ourselves up, that there's racism alive in this country. And it's not in the law. It's in our minds. And that's what we have to actively battle.”

PeopleIfsMindLooksCountryHardAmericaLawSidesLinesRaceTalkingPovertyAliveBattleRacismMajorityPrisonAcknowledgeOur SocietyDivides
Author:Dave Matthews
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“The worst example of rural poverty is that of migrant farm workers. They have no permanent jobs, so they have no equity in the places where they work. They're not shareholders, let alone entrepreneurs. They're not small farmers, they're not market gardeners, they're just temporary - uprooted, isolated, easily exploitable people.”

PeopleJobsPovertyWorstExampleEntrepreneurWorkersPermanentTemporaryFarmsFarmersIsolatedEquityGardenerShareholdersMigrants
Author:Wendell Berry
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“For most Black people there is still poverty and desperation. The Ghettos still exist, and the proportion of Blacks in prison is still much greater than Whites. Today, there is less overt racism, but the economic injustices create an "institutional racism" which exists even while more Blacks are in high places, such as Condoleeza Rice in Bush's Administration and Obama running for President.”

PeopleStillsRunningTodayBlackPresidentPovertyGreaterEconomicRacismPrisonInjusticeAdministrationProportionBlack PeopleDesperationRiceGhettoHigh PlacesInstitutional RacismEconomic Injustice
Author:Howard Zinn
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“Half of all kids in public education are below the poverty line. Two-thirds of the achievement gap comes from factors outside of school. Teachers influence about seven to ten percent of what happens in kids' lives. When you think about those statistics, you have to think about how to re-envision education so it's holistic and so we share responsibility.”

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Author:Randi Weingarten
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“Our world is one of terrible contradictions. Plenty of food, but one billion people go hungry. Lavish lifestyles for a few, but poverty for too many others. Huge advances in medicine while mothers die every day in childbirth, and children die every day from drinking dirty water. Billions spent on weapons to kill people instead of keeping them safe.”

PeopleWorldChildrenMotherDiesWaterPovertyHugeTerribleSafeWeaponsMedicineDrinkingBillionsLifestyleHungryPlentyDirtyContradictionOur WorldChildbirthDirty WaterLavish Lifestyle
Author:Ban Ki-moon
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“In this country we're unprecedentedly safe, comfortable, and well fed, with more and better venues for stimulation. And yet if you were asked, 'Is this a happy or unhappy country?' you'd check the 'unhappy' box. We're living in an era of emotional poverty, which is something that serious drug addicts feel most keenly.”

IfsFeelsWellsCountryPovertyEmotionalSeriousDrugSafeComfortableBoxesUnhappyChecksErasFedsAddictDrug AddictVenuesStimulation
Author:David Foster Wallace
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“The worst of this ever growing cancer of Statism [ie big 'paternal' government - socialism, communism and fascism] is its moral effect. The country is rich enough to stand its frightful economic wastage for a long time yet, and still prosper, but it is already so poverty-stricken in its moral resources that the present drain will quickly run them out.”

LongStillsCountryEnoughBigsGovernmentRunningMoralPovertyRichGrowingEconomicWorstEffectsLong TimeResourcesCancerSocialismCommunismFascismDrainsWastageCommunism And Fascism
Author:Albert J. Nock
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“It's come around to that point of view at the end of a long evolutionary process, in which the rule of law has slowly been replaced by giant idiosyncratic bureaucracies that are designed to criminalize failure, poverty, and weakness on the one hand, and to immunize strength, wealth, and success on the other.”

LongEndsHandsLawProcessWealthViewsPovertyWeaknessPoint Of ViewGiantsReplacedBureaucracyRule Of LawWealth And Success
Book:The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap
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“The basis of bureaucratic rule is the poverty of society in objects of consumption, with the resulting struggle of each against all. When there is enough goods in a store, the purchasers can come whenever they want to. When there is little goods, the purchasers are compelled to stand in line. When the lines are very long, it is necessary to appoint a policeman to keep order. Such is the starting point of the power of the Soviet bureaucracy. It "knows" who is to get something and who has to wait.”

KnowsWantLittlesLongEnoughOrderWaitingLinesPovertyStruggleObjectsBasesStartingStoresGoodsSovietConsumptionBureaucracyCompelledPolicemenStarting PointPurchasers
Book:The Revolution Betrayed
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“Poverty is a bitter thing; but it is not as bitter as the existence of restless vacuity and physical, moral, and intellectual flabbiness, to which those doom themselves who elect to spend all their years in that vainest of all vain pursuits-the pursuit of mere pleasure as a sufficient end in itself.”

YearsEndsPleasureExistenceMoralPovertyIntellectualMerePursuitBitterVainSufficientRestlessDoomVacuity
Book:Works: The strenuous life
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“Rationality and the instinct of collaboration have already given us large regions and long periods of peace and prosperity. Ultimately, they will lead us to a planet without countries, without wars, without patriotism, without religions, without poverty, where we will be able to share the world. Actually, maybe I am not sure I truly believe that I believe this, but I do want to believe that I believe this.”

WorldWantBelieveLongWarCountryAbleGivenI BelievePovertySharePlanetsPeriodsInstinctProsperityNot SureRegionsCollaborationRationality
Author:Carlo Rovelli
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“Sure, you can choose the safety and predictability of the cage, forfeiting the adventure God has destined for you. But you won't be the only one missing out or losing out. When you lack the courage to chase the Wild Goose, the opportunity costs are staggering. Who might not hear about the love of God if you don't seize the opportunity to tell them? Who might be stuck in poverty, stuck in ignorance, stuck in pain if you're not there to help free them? Where might the advance of God's kingdom in the world stall out because you weren't there on the front lines?”

IfsWorldHelpingMightPainOpportunityLinesPovertyMissingFrontsIgnoranceAdventureCostLosingSafetyStuckKingdomsGod LoveCagesDestinedGeeseStaggeringMissing OutPredictabilitySeize The OpportunityOpportunity CostWild GeeseLosing Out
Author:Mark Batterson
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“For what you call the Law is but a club of the rich over the lowest of men, sanctifying the conquest of the earth by a few and making their theft the way of things. But over and above these pitiful statutes of yours that enclose the common land and reduce us to poverty to make you fat stands the Law of Creation, which renders judgement on rich and poor alike, making them one. For freedom is the man who will thus turn the world upside down, therefore no wonder he has enemies”

MenWorldWayEarthLawTurnsFreedomPoorCommonWonderEnemyPovertyRichLandCreationHe ManClubsFatsJudgementLowestConquestRichnessTheftReducingUpside DownRich And PoorSanctificationRenderingPitifulStatutesWorld Upside DownCauses Of PovertyFattening
Author:Gerrard Winstanley
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“During my eleven years as a New York City public school teacher, I saw firsthand the impact that poverty has on the classroom. In low-income neighborhoods like Sunset Park, where I taught, students as young as five years old enter school affected by the stresses often created by poverty: domestic violence, drug abuse, gang activity.”

YearsSchoolYoungCitiesPovertyFiveSawsTeacherViolenceNew YorkStudentsTaughtDrugActivityLowsAbuseStressImpactIncomeParksFive YearsSunsetNeighborhoodAffectedNew York CityClassroomDomestic ViolenceGangPublic SchoolElevenFive Year OldsSchool TeachersDrug AbuseLow Income
Author:Sal Albanese
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