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Poverty Quotes

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Poverty Quotes

“Income inequality has no necessary connection with poverty, the lack of material resources for a decent life, such as adequate food, shelter, and clothing. A society with great income inequality may have no poor people, and a society with no income inequality may have nothing but poor people.”

People May Poor Poverty Materials Resources Connections Income Inequality Decent Clothings Shelter Poor People Adequate Income Inequality Decent Life

Author:Robert Higgs

“The great question for our time is, how to make sure that the continuing scientific revolution brings benefits to everybody rather than widening the gap between rich and poor. To lift up poor countries, and poor people in rich countries, from poverty, to give them a chance of a decent life, technology is not enough. Technology must be guided and driven by ethics if it is to do more than provide new toys for the rich.”

“Our society is monstrously disjunctive, at once so efficient in war and so inefficient in caring for the welfare of its members. It is frightening to see people rooting in garbage pails on streets, living in cardboard crates under bridges, while their government wages war. Even when there is an emergency in a household, decent parents do not forget to feed the children.”

People Children War Government Parent Forget Poverty Streets Members Caring Bridges Welfare Decent Our Society Efficient Household Frightening Wages Emergencies Garbage

Book:PROSPECT: The Journal of an Artist

Source: PROSPECT: The Journal of an Artist

“The psychological pain--and the ethical shame--of American poverty are made greater by the fact that this country possesses the wealth and the energy to raise all children to a minimally decent standard of living.”

Children Made Country Facts Pain Energy Wealth Poverty Greater Standards Shame Raises Psychological Decent Ethical Standards Of Living Psychological Pain American Poverty

Book:All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure

Source: All Our Children: The American Family Under Pressure

“Dream of a world where poverty is history, dream of a world where we don't spend those obscene billions on arms, knowing full well that a tiny fraction of those budgets of death would ensure that children everywhere had clean water to drink, could afford the cheap inoculations against preventable diseases, would have good schools, adequate healthcare and decent homes.”

World Wells Children Home Dream School Water Poverty Knowing Arms Drink Disease Clean Billions Tiny Budgets Decent Healthcare Adequate Fractions Obscene Clean Water Good School

Author:Desmond Tutu

“When we give help to the poor, we are not doing the work of aid agencies 'in a Christian way'. Those are good, it is a decent thing to do - aid work is good and quite human - but it is not Christian poverty, which St. Paul desires of us and preaches to us. Christian poverty is that I give of my own, and not of that which is left over - I give even that, which I need for myself, to the poor person, because I know that he enriches me. Why does the poor person enrich me? Because Jesus Himself told us that He is in the poor person.”

Knows Way Needs Giving Humans Persons Doe Helping Christian Desire Jesus Left My Own Poor Poverty Aids Things To Do Agency Decent

Author:Pope Francis

“The problem the world faces today is that only one-third of the world's population lives in decent circumstances, while half the population of the world lives on one or two dollars a day. And even as we have this poverty and backwardness, we are facing a global environmental crisis. We need developmental models that will take into account the specific and unique position of each country and at the same time will address the environmental crisis.”

“To really tackle poverty, politicians, activists, academics will all have to think outside their boxes, will have to start developing much more integrated approaches to these problems. And a large part of this will involve working out ways to push for living wages. Partly this will involve re-empowering the union movement, which has been massively weakened in recent decades. Partly it will involve a willingness to restructure tax codes to penalize companies that don't provide basic benefits and decent wages to employees.”

Thinking Problem Poverty Politician Taxes Work Out Code Decent Employee Willingness Activist Integrated

Author:Sasha Abramsky

“Certainly, poverty and economic decline have a lot to do with the so-called rage of Islam. You've got all these young men in countries which are economically in bad shape. The idea that they might be able to make a good living and get married and have a family, a decent life, seems very remote to a lot of people in a lot of the world.”

People Men World Ideas Country Seems Might Able Young Poverty Economic Shapes Married Islam Rage Young Man Decent Decline Good Living Decent Life

Author:Salman Rushdie

“Can we really believe that we are living a good life, an ethically decent life if we don't do anything serious to help reduce poverty around the world and help save the lives of children or adults who are likely to die if we don't increase the amount of aid we are giving.”

Ifs World Giving Believe Children Helping Dies Poverty Serious Amount Adults Increase Aids Around The World Decent Good Life Decent Life Living The Good Life

Author:Peter Singer

“No matter how much I wanted all those things that I needed money to buy, there was some devilish current pushing me off in another direction -- toward anarchy and poverty and craziness. That maddening delusion that a man can lead a decent life without hiring himself out as a Judas Goat.”

Men Matter Wanted Poverty Needed Currents Decent Delusion Pushing Anarchy Hiring Goats Craziness Judas Devilish Decent Life

Book:The Rum Diary: Film Tie-in Edition

Source: The Rum Diary: Film Tie-in Edition

“The Paris slums are a gathering-place for eccentric people - people who have fallen into solitary, half-mad grooves of life and given up trying to be normal or decent. Poverty frees them from ordinary standards of behavior, just as money frees people from work.”

Source: The Orwell Reader: Fiction, Essays, and Reportage