# Quotes about hunger - Quotes: 23 - Authors: 19 - Broader topic: [Quotes about food](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/food.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.json ## Quotes > Watching the white people eat would make my empty stomach churn and I would grow vaguely angry. Why could I not eat when I was hungry? Why did I always have to wait until others were through? I could not understand why some people had enough food and others did not. [Richard Wright](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright.md) · [Black Boy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-wright/black-boy/watching-the-white.md) Topics: [justice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > A hungry stomach cannot hear. [Jean de La Fontaine](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine.md) · [Fables](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-de-la-fontaine/fables/a-hungry-stomach.md) Topics: [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Hunger also changes the world - when eating can't be a habit, then neither can seeing. (p26) [Maxine Hong Kingston](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston.md) · [The Woman Warrior](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-woman-warrior.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/the-woman-warrior/hunger-also-changes.md) Topics: [the senses](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-senses.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Starvation was the result, rather, of the forcible removal of food from people’s homes; the roadblocks that prevented peasants from seeking work or food; the harsh rules of the blacklists imposed on farms and villages; the restrictions on barter and trade; and the vicious propaganda campaign designed to persuade Ukrainians to watch, unmoved, as their neighbours died of hunger. [Anne Applebaum](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-applebaum.md) · [Red Famine](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-applebaum/red-famine.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anne-applebaum/red-famine/starvation-was-the.md) Topics: [propaganda](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/propaganda.md), [totalitarianism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/totalitarianism.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > But we seldom spoke of sex, for starving men dream of food, not women, and our bodies were generally too tired to lust. [Wilfred Thesiger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger.md) · [Arabian Sands](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands.md) · p. 110 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands/but-we-seldom.md) Topics: [sexual desire](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sexual-desire.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > ‘So this is what famine does to a person,’ I thought as I walked back home. ‘It does not bring one to his knees only; it eats one alive. It is hungrier than a hungry man.’ [Neamat Imam](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neamat-imam.md) · [The Black Coat](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neamat-imam/the-black-coat.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/neamat-imam/the-black-coat/so-this-is-what.md) Topics: [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Here I was walking around so hungry that my intestines were squirming inside me like snakes, and I had no guarantee there would be something in the way of food later in the day either. And as time went on I was getting more and more hollowed out, spiritually and physically, and I stooped to less and less honourable actions every day. I lied without blushing to get my way, cheated poor people out of their rent, even had to fight off the thought, mean as could be, of laying hands on other people's blankets, all without remorse, without a bad inner conscience. Rotten patches were beginning to appear in my inner being, black spongy growths that were spreading more and more. And God sat up in his heaven keeping a watchful eye on me, making sure that my destruction took place according to all the rules of the game, slowly and steadily, with no let-up. But in the pit of hell the devils were raising their hackles in fury because it was taking me such a long time to commit a cardinal sin, an unforgivable sin for which God in his righteousness had to cast me down. [Knut Hamsun](https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun.md) · [Hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger.md) · p. 49 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger/here-i-was.md) Topics: [poverty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.md), [conscience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > In short order they fell into the same pit as their rivals, who had for decades ignored the plain and simple fact that to a starving man “freedom” implies a full rice-bowl—or, if he has an exceptional imagination, a healthy ox to pull his plough. It has nothing to do with voting for a political delegate. [John Brunner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner.md) · [Stand On Zanzibar](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar/in-short-order.md) Topics: [freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md), [poverty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Verily, wisdom is like hunger. Perhaps it is a very fine thing—but who would willingly partake of it? [Stephen Donaldson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson.md) · [The Power That Preserves](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves.md) · p. 394 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves/verily-wisdom-is-like.md) Topics: [wisdom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wisdom.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Then he grinned. “But it is said that hunger teaches many things. My friend, a wealth of wisdom awaits us on this journey.” [Stephen Donaldson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson.md) · [The Power That Preserves](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves.md) · p. 394 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stephen-donaldson/the-power-that-preserves/then-he-grinned.md) Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [wisdom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wisdom.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > You've got to have something to eat and a little love in your life before you can hold still for any damn body's sermon on how to behave. Everything I am and everything I want out of life goes smack back to that. [Billie Holiday](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday.md) · [Lady Sings the Blues](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/billie-holiday/lady-sings-the-blues/youve-got-to-have.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. [Joseph Conrad](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad.md) · [Heart of Darkness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/heart-of-darkness.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-conrad/heart-of-darkness/no-fear-can.md) Topics: [beliefs](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/beliefs.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > “The whole question of morality…” > > “Is as nothing when one’s stomach rumbles,” said Jhary. [Michael Moorcock](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock.md) · [The Oak and the Ram](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-oak-and-the-ram.md) · p. 143 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-moorcock/the-oak-and-the-ram/the-whole-question.md) Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [morality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/morality.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > 'Please, sir, I want some more.' [Charles Dickens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens.md) · [Oliver Twist](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist/please-sir-i-want.md) Topics: [poverty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Oliver Twist has asked for more! [Charles Dickens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens.md) · [Oliver Twist](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist/oliver-twist-has.md) Topics: [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > The Bengal famine was no natural disaster but 'the direct product of colonial and wartime ideologies and calculations that knowingly exposed the poor of Bengal to annihilation through deprivation'; 'a grievous crime was committed in broad daylight', one that is still unacknowledged. [Tariq Ali](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tariq-ali.md) · [Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tariq-ali/winston-churchill-his-times-his-crimes.md) · p. 278 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tariq-ali/winston-churchill-his-times-his-crimes/the-bengal-famine.md) Topics: [colonialism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/colonialism.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > “There's something to be said for hunger: at least it lets you know you're still alive.” [Margaret Atwood](https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood.md) · [Oryx and Crake](https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood/oryx-and-crake.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/margaret-atwood/oryx-and-crake/theres-something-to-be-said.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him — he has known a fear beyond every other. [John Steinbeck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck.md) · [The Grapes of Wrath](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/how-can-you.md) Topics: [fear](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit—and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. > > And the smell of rot fills the country. > > Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth. > > There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates—died of malnutrition—because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. > > The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quicklime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage. [John Steinbeck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck.md) · [The Grapes of Wrath](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/the-works-of-the.md) Topics: [anger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/anger.md), [greed](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/greed.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Men who have created new fruits in the world cannot create a system whereby their fruits may be eaten. And the failure hangs over the State like a great sorrow. ...and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage. [John Steinbeck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck.md) · [The Grapes of Wrath](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath.md) · p. 349 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/men-who-have.md) Topics: [anger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/anger.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Do you know that ages will pass and mankind will proclaim in its wisdom and science that there is no crime and, therefore no sin, but that there are only hungry people. "Feed them first and then demand virtue of them!" — that is what they will inscribe on their banner which they will raise against you and which will destroy your temple. [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky.md) · [The Brothers Karamazov](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov/do-you-know.md) Topics: [sin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sin.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > Try to be free: you will die of hunger. [Emil Cioran](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran.md) · [A Short History of Decay](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/a-short-history-of-decay/try-to-be-free.md) Topics: [freedom](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md) > There is a stage of degradation which robs the soul of its life; and the inner voice cannot be heard by one whose whole mind is bent on getting food. [Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/there-is-a-stage.md) Topics: [poverty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.md), [conscience](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience.md), [hunger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger.md)