{ "type": "topic", "site": { "name": "Leafy Quotes", "language": "en", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com" }, "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.", "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty", "heading": "Quotes about poverty", "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.json", "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty.md", "quotes_count": 139, "authors_count": 96, "parent": { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money", "heading": "Quotes about money" }, "children": [], "quotes": [ { "id": "56c9098e-ace3-4612-8e6a-d9642be9ab58", "slug": "in-the-affairs", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio/the-decameron/in-the-affairs", "text": "In the affairs of this world, poverty alone is without envy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Giovanni Boccaccio", "slug": "giovanni-boccaccio", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio" }, "book": { "title": "The Decameron", "slug": "the-decameron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/giovanni-boccaccio/the-decameron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "jealousy", "slug": "jealousy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/jealousy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Giovanni_Boccaccio#The_Decameron_(c._1350)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:10:04" }, { "id": "0c754f24-58ff-4785-9485-e3bc991a1e6f", "slug": "at-a-certain", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/at-a-certain", "text": "At a certain depth of distress, the poor, in their stupor, groan no longer over evil, and are no longer thankful for good.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Victor Hugo", "slug": "victor-hugo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo" }, "book": { "title": "Les Miserables", "slug": "les-miserables", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 798, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Les_Mis%C3%A9rables#Book_VI_-_Little_Gavroche", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-26T08:09:49" }, { "id": "09c1aa30-d16a-4e85-8250-ae8c73f0d9c7", "slug": "its-so-easy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys/after-leaving-mr-mackenzie/its-so-easy", "text": "\"It's so easy to make a person who hasn't got anything seem wrong.\" (chapter 4)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Rhys", "slug": "jean-rhys", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys" }, "book": { "title": "After Leaving Mr Mackenzie", "slug": "after-leaving-mr-mackenzie", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-rhys/after-leaving-mr-mackenzie" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jean_Rhys#Part_II", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:53" }, { "id": "999958c1-af4e-4ce4-8dd1-24abf02aca4d", "slug": "the-beggar-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess/the-beggar-girl", "text": "The beggar girl was still huddled up in the corner of the step. She looked frightful in her wet and dirty rags. She was staring straight before her with a stupid look of suffering, and Sara saw her suddenly draw the back of her roughened black hand across her eyes to rub away the tears which seemed to have surprised her by forcing their way from under her lids. She was muttering to herself.Sara opened the paper bag and took out one of the hot buns, which had already warmed her own cold hands a little.\"See,\" she said, putting the bun in the ragged lap, \"this is nice and hot. Eat it, and you will not feel so hungry.\"The child started and stared up at her, as if such sudden, amazing good luck almost frightened her; then she snatched up the bun and began to cram it into her mouth with great wolfish bites.\"Oh, my! Oh, my!\" Sara heard her say hoarsely, in wild delight. \"Oh, my!\"Sara took out three more buns and put them down.The sound in the hoarse, ravenous voice was awful.\"She is hungrier than I am,\" she said to herself. \"She's starving.\" But her hand trembled when she put down the fourth bun. \"I'm not starving,\" she said—and she put down the fifth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Frances Hodgson Burnett", "slug": "frances-hodgson-burnett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett" }, "book": { "title": "A Little Princess", "slug": "a-little-princess", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frances-hodgson-burnett/a-little-princess" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Little_Princess#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:40" }, { "id": "a611723c-d97d-46e1-8553-537d70e6e07f", "slug": "common-suffering-unites", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele/down-second-avenue/common-suffering-unites", "text": "Common suffering unites. But when suffering becomes intolerably acute, when it reduces people to abject, dehumanising poverty and insecurity, suffering disunites.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Es’kia Mphahlele", "slug": "eskia-mphahlele", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele" }, "book": { "title": "Down Second Avenue", "slug": "down-second-avenue", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/eskia-mphahlele/down-second-avenue" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "solidarity", "slug": "solidarity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/solidarity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Es'kia_Mphahlele#Down_Second_Avenue_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:05:29" }, { "id": "8f4e4812-9ca7-4103-aae1-ab71d240c461", "slug": "i-am-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo/wizard-of-the-crow/i-am-human", "text": "I am human, i am a human being, a soul, and not a piece of garbage, no matter how poor and ragged I look, and I deserve respect, he heard himself say, time and again as he descended to and repossessed his body.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ngugi wa Thiong'o", "slug": "ngugi-wa-thiongo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo" }, "book": { "title": "Wizard of the Crow", "slug": "wizard-of-the-crow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ngugi-wa-thiongo/wizard-of-the-crow" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9_wa_Thiong'o#Wizard_of_the_Crow_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:25" }, { "id": "5a7e7a3a-d9a1-4c8b-9611-9b30656fec15", "slug": "what-i-wonder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-s-stone/a-flag-for-sunrise/what-i-wonder", "text": "\"What I wonder,\" Bob Cole said in his strange tremulous voice, \"is whether the people down here have to live this way so that we can live the way we do. We have to believe it's no, don't we? We couldn't face up to it otherwise. Because if most of the world lives in this kind of poverty so that we can have our goodies and our extra protein ration - what does that make us?\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Robert S. Stone", "slug": "robert-s-stone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-s-stone" }, "book": { "title": "A Flag for Sunrise", "slug": "a-flag-for-sunrise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-s-stone/a-flag-for-sunrise" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 158, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_Stone_(novelist)#A_Flag_for_Sunrise_(1981)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:18" }, { "id": "f9224274-69d8-4c03-9ad3-198837020db6", "slug": "although-we-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo/a-nation-of-women/although-we-are", "text": "Although we are all brothers, some die of hunger and of foodstuffs, clothing and shoes. And with so many naked and bare-while what is useful and necessary rots at the depots and warehouses", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Luisa Capetillo", "slug": "luisa-capetillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo" }, "book": { "title": "A Nation of Women", "slug": "a-nation-of-women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/luisa-capetillo/a-nation-of-women" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Luisa_Capetillo#A_Nation_of_Women_(1911)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:04:09" }, { "id": "4531b6a6-7397-4fd6-995d-308bace1e487", "slug": "theres-only-but", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson/virtual-light/theres-only-but", "text": "There’s only but two kinds of people. People can afford hotels like that, they’re one kind. We’re the other. Used to be, like, a middle class, people in between. But not anymore.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Gibson", "slug": "william-gibson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson" }, "book": { "title": "Virtual Light", "slug": "virtual-light", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson/virtual-light" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bridge_trilogy#Virtual_Light_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:41" }, { "id": "699c3622-c51b-4c38-ade0-b2030e7e7f04", "slug": "if-all-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-death-ship/if-all-people", "text": "If all people had a decent job to occupy their minds, and regular meals to satisfy their hunger, most crimes would not be committed.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "B. Traven", "slug": "b-traven", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven" }, "book": { "title": "The Death Ship", "slug": "the-death-ship", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/b-traven/the-death-ship" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 159, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "crime", "slug": "crime-2", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/crime-2" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/B._Traven#The_Death_Ship_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:03:15" }, { "id": "27f01c6c-5ae6-4956-844d-4890e1237fd3", "slug": "when-hard-times", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/aftermath/when-hard-times", "text": "When hard times come to the party, dignity is one of the first guests to leave.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Sheffield", "slug": "charles-sheffield", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield" }, "book": { "title": "Aftermath", "slug": "aftermath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/aftermath" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 98, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Aftermath_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:35" }, { "id": "49da597c-5fbb-4c97-8000-19d6cd8fe961", "slug": "cruelty-walked-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks/the-way-of-shadows/cruelty-walked-the", "text": "Cruelty walked the Warrens holding hands with poverty and rage.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Brent Weeks", "slug": "brent-weeks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks" }, "book": { "title": "The Way Of Shadows", "slug": "the-way-of-shadows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/brent-weeks/the-way-of-shadows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 30, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "anger", "slug": "anger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/anger" }, { "name": "cruelty", "slug": "cruelty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cruelty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Brent_Weeks#The_Way_of_Shadows_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:27" }, { "id": "52240d2b-f446-4dc6-8a0e-41abf70e9263", "slug": "the-folly-of-men", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward/the-folly-of-men", "text": "The folly of men, not their hard-heartedness, was the great cause of the world's poverty. It was not the crime of man, nor of any class of men, that made the race so miserable, but a hideous, ghastly mistake, a colossal world-darkening blunder.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward Bellamy", "slug": "edward-bellamy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy" }, "book": { "title": "Looking Backward", "slug": "looking-backward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "stupidity", "slug": "stupidity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Looking_Backward:_2000%E2%80%931887#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:25" }, { "id": "23633d08-a48e-4c4c-9221-8e260ce93c9c", "slug": "do-you-not", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward/do-you-not", "text": "Do you not know that close to your doors a great multitude of men and women, flesh of your flesh, live lives that are one agony from birth to death? Listen! their dwellings are so near that if you hush your laughter you will hear their grievous voices, the piteous crying of the little ones that suckle poverty, the hoarse curses of men sodden in misery turned half-way back to brutes, the chaffering of an army of women selling themselves for bread. With what have you stopped your ears that you do not hear these doleful sounds?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edward Bellamy", "slug": "edward-bellamy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy" }, "book": { "title": "Looking Backward", "slug": "looking-backward", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-bellamy/looking-backward" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "indifference", "slug": "indifference", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/indifference" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Looking_Backward:_2000%E2%80%931887#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:25" }, { "id": "2e2c2976-019e-458e-b5d8-d17dfcddb957", "slug": "a-new-racket", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fredric-brown/martians-go-home/a-new-racket", "text": "A new racket, probably. A depression breeds rackets as a swamp breeds mosquitoes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Fredric Brown", "slug": "fredric-brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fredric-brown" }, "book": { "title": "Martians, Go Home", "slug": "martians-go-home", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/fredric-brown/martians-go-home" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 277, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "deception", "slug": "deception", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/deception" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fredric_Brown#Martians,_Go_Home_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:05" }, { "id": "bef0f984-0560-4670-b482-d9d643999401", "slug": "he-was-ashamed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-reeman/a-tradition-of-victory/he-was-ashamed", "text": "He was ashamed and embarrassed, angry too that such a man could end like this. If peace did eventually come, there would be many more redcoats begging in the streets.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Douglas Reeman", "slug": "douglas-reeman", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-reeman" }, "book": { "title": "A Tradition of Victory", "slug": "a-tradition-of-victory", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/douglas-reeman/a-tradition-of-victory" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "soldiers", "slug": "soldiers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/soldiers" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Douglas_Reeman#Cap_6_%22Single-Handed%22", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:00" }, { "id": "83e66d86-0ba5-41f6-9bb9-b810efa57f36", "slug": "in-each-puddle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shamini-flint/inspector-singh-investigates-a-curious-indian-cadaver/in-each-puddle", "text": "In each puddle of light, like a morality play, the homeless lay on carefully laid out bits of cardboard or blanket. The ‘new middle class’ of Mumbai, spoken of in hushed tones by economists, stepped over the sleeping forms or skirted around them without breaking stride as they headed for the nearest Starbucks to fulfil their destiny as the engine of Indian economic growth.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Shamini Flint", "slug": "shamini-flint", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shamini-flint" }, "book": { "title": "Inspector Singh Investigates: A Curious Indian Cadaver", "slug": "inspector-singh-investigates-a-curious-indian-cadaver", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/shamini-flint/inspector-singh-investigates-a-curious-indian-cadaver" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Shamini_Flint#Cap_5", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:57" }, { "id": "ee65ffeb-aabc-4e76-afff-9e3acc31c182", "slug": "isn-t-there-some", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/phineas-redux/isn-t-there-some", "text": "“Isn‘t there some trouble about money?” “They wouldn‘t be very rich, Duchess.” “What a blessing for them! But then, perhaps, they‘d be very poor.” “They would be rather poor.” “Which is not a blessing.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anthony Trollope", "slug": "anthony-trollope", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope" }, "book": { "title": "Phineas Redux", "slug": "phineas-redux", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anthony-trollope/phineas-redux" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Phineas_Redux#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:50" }, { "id": "41406a9a-0d40-4035-9d83-96cea66633dd", "slug": "people-love-to-say", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/trevor-noah/born-a-crime/people-love-to-say", "text": "People love to say, “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” What they don’t say is, “And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.” That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Trevor Noah", "slug": "trevor-noah", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/trevor-noah" }, "book": { "title": "Born a Crime", "slug": "born-a-crime", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/trevor-noah/born-a-crime" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 190, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Trevor_Noah#Born_a_Crime:_Stories_from_a_South_African_Childhood_(2016)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:46" }, { "id": "fb3bd388-a0ed-4d4d-ac47-15604dfdadc5", "slug": "it-is-said", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/bleak-house/it-is-said", "text": "“It is said that the children of the very poor are not brought up, but dragged up.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Bleak House", "slug": "bleak-house", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/bleak-house" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bleak_House#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:27" }, { "id": "09332249-2e89-4d0f-9f1f-4e2f488fd6d7", "slug": "i-suppose-being", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/guy-gavriel-kay/tigana/i-suppose-being", "text": "I suppose being right will have to compensate me for being poor—the story of my life, I fear.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Guy Gavriel Kay", "slug": "guy-gavriel-kay", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/guy-gavriel-kay" }, "book": { "title": "Tigana", "slug": "tigana", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/guy-gavriel-kay/tigana" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 14, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Guy_Gavriel_Kay#Tigana_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:09" }, { "id": "69948239-1143-4263-aa4f-9ac65dea0e77", "slug": "how-is-it-possible", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-finney/time-and-again/how-is-it-possible", "text": "“How is it possible for me to thank God in my heart for the food he gives me and for life, while every morsel I eat I earn with my toil and even suffering? There may be a Providence for the rich man, but every poor man must be his own Providence. As for the value of life, we poor folks don’t live for ourselves at all; we live for other people. I often wonder if the rich man who owns great blocks of stock in the road and reckons his wealth in the millions does not sometimes think, as he sits at his well-filled table and looks at the happy faces of his children, of the poor car driver who toils for his benefit for a dollar and ninety cents a day, and is lucky if he tastes meat twice a week and can give the little ones at home warm clothes and blankets for the winter.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Finney", "slug": "jack-finney", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-finney" }, "book": { "title": "Time And Again", "slug": "time-and-again", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-finney/time-and-again" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 252, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jack_Finney#Time_and_Again_(1970)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:01:06" }, { "id": "6d67093c-0c7c-489d-b853-b1abe771cc52", "slug": "they-say-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/krik-krak/they-say-the", "text": "They say the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. I have never been given very much. What was there to take away? (\"Children of the Sea\")", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Edwidge Danticat", "slug": "edwidge-danticat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat" }, "book": { "title": "Krik? Krak!", "slug": "krik-krak", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/edwidge-danticat/krik-krak" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edwidge_Danticat#Krik%3F_Krak!_(1996)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:52" }, { "id": "d71adf40-88d8-4265-b321-cb689f468e73", "slug": "the-poor-didnt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city/the-poor-didnt", "text": "The poor didn’t have them and so the rich flaunted them, the larger and more conspicuous the better.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alastair Reynolds", "slug": "alastair-reynolds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds" }, "book": { "title": "Chasm City", "slug": "chasm-city", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/chasm-city" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 406, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Chasm_City_(2001)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:00:38" }, { "id": "3efd7caf-5f83-4cf8-a449-83fc3edd8c32", "slug": "under-bad-governments", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract/under-bad-governments", "text": "Under bad governments, this equality is only apparent and illusory: it serves only to-keep the pauper in his poverty and the rich man in the position he has usurped. In fact, laws are always of use to those who possess and harmful to those who have nothing: from which it follows that the social state is advantageous to men only when all have something and none too much.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "The Social Contract", "slug": "the-social-contract", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/the-social-contract" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Social_Contract#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:45" }, { "id": "86b1b369-0429-4c3f-baf1-bf2dea56c4ff", "slug": "how-we-treat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese/cutting-for-stone/how-we-treat", "text": "\"... How we treat the least of out brethren, how we treat the peasant suffering with volvulus, that's the measure of this country. Not our fighter planes or tanks, or how big the Emperor's palace happens to be ...\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Abraham Verghese", "slug": "abraham-verghese", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese" }, "book": { "title": "Cutting for Stone", "slug": "cutting-for-stone", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/abraham-verghese/cutting-for-stone" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "empathy", "slug": "empathy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Abraham_Verghese#Cutting_for_Stone_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:59:39" }, { "id": "54001fa7-b7c2-4f0b-a45a-aac5eb6a1b50", "slug": "you-cannot-eat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows/you-cannot-eat", "text": "You cannot eat love, nor buy a horse with it, nor warm your house on a cold night.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Feast for Crows", "slug": "a-feast-for-crows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "love", "slug": "love", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Feast_for_Crows_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:53" }, { "id": "3dd323d9-6fd9-44c1-9345-4d7b51611c7b", "slug": "it-is-being", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows/it-is-being", "text": "It is being common-born that is dangerous, when the great lords play their game of thrones.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Feast for Crows", "slug": "a-feast-for-crows", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Feast_for_Crows_(2005)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:53" }, { "id": "ecf28ac4-29c0-43b2-b33f-b4d2c3f75cfb", "slug": "only-a-starving", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords/only-a-starving", "text": "Only a starving man begs bread from a beggar.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George RR Martin", "slug": "george-rr-martin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin" }, "book": { "title": "A Storm of Swords", "slug": "a-storm-of-swords", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-storm-of-swords" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice_and_Fire#A_Storm_of_Swords_(2000)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:51" }, { "id": "7614cd74-87b6-43c5-b8c7-678e514b99a4", "slug": "where-there-is-no-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/avram-davidson/the-phoenix-and-the-mirror/where-there-is-no-bread", "text": "Where there is no bread, there is no philosophy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Avram Davidson", "slug": "avram-davidson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/avram-davidson" }, "book": { "title": "The Phoenix and the Mirror", "slug": "the-phoenix-and-the-mirror", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/avram-davidson/the-phoenix-and-the-mirror" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "philosophy", "slug": "philosophy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/philosophy" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Avram_Davidson#The_Phoenix_and_the_Mirror_(1969)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:41" }, { "id": "c71001a8-c1ba-40e7-9077-06b328e779d7", "slug": "since-that-day", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi/the-pillar-of-salt/since-that-day", "text": "Since that day, I have slowly acquired the uneasiness about my clothes that characterizes the poor who are ashamed. I was no longer at my ease in any suit: I felt that I was badly dressed and that I attracted the attention of all. I feared, even when wearing a new suit, the mockery of others at my unsuccessful attempts. That is how I became what is known as careful of my clothes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Memmi", "slug": "albert-memmi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi" }, "book": { "title": "The Pillar of Salt", "slug": "the-pillar-of-salt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi/the-pillar-of-salt" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "shame", "slug": "shame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Memmi#The_Pillar_of_Salt_(1953)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:38" }, { "id": "71c22568-f59f-4695-b25e-e0e7016a3078", "slug": "oh-yes-poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi/the-pillar-of-salt/oh-yes-poverty", "text": "Oh yes, poverty is something to be ashamed of, and this was clear to me from the mutterings of my own parents, from their remarks about the Oukala of the Birds and their pity for the Choulam family. As for me, I despised the poor. Fraji had to pay with shame the price of his poverty and I too, if we were poor, would have to pay with my own shame. In the disorder of my awareness, I made that day a great and unhappy step forward. I noted that I too wore new clothes only rarely and was forced to receive, like Fraji, bundles that stank of mildew and dirty linen and from which all the expensive buttons had been removed. I now understood his suffering fully, the shame that I had poured forth upon him in the presence of Chouchane and the other kids. His suffering and shame were my own too; on my own shoulders I now felt the burden of the same contempt, as if I had his hair, all clammy with filth, and his eyes like the headlights of a car. I felt that I had become Fraji.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Albert Memmi", "slug": "albert-memmi", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi" }, "book": { "title": "The Pillar of Salt", "slug": "the-pillar-of-salt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/albert-memmi/the-pillar-of-salt" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "shame", "slug": "shame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Albert_Memmi#The_Pillar_of_Salt_(1953)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:38" }, { "id": "d253dfa2-bf44-4b66-8236-a1a399751f36", "slug": "to-be-shelterless", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/barnaby-rudge/to-be-shelterless", "text": "To be shelterless and alone in the open country, hearing the wind moan and watching for day through the whole long weary night; to listen to the falling rain, and crouch for warmth beneath the lee of some old barn or rick, or in the hollow of a tree; are dismal things—but not so dismal as the wandering up and down where shelter is, and beds and sleepers are by thousands; a houseless rejected creature.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Barnaby Rudge", "slug": "barnaby-rudge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/barnaby-rudge" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barnaby_Rudge#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:37" }, { "id": "adee8361-c061-4849-820e-0bdb04fb28ac", "slug": "the-fission-bomb", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-morrow/this-is-the-way-the-world-ends/the-fission-bomb", "text": "The fission bomb was a costly mistress. Consider, your Honors. In 1979 this planet celebrated the International Year of the Child. Of the one hundred and twenty-two million children born that year, one of every ten was dead by 1982, and most died for lack of inexpensive food and vaccines. Yet in 1982 the world spent one trillion dollars on weapons. One trillion dollars!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Morrow", "slug": "james-morrow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-morrow" }, "book": { "title": "This Is the Way the World Ends", "slug": "this-is-the-way-the-world-ends", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-morrow/this-is-the-way-the-world-ends" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 156, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_K._Morrow#This_Is_the_Way_the_World_Ends_(1986)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:27" }, { "id": "8a9eec7d-777d-4304-80a3-7931c78bdaf2", "slug": "we-unfortunately-seem", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonard-mlodinow/the-drunkards-walk/we-unfortunately-seem", "text": "We unfortunately seem to be unconsciously biased against those in society who come out on the bottom.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Leonard Mlodinow", "slug": "leonard-mlodinow", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonard-mlodinow" }, "book": { "title": "The Drunkard's Walk", "slug": "the-drunkards-walk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/leonard-mlodinow/the-drunkards-walk" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 212, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "prejudice", "slug": "prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prejudice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leonard_Mlodinow#The_Drunkard's_Walk_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:26" }, { "id": "ddd597d4-cb8b-495c-99a1-0c647b012cc6", "slug": "i-feel-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/i-feel-like", "text": "‘I feel like I been everywhere God got land,’ Dove thought, ‘yet all I found was people with hard ways to go. All I found was troubles 'n degradation. All I found was that those with the hardest ways of all to go were quicker to help others than those with the easiest ways. All I found was two kinds of people. Them that would rather live on the loser's side of the street with the other losers than to win off by theirselves; and them who want to be one of the winners even though the only way left for them to win was over them who have already been whipped. / ‘All I found was men and women, and all the women were fallen. Sports of the world, poor bummies, poor tarts, all they were good for was to draw flies I was told. You could always treat one too good, it was said, but you never could treat one too bad. Yet I wouldn't trade off the worst of the lot for the best of the other kind. I think they were the real salt of the earth.’", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_3", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:25" }, { "id": "86ed007a-8647-402d-938d-2a5c5a82d0d4", "slug": "when-we-get", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/when-we-get", "text": "When we get more houses than we can live in, more cars than we can ride in, more food than we can eat ourselves, the only one way of getting richer is by cutting off those who don't have enough. If everybody has more than enough, what good is my more-than-enough? What good is a wide meadow open to everyone? It isn't until others are fenced out that the open pasture begins to have real value. What good is being a major if you can't have more than a second lieutenant? What good is a second lieutenant for that matter?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "greed", "slug": "greed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/greed" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:24" }, { "id": "43f2ece5-a5bb-4cfb-afd3-394f06d7c6f8", "slug": "the-poorer-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side/the-poorer-people", "text": "‘The poorer people are the more likely they are to help you,’ Kitty told him the next morning after they had once again left engine and cars in charge of the crew. ‘Pick the first unpainted shack you see.’ / She followed Dove into a littered yard and waited while he rapped the door of a knocked-together-by-hand house the color of soot. A soot-colored wife came to answer.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "A Walk On The Wild Side", "slug": "a-walk-on-the-wild-side", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/a-walk-on-the-wild-side" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Walk_on_the_Wild_Side#Chapter_1", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:24" }, { "id": "835c636e-eba8-46ab-aec5-bce5ecc28b25", "slug": "lies-are-just", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm/lies-are-just", "text": "‘Lies are just a poor man's pennies,’ Violet told her.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "The Man with the Golden Arm", "slug": "the-man-with-the-golden-arm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "lies", "slug": "lies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/lies" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm#Part_1._Rumors_of_Evening", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:22" }, { "id": "7f785c18-01b2-4062-890d-8b03290a8ece", "slug": "the-great-secret", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm/the-great-secret", "text": "The great, secret and special American guilt of owning nothing, nothing at all, in the one land where ownership and virtue are one. Guilt that lay crouched behind every billboard which gave each man his commandments; for each man here had failed the billboards all down the line. No Ford in this one's future nor ever any place all his own.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Nelson Algren", "slug": "nelson-algren", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren" }, "book": { "title": "The Man with the Golden Arm", "slug": "the-man-with-the-golden-arm", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/nelson-algren/the-man-with-the-golden-arm" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "guilt", "slug": "guilt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/guilt" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Man_with_the_Golden_Arm#Part_1._Rumors_of_Evening", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:22" }, { "id": "ca32e780-495f-4dc6-bd02-8560f9d23479", "slug": "the-hearts-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murray-leinster/the-pirates-of-zan/the-hearts-of-the", "text": "The hearts of the rich are hardened. The existence of the poor is a reproach to them.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Murray Leinster", "slug": "murray-leinster", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murray-leinster" }, "book": { "title": "The Pirates of Zan", "slug": "the-pirates-of-zan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/murray-leinster/the-pirates-of-zan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Murray_Leinster#The_Pirates_of_Zan_(1959)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:58:03" }, { "id": "f69e17eb-a39c-4c20-88ce-8d156b9c5fba", "slug": "markets-have-a-strong", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans/markets-have-a-strong", "text": "Markets have a strong tendency to reinforce the status quo. The free market dictates that countries stick to what they are already good at. Stated bluntly, this means that poor countries are supposed to continue with their current engagement in low-productivity activities. But their engagement in those activities is exactly what makes them poor. If they want to leave poverty behind, they have to defy the market and do the more difficult things that bring them higher incomes—there are no two ways about it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Bad Samaritans", "slug": "bad-samaritans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 210, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "d9ab3531-d7c3-4a95-b95c-4e04521445ae", "slug": "countries-are-poor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans/countries-are-poor", "text": "Countries are poor not because their people are lazy; their people are 'lazy' because they are poor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Bad Samaritans", "slug": "bad-samaritans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 18, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "prejudice", "slug": "prejudice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prejudice" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "694cffc2-7168-4277-986b-7026844bf209", "slug": "history-shows-that", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans/history-shows-that", "text": "History shows that, at earlier stages of economic development, corruption is difficult to control. The fact that today no country that is very poor is very clean suggests that a country has to rise above absolute poverty before it can significantly reduce in the system. When people are poor, it is easy to buy their dignity—starving people find it difficult not to sell their votes for a bag of flour, while under-paid civil servants will often fail to resist the temptation to take a bribe. But it is not just a matter of personal dignity. There are also more structural causes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ha-Joon Chang", "slug": "ha-joon-chang", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang" }, "book": { "title": "Bad Samaritans", "slug": "bad-samaritans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ha-joon-chang/bad-samaritans" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 166, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" }, { "name": "corruption", "slug": "corruption", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/corruption" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ha-Joon_Chang#Bad_Samaritans:_The_Myth_of_Free_Trade_and_the_Secret_History_of_Capitalism_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:57" }, { "id": "fe102796-bdec-455f-8642-e14a11a35013", "slug": "a-thought-crossed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/the-big-short/a-thought-crossed", "text": "A thought crossed his mind: How do you make poor people feel wealthy when wages are stagnant? You give them cheap loans.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Michael Lewis", "slug": "michael-lewis", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis" }, "book": { "title": "The Big Short", "slug": "the-big-short", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/michael-lewis/the-big-short" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 14, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "manipulation", "slug": "manipulation", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michael_Lewis_(author)#The_Big_Short_(2010)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:41" }, { "id": "05e0652b-558b-4c9d-9637-a1da7abdcdf4", "slug": "marcel-was-a-modern-day", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cooper-clarke/i-wanna-be-yours/marcel-was-a-modern-day", "text": "Marcel was a modern-day Robin Hood; he would rob from the rich because the poor have no money.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Cooper Clarke", "slug": "john-cooper-clarke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cooper-clarke" }, "book": { "title": "I Wanna Be Yours", "slug": "i-wanna-be-yours", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-cooper-clarke/i-wanna-be-yours" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 147, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Cooper_Clarke#I_Wanna_Be_Yours_(2020)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:57:04" }, { "id": "86d2ab6c-68f1-4e58-93c3-e2710776a324", "slug": "mr-dangerfield-why", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-p-donleavy/ginger-man/mr-dangerfield-why", "text": "\"Mr Dangerfield, why don't you believe in hell and things like that?\" \"Hell is for poor people.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "J. P. Donleavy", "slug": "j-p-donleavy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-p-donleavy" }, "book": { "title": "Ginger Man", "slug": "ginger-man", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-p-donleavy/ginger-man" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 228, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._P._Donleavy#The_Ginger_Man_(1955)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:32" }, { "id": "866bb6f9-51ff-4775-8916-31d7dd51ed46", "slug": "what-have-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees/what-have-the", "text": "What have the Aldermen, the Common-Council, or indeed all People of any Substance to do with the War, but to pay Taxes? The Hardships and Fatigues of War that are personally suffer'd, fall upon them that bear the Brunt of every Thing, the meanest Indigent Part of the Nation, the working slaving People.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Bernard Mandeville", "slug": "bernard-mandeville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville" }, "book": { "title": "The Fable of the Bees", "slug": "the-fable-of-the-bees", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/bernard-mandeville/the-fable-of-the-bees" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 120, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bernard_Mandeville#The_Fable_of_the_Bees_(1714)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:27" }, { "id": "2c003e99-4f0f-4cf8-b26a-36b3f456089e", "slug": "here-i-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger/here-i-was", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Knut Hamsun", "slug": "knut-hamsun", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun" }, "book": { "title": "Hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/knut-hamsun/hunger" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 49, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "conscience", "slug": "conscience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience" }, { "name": "hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Knut_Hamsun#Hunger_(1890)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:21" }, { "id": "f692fa4e-b5b5-40d7-9e42-48f90e703d89", "slug": "in-short-order", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar/in-short-order", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Brunner", "slug": "john-brunner", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner" }, "book": { "title": "Stand On Zanzibar", "slug": "stand-on-zanzibar", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-brunner/stand-on-zanzibar" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brunner#Stand_on_Zanzibar_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:09" }, { "id": "cd89beea-d0e7-46b6-a6da-5db4cc9f1498", "slug": "a-rich-mans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger/a-rich-mans", "text": "A rich man’s body is like a premium cotton pillow, white and soft and blank. ‘’Ours’’ is different. My father’s spine was a knotted rope, the kind that women use in villages to pull water from wells; the clavicle curved around his neck in high relief, like a dog’s collar; cuts and nicks and scars, like little whip marks in his flesh, ran down his chest and waist, reaching down below his hip bones into his buttocks. The story of a poor man’s life is written on his body, in a sharp pen.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Aravind Adiga", "slug": "aravind-adiga", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga" }, "book": { "title": "The White Tiger", "slug": "the-white-tiger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "the body", "slug": "the-body", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-body" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aravind_Adiga#The_White_Tiger_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:06" }, { "id": "ca4bde36-1040-40dc-b93d-e9d5924415ad", "slug": "the-dreams-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger/the-dreams-of-the", "text": "The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor—they never overlap, do they?See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich. And what do the rich dream of?Losing weight and looking like the poor.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Aravind Adiga", "slug": "aravind-adiga", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga" }, "book": { "title": "The White Tiger", "slug": "the-white-tiger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/aravind-adiga/the-white-tiger" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aravind_Adiga#The_White_Tiger_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:56:06" }, { "id": "edfe739f-5397-4120-9d2a-d6df012a2cc3", "slug": "a-society-which", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism/a-society-which", "text": "A society which reverences the attainment of riches as the supreme felicity will naturally be disposed to regard the poor as damned in the next world, if only to justify itself for making their life a hell in this.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "R. H. Tawney", "slug": "r-h-tawney", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney" }, "book": { "title": "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism", "slug": "religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._H._Tawney#Religion_and_the_Rise_of_Capitalism_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:49" }, { "id": "a8496476-9820-4659-80f2-5f4796009ba7", "slug": "convinced-that-character", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism/convinced-that-character", "text": "Convinced that character is all and circumstances nothing, [the Puritan] sees in the poverty of those who fall by the way, not a misfortune to be pitied and relieved, but a moral failing to be condemned, and in riches, not an object of suspicion … but the blessing which rewards the triumph of energy and will.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "R. H. Tawney", "slug": "r-h-tawney", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney" }, "book": { "title": "Religion and the Rise of Capitalism", "slug": "religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/r-h-tawney/religion-and-the-rise-of-capitalism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "religion", "slug": "religion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/religion" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/R._H._Tawney#Religion_and_the_Rise_of_Capitalism_(1926)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:49" }, { "id": "f5354bc3-8ab5-444c-9c13-19237d112f74", "slug": "the-vast-power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl/the-vast-power", "text": "The vast power of money, mighty when you have it and even mightier when you don't, with its divine gift of freedom and the demonic fury it unleashes on those forced to do without it — they felt this as never before and were filled with bitter rage when, in the dark of the early morning, they saw the brightly lit windows and knew that those glowing gold curtains gave shelter and freedom to hundreds of thousands of people, men with women they desired, while they themselves were homeless, plodding blindly through the streets, through the rain; it was cruel as only the sea could be cruel — the sea in which a person can die of thirst.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "The Post-Office Girl", "slug": "the-post-office-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#The_Post_Office_Girl_(published_posthumously_in_1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:30" }, { "id": "e2566f5e-ec9c-47ff-89a7-38442cd490bf", "slug": "no-one-would", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl/no-one-would", "text": "No one would ever believe how hard it is to be really alone in a city of millions when you don't have money.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "The Post-Office Girl", "slug": "the-post-office-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "loneliness", "slug": "loneliness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "city", "slug": "city", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/city" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#The_Post_Office_Girl_(published_posthumously_in_1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:30" }, { "id": "20346079-e932-4f88-8043-26ff01d92078", "slug": "youre-going-to-tell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl/youre-going-to-tell", "text": "You're going to tell me that poverty's nothing to be ashamed of. It's not true, though. If you can't hide it, then it is something to be ashamed of. There's nothing you can do, you're ashamed just the same, the way you're ashamed when you leave a spot on somebody's table. No matter if it's deserved or not, honorable or not, poverty stinks. Yes, stinks, stinks like a ground-floor room off an airshaft, or clothes that need changing. You smell it yourself, as though you were made of sewage. It can't be wiped away. It doesn't help to put on a new hat, any more than rinsing your mouth helps when you're belching your guts out. It's around you and on you and everyone who brushes up against you or looks at you knows it. I know the way women look down on you when you're down at heels. I know it's embarrassing for other people, but the hell with that, it's a lot more embarrassing when it's you. You can't get out of it, you can't get past it, the best thing to do is get plastered, and here\" (he reached for his glass and drained it in a deliberately uncouth gulp) \"here's the great social problem, here's why the 'lower classes' indulge in alcohol so much more - that problem that countesses and matrons in women's groups rack their brains over at tea. For those few minutes, those few hours, you forget you're an affront to other and to yourself. It's no great distinction to be seen in the company of someone dressed lie this, I know, but it's no fun for me either.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Stefan Zweig", "slug": "stefan-zweig", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig" }, "book": { "title": "The Post-Office Girl", "slug": "the-post-office-girl", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/the-post-office-girl" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "alcohol", "slug": "alcohol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/alcohol" }, { "name": "shame", "slug": "shame", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/shame" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stefan_Zweig#The_Post_Office_Girl_(published_posthumously_in_1982)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:30" }, { "id": "38bc302d-ced3-433b-b92f-b8c3a1c90e25", "slug": "my-students-often", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer/the-life-you-can-save/my-students-often", "text": "My students often ask me if I think their parents did wrong to pay the $44,000 per year that it costs to send them to Princeton. I respond that paying that much for a place at an elite university is not justified unless it is seen as an investment in the future that will benefit not only one’s child, but others as well. An outstanding education provides students with the skills, qualifications, and understanding to do more for the world than would otherwise be the case. It is good for the world as a whole if there are more people with these qualities. Even if going to Princeton does no more than open doors to jobs with higher salaries, that, too, is a benefit that can be spread to others, as long as after graduating you remain firm in the resolve to contribute a percentage of that salary to organizations working for the poor, and spread this idea among your highly paid colleagues. The danger, of course, is that your colleagues will instead persuade you that you can’t possibly drive anything less expensive than a BMW and that you absolutely must live in an impressively large apartment in one of the most expensive parts of town.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Singer", "slug": "peter-singer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer" }, "book": { "title": "The Life You Can Save", "slug": "the-life-you-can-save", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-singer/the-life-you-can-save" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 138, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Singer#The_Life_You_Can_Save_(2009)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:55:15" }, { "id": "c7dd6141-ca39-4098-9195-337a718a1401", "slug": "i-lay-on-my-back", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape/i-lay-on-my-back", "text": "I lay on my back and thought of the future. Any hopes for writing would have to be postponed. What mattered now was just staying alive. From that day forward I resolved never to be poor again. I would work hard for Coletti and the Toyo Fish Company. I would hoard every penny. I would jingle coins in my pocket and store away dollars in the bank. I would cover my body, my life, with money. I would be impregnable. I would not be hurt again.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Fante", "slug": "john-fante", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante" }, "book": { "title": "Brotherhood Of The Grape", "slug": "brotherhood-of-the-grape", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-fante/brotherhood-of-the-grape" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 81, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Fante#The_Brotherhood_of_the_Grape_(1977)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:57" }, { "id": "74dc45dc-6212-4a64-befc-da382ac273c7", "slug": "i-used-to-look", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hart/the-king-of-lies/i-used-to-look", "text": "I used to look at homeless peopleand try to imagine what they had once looked like. It's not easy. Beneath the grime and degradation is a face once adored by someone. It's a truth that tricks the eye; our glances slide away. But something happened to ruin that life, to strip it bare; and it was something small, something that but for the grace of God could take us, too.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Hart", "slug": "john-hart", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hart" }, "book": { "title": "The King of Lies", "slug": "the-king-of-lies", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hart/the-king-of-lies" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "fate", "slug": "fate", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "empathy", "slug": "empathy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/empathy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Hart_(author)#The_King_of_Lies_(2006)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:34" }, { "id": "638c1569-46c7-472d-854f-4f87b1217496", "slug": "like-all-people", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska/hungry-hearts/like-all-people", "text": "Like all people who have nothing, I lived on dreams. (beginning of \"The Miracle\")", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Anzia Yezierska", "slug": "anzia-yezierska", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska" }, "book": { "title": "Hungry Hearts", "slug": "hungry-hearts", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska/hungry-hearts" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anzia_Yezierska#Hungry_Hearts_(1920)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:54:34" }, { "id": "e63a1332-8c38-45d6-aef5-9dd6208dcb41", "slug": "they-are-mans", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/they-are-mans", "text": "\"They are Man’s,\" said the Spirit, looking down upon them. \"And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "ignorance", "slug": "ignorance", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ignorance" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_3:_The_Second_of_the_Three_Spirits", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:45" }, { "id": "ea03057e-b1ce-41b0-9691-2b13dfdd9374", "slug": "at-this-festive", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol/at-this-festive", "text": "\"At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge, ... it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir.\" \"Are there no prisons?\" \"Plenty of prisons...\" \"And the Union workhouses.\" demanded Scrooge. \"Are they still in operation?\" \"Both very busy, sir...\" \"Those who are badly off must go there.\" \"Many can't go there; and many would rather die.\" \"If they would rather die,\" said Scrooge, \"they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "A Christmas Carol", "slug": "a-christmas-carol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/a-christmas-carol" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "selfishness", "slug": "selfishness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol#Stave_1:_Marley's_Ghost", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:44" }, { "id": "414a97cc-d127-4940-bd9b-1bfea6b18ca6", "slug": "rich-folks-may", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit/rich-folks-may", "text": "Rich folks may ride on camels, but it an't so easy for 'em to see out of a needle's eye. That is my comfort, and I hope I knows it.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Martin Chuzzlewit", "slug": "martin-chuzzlewit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Chuzzlewit#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:43" }, { "id": "0c0904da-9b05-49e3-9e1d-6ef085e30e35", "slug": "any-man-may", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit/any-man-may", "text": "Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well dressed. There an't much credit in that. If I was very ragged and very jolly, then I should begin to feel I had gained a point, Mr Pinch.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Martin Chuzzlewit", "slug": "martin-chuzzlewit", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/martin-chuzzlewit" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "joy", "slug": "joy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Chuzzlewit#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:43" }, { "id": "55722948-d25e-4d57-8d9f-cd4f01cfafb6", "slug": "we-still-leave", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/the-pickwick-papers/we-still-leave", "text": "We still leave unblotted in the leaves of our statute book, for the reverence and admiration of successive ages, the just and wholesome law which declares that the sturdy felon shall be fed and clothed, and that the penniless debtor shall be left to die of starvation and nakedness. This is no fiction.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "The Pickwick Papers", "slug": "the-pickwick-papers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/the-pickwick-papers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Pickwick_Papers#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:42" }, { "id": "9ffdd3f6-2dd6-4491-8d6f-ead9370041bd", "slug": "its-a-wery", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/the-pickwick-papers/its-a-wery", "text": "\"It’s a wery remarkable circumstance, Sir\", said Sam, \"that poverty and oysters seems to go together.\"", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "The Pickwick Papers", "slug": "the-pickwick-papers", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/the-pickwick-papers" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Pickwick_Papers#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:41" }, { "id": "6645cf77-31c1-4ceb-93ee-0b36bc8c97e5", "slug": "how-the-american", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you/how-the-american", "text": "How the American right managed to convince itself that the programs to alleviate poverty are responsible for the consequences of poverty will someday be studied as a notorious mass illusion. (\"Look to the Children of the Poor in This Season of Budget-Slashing\", 1995)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Molly Ivins", "slug": "molly-ivins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins" }, "book": { "title": "You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You", "slug": "you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "politics", "slug": "politics", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/politics" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Molly_Ivins#You_Got_to_Dance_with_Them_What_Brung_You_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:34" }, { "id": "5b14c399-cdf1-4dec-908c-8710685e1612", "slug": "the-trouble-with", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you/the-trouble-with", "text": "The trouble with blaming powerless people is that although it's not nearly as scary as blaming the powerful, it does miss the point. Poor people do not shut down factories. Poor people are not in charge of those mergers and acquisitions in which tens of thousands of people lose their jobs so a few people in top positions can make a killing on the stock market. Poor people did not decide to keep wages either steady or falling for the last twenty years. Poor people didn't decide to use 'contract employees' because they cost less and don't get any benefits. (\"Wasting Perfectly Good Anger\" 1997)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Molly Ivins", "slug": "molly-ivins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins" }, "book": { "title": "You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You", "slug": "you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/molly-ivins/you-got-to-dance-with-them-what-brung-you" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Molly_Ivins#You_Got_to_Dance_with_Them_What_Brung_You_(1998)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:34" }, { "id": "f2b6764f-0a63-466e-ad1e-350c855a98ec", "slug": "he-was-starting", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/matter/he-was-starting", "text": "He was starting to change his mind about the old Warrior Code stuff knights and princes invoked, usually when they were drunk and in need of spilling their words, or trying to justify their poor behavior in some other field. Behave honourably and wish for a good death. He always dismissed it as self-serving bullshit, frankly; most of the people he’d been told were his betters were quite venally dishonourable, and the more they got the more the greedy bastards wanted, while those that weren’t like that were better behaved at least partly because they could afford to be. Was it more honourable to starve than to steal? Many people would say yes, the rarely those who’d actually experienced an empty belly, or a child whimpering with its own hunger. Was it more honourable to starve than to steal when others had the means to feed you but chose not to, unless you paid with money you did not have? He thought not. By choosing to starve you became your own oppressor, keeping yourself in line, harming yourself for having the temerity to be poor, when by rights that ought to be a constable’s job. Show any initiative or imagination and you were called lazy, shifty, crafty, incorrigible. So he’d dismissed talk of honour; it was just a way of making the rich and powerful feel better about themselves and the powerless and poverty-stricken feel worse.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Iain M. Banks", "slug": "iain-m-banks", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks" }, "book": { "title": "Matter", "slug": "matter", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/matter" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 549, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "honour", "slug": "honour", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/honour" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Matter_(2008)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:19" }, { "id": "0827431d-67bc-4460-a153-54215a70732c", "slug": "how-come-you", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/woman-on-the-edge-of-time/how-come-you", "text": "\"How come you took so long to get together and start fighting for what was yours? It's running easy to know smart looking backward, but it seems as if people fought hardest against those who had a little more than themselves or often a little less, instead of the lugs who got richer and richer.\" (p177)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Marge Piercy", "slug": "marge-piercy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy" }, "book": { "title": "Woman on the Edge of Time", "slug": "woman-on-the-edge-of-time", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/marge-piercy/woman-on-the-edge-of-time" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marge_Piercy#Woman_on_the_Edge_of_Time_(1976)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:53:11" }, { "id": "e5bba522-9ecc-4c0c-9385-f566dfd599e0", "slug": "its-a-catholic", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown/its-a-catholic", "text": "It’s a Catholic idea, actually—that the material world is redeemed; that time is continuous; that one can somehow be redeemed by the faith of an earlier age or a poorer class, if one lives within its shadow or its arrondissement or breathes its sigh.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Richard Rodriguez", "slug": "richard-rodriguez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez" }, "book": { "title": "Brown", "slug": "brown", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "faith", "slug": "faith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/faith" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "the church", "slug": "the-church", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-church" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Rodriguez#Brown_:_The_Last_Discovery_of_America_(2003)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:47" }, { "id": "b5a88cf7-96f5-4c53-8563-4c1ba788bead", "slug": "old-maids-like", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/shirley/old-maids-like", "text": "Old maids like the houseless and unemployed poor, should not ask for a place and an occupation in the world: the demand disturbs the happy and the rich.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charlotte Brontë", "slug": "charlotte-bronte", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte" }, "book": { "title": "Shirley", "slug": "shirley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charlotte-bronte/shirley" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charlotte_Bront%C3%AB#Shirley_(1849)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:42" }, { "id": "96f276fd-82e0-41d2-830f-c6387c114b09", "slug": "to-be-a-poor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk/to-be-a-poor", "text": "To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "W.E.B. Dubois", "slug": "web-dubois", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois" }, "book": { "title": "The Souls of Black Folk", "slug": "the-souls-of-black-folk", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/web-dubois/the-souls-of-black-folk" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "racism", "slug": "racism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/racism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._E._B._Du_Bois#The_Souls_of_Black_Folk_(1903)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:52:02" }, { "id": "f91eb94e-56d3-4336-9fe3-6ce3b7f23a43", "slug": "of-all-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/american-empire-blood-and-iron/of-all-the", "text": "Of all the sins in this world, which is more unforgivable than the sin of not having enough money? None I can think of.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harry Turtledove", "slug": "harry-turtledove", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove" }, "book": { "title": "American Empire: Blood and Iron", "slug": "american-empire-blood-and-iron", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harry-turtledove/american-empire-blood-and-iron" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 322, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Turtledove#American_Empire:_The_Center_Cannot_Hold_(2002)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:51" }, { "id": "786fd91e-df34-40be-8bf5-f2c9b069c1b7", "slug": "the-civility-which", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz/the-civility-which", "text": "The civility which money will purchase, is rarely extended to those who have none.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Sketches by Boz", "slug": "sketches-by-boz", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "respect", "slug": "respect", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/respect" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens#Sketches_by_Boz_(1836-1837)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:40" }, { "id": "84586624-e54b-4d66-a43f-d4f784dcc8e0", "slug": "earth-had-always", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-margarets/earth-had-always", "text": "Earth had always operated on a continuous-growth model that requires a poverty class. Sustainable models require productive work by all members and are quite different.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "The Margarets", "slug": "the-margarets", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/the-margarets" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 272, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "economy", "slug": "economy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/economy" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#The_Margarets_(2007)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:28" }, { "id": "092e9c24-d24f-48a1-9609-267c810423ad", "slug": "the-poor-are", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/singer-from-the-sea/the-poor-are", "text": "The poor are like foxes: they need intelligence in order to survive. The rich, however, have power; they don’t need good sense.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Singer From The Sea", "slug": "singer-from-the-sea", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/singer-from-the-sea" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 48, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "intelligence", "slug": "intelligence", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/intelligence" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Singer_from_the_Sea_(1999)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:25" }, { "id": "39d5be64-0207-455d-91b5-996b14238d71", "slug": "rich-people-didnt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/grass/rich-people-didnt", "text": "Rich people didn’t get in that kind of mess. They never had. Only the poor got trapped: by ignorance, by religion, by self-righteous laws passed by people who broke them with impunity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Sheri S. Tepper", "slug": "sheri-s-tepper", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper" }, "book": { "title": "Grass", "slug": "grass", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/sheri-s-tepper/grass" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 32, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "hypocrisy", "slug": "hypocrisy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy" }, { "name": "law", "slug": "law", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/law" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sheri_S._Tepper#Grass_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:21" }, { "id": "393935b2-c181-41a6-a04a-2fd89860e268", "slug": "people-here-in-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower/people-here-in-the", "text": "People here in the neighborhood are saying she had no business going to Mars, anyway. All that money wasted on another crazy space trip when so many people here on earth can’t afford water, food, or shelter", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Octavia E. Butler", "slug": "octavia-e-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Parable of the Sower", "slug": "parable-of-the-sower", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/octavia-e-butler/parable-of-the-sower" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 17, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "the universe", "slug": "the-universe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-universe" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Octavia_Butler#Parable_of_the_Sower_(1993)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:10" }, { "id": "08f809a1-d6e7-4986-9f4f-564afe151844", "slug": "your-circumstances-may", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh/your-circumstances-may", "text": "Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor; confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "James Allen", "slug": "james-allen", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen" }, "book": { "title": "As a Man Thinketh", "slug": "as-a-man-thinketh", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-allen/as-a-man-thinketh" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "dreams and aspirations", "slug": "dreams-and-aspirations", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dreams-and-aspirations" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "ambition", "slug": "ambition", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ambition" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Allen#Visions_and_Ideals", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:51:08" }, { "id": "3fec2065-ebe4-46f4-9ee0-c65ebfc4b172", "slug": "we-cant-save", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/earth/we-cant-save", "text": "We can’t save the world without food. Only people with full stomachs become environmentalists.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Brin", "slug": "david-brin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin" }, "book": { "title": "Earth", "slug": "earth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-brin/earth" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 72, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "ecology", "slug": "ecology", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/ecology" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Brin#Earth_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:44" }, { "id": "34453503-c8ed-4766-806d-e06105c04ee6", "slug": "the-cry-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals/the-cry-of-the", "text": "The cry of the Have-Nots has never been \"give us our hearts,\" but always \"get off our backs\"; they ask not for love but for breathing space.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Saul Alinsky", "slug": "saul-alinsky", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky" }, "book": { "title": "Rules for Radicals", "slug": "rules-for-radicals", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/saul-alinsky/rules-for-radicals" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 19, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "freedom", "slug": "freedom", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/freedom" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky#Rules_for_Radicals:_A_Practical_Primer_for_Realistic_Radicals_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:42" }, { "id": "1168f1d2-0289-49b4-b033-8b2d2759e815", "slug": "your-friend-insults", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/half-asleep-in-frog-pajamas/your-friend-insults", "text": "Your friend insults the homeless by giving them no credit for having made the decisions that shaped their lives, and demeans them further by declaring them powerless to alter their situations. There’re many ways, my dear, to victimize people. The most insidious way is to persuade them that they’re victims.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Tom Robbins", "slug": "tom-robbins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins" }, "book": { "title": "Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas", "slug": "half-asleep-in-frog-pajamas", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-robbins/half-asleep-in-frog-pajamas" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "responsibility", "slug": "responsibility", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Robbins#Half_Asleep_in_Frog_Pajamas_(1994)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:38" }, { "id": "3cea82f8-b5a3-4bcc-97da-9ed85fcab933", "slug": "work-hard-and", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-hand-of-ethelberta/work-hard-and", "text": "Work hard and be poor, do nothing and get more.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hardy", "slug": "thomas-hardy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy" }, "book": { "title": "The Hand of Ethelberta", "slug": "the-hand-of-ethelberta", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hardy/the-hand-of-ethelberta" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy#The_Hand_of_Ethelberta_(1876)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:50:00" }, { "id": "cf3165b1-ba19-47bf-9eab-85873e48286b", "slug": "he-couldnt-help", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/guards-guards/he-couldnt-help", "text": "He couldn't help remembering how much he'd wanted a puppy when he was a little boy. Mind you, they'd been starving—anything with meat on it would have done. (p. 106)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Terry Pratchett", "slug": "terry-pratchett", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett" }, "book": { "title": "Guards! Guards!", "slug": "guards-guards", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/terry-pratchett/guards-guards" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Guards!_Guards!#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:55" }, { "id": "409da7a0-6197-42a8-9773-7501e41c5357", "slug": "americans-like-human", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five/americans-like-human", "text": "Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue, the monograph went on. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times. (p. 129)", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Slaughterhouse-Five", "slug": "slaughterhouse-five", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/slaughterhouse-five" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "America", "slug": "america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Slaughterhouse-Five#Chapter_5", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:45" }, { "id": "3d6e6e59-b3b5-41ba-9e9e-4e3995753d26", "slug": "no-not-rich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gabriel-garcia-marquez/love-in-the-time-of-cholera/no-not-rich", "text": "“No, not rich,” he said. “I am a poor man with money, which is not the same thing.”", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Gabriel Garcia Marquez", "slug": "gabriel-garcia-marquez", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gabriel-garcia-marquez" }, "book": { "title": "Love in the Time of Cholera", "slug": "love-in-the-time-of-cholera", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/gabriel-garcia-marquez/love-in-the-time-of-cholera" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 223, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Love_in_the_Time_of_Cholera#Chapter_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:22" }, { "id": "1d08f1d1-b73c-4fea-82cb-3101c1754067", "slug": "it-seems-to", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clifford-d-simak/a-choice-of-gods/it-seems-to", "text": "It seems to be a social axiom that as misery and privation increase for the many, the few rise ever higher in luxury and comfort, feeding on the misery. Not aware, perhaps, that they feed upon the misery, not with any wish of feeding on it—but they do.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Clifford D. Simak", "slug": "clifford-d-simak", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clifford-d-simak" }, "book": { "title": "A Choice of Gods", "slug": "a-choice-of-gods", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/clifford-d-simak/a-choice-of-gods" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 46, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Clifford_D._Simak#A_Choice_of_Gods_(1972)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:49:01" }, { "id": "811bd490-e5a1-4825-ad3e-39df93878c77", "slug": "please-sir-i-want", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist/please-sir-i-want", "text": "'Please, sir, I want some more.'", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Charles Dickens", "slug": "charles-dickens", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens" }, "book": { "title": "Oliver Twist", "slug": "oliver-twist", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/oliver-twist" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Oliver_Twist#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:48:33" }, { "id": "7713e557-8876-47ac-9b47-5c81ae90da21", "slug": "like-all-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thornton-wilder/the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey/like-all-the", "text": "Like all the rich he could not bring himself to believe that the poor (look at their houses, look at their clothes!) could really suffer. Like all the cultivated he believed that only the widely read could be said to know that they were unhappy.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thornton Wilder", "slug": "thornton-wilder", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thornton-wilder" }, "book": { "title": "The Bridge of San Luis Rey", "slug": "the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thornton-wilder/the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "suffering", "slug": "suffering", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thornton_Wilder#The_Bridge_of_San_Luis_Rey_(1927)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:52" }, { "id": "acd4fb72-ff19-4fd7-918a-a61e81ca4f3f", "slug": "and-its-certainly", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird/and-its-certainly", "text": "And it's certainly bad, but when a man spends his relief checks on green whiskey his children have a way of crying from hunger pains. I don't know of any landowner around here who begrudges those children any game their father can hit. Of course he shouldn't, but he'll never change his ways. Are you going to take out your disapproval on his children?", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Harper Lee", "slug": "harper-lee", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee" }, "book": { "title": "To Kill a Mockingbird", "slug": "to-kill-a-mockingbird", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/harper-lee/to-kill-a-mockingbird" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "children", "slug": "children", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/children" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "addiction", "slug": "addiction", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/addiction" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harper_Lee#To_Kill_a_Mockingbird_(1962)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:35" }, { "id": "0869be1e-a9e6-4f24-aefe-1eecc67de2c7", "slug": "what-has-to-be-explained", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism/what-has-to-be-explained", "text": "What has to be explained is not the fact that the man who is hungry steals or the fact that the man who is exploited strikes, but why the majority of those who are hungry don’t steal and why the majority of those who are exploited don’t strike.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Wilhelm Reich", "slug": "wilhelm-reich", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich" }, "book": { "title": "The Mass Psychology of Fascism", "slug": "the-mass-psychology-of-fascism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilhelm-reich/the-mass-psychology-of-fascism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 19, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "obedience", "slug": "obedience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/obedience" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich#The_Mass_Psychology_of_Fascism_(1933)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:34" }, { "id": "64610f77-16e8-4cf5-8205-ddc574764da2", "slug": "the-cruelties-of-property", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james/the-black-jacobins/the-cruelties-of-property", "text": "The cruelties of property and privilege are always more ferocious than the revenges of poverty and oppression. For the one aims at perpetuating resented injustice, the other is merely a momentary passion soon appeased.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "C L R James", "slug": "c-l-r-james", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james" }, "book": { "title": "The Black Jacobins", "slug": "the-black-jacobins", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-l-r-james/the-black-jacobins" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 88, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "cruelty", "slug": "cruelty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cruelty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/C._L._R._James#The_Black_Jacobins_(1938)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:25" }, { "id": "02762a6f-3a49-4a24-926b-2d82a0f394c3", "slug": "i-have-no-money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-miller/tropic-of-cancer/i-have-no-money", "text": "I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Henry Miller", "slug": "henry-miller", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-miller" }, "book": { "title": "Tropic of Cancer", "slug": "tropic-of-cancer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-miller/tropic-of-cancer" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "happiness", "slug": "happiness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/happiness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tropic_of_Cancer#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:17" }, { "id": "c50ff655-436c-421b-8b6e-2a2fe846e1a5", "slug": "a-nation-fights", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer/the-naked-and-the-dead/a-nation-fights", "text": "A nation fights well in proportion to the amount of men and materials it has. And the other equation is that the individual soldier in that army is a more effective soldier the poorer his standard of living has been in the past.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Norman Mailer", "slug": "norman-mailer", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer" }, "book": { "title": "The Naked and the Dead", "slug": "the-naked-and-the-dead", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/norman-mailer/the-naked-and-the-dead" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Norman_Mailer#The_Naked_and_the_Dead_(1948)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:12" }, { "id": "4f86743f-73ff-4506-ae7b-2fe1aab0a45a", "slug": "with-the-more", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/zbigniew-brzezinski/the-grand-chessboard/with-the-more", "text": "With the more endowed nations constrained by their own higher technological capacity for self-destruction as well as by self interest, war may have become a luxury that only the poor peoples of this world can afford.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Zbigniew Brzezinski", "slug": "zbigniew-brzezinski", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/zbigniew-brzezinski" }, "book": { "title": "The Grand Chessboard", "slug": "the-grand-chessboard", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/zbigniew-brzezinski/the-grand-chessboard" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 213, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "war", "slug": "war", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/war" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Zbigniew_Brzezinski#The_Grand_Chessboard_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:47:08" }, { "id": "f0ddd141-cf7d-4038-b298-aa078d09620e", "slug": "the-landlord-owes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/the-landlord-owes", "text": "The landlord owes his riches to the poverty of the peasants, and the wealth of the capitalist comes from the same source.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "9b7514a9-be61-489e-9906-cb84c4bcf13d", "slug": "education-still-remains", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread/education-still-remains", "text": "Education still remains the privilege of a small minority, for it is idle to talk of education when the workman’s child is forced at the age of thirteen, to go down in to the mine or to help his father on the farm. It is idle to talk of studies to the worker, who comes home in the evening crushed by excessive toil with its brutalizing atmosphere. Society is thus bound to remain divided into two hostile camps, and in such conditions, freedom is a vain word. The Radical begins by demanding a greater extension of political rights, but he soon sees the at breath of liberty leads to the uplifting of the proletariat, and then he turns round, changes his opinions, and reverts to repressive legislation and government by the sword.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Peter Kropotkin", "slug": "peter-kropotkin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin" }, "book": { "title": "The Conquest of Bread", "slug": "the-conquest-of-bread", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/peter-kropotkin/the-conquest-of-bread" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 60, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "education", "slug": "education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/education" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peter_Kropotkin#The_Conquest_of_Bread_(1892)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:46:37" }, { "id": "3cdfda2c-be5d-4ceb-a41d-0aa6a0905272", "slug": "if-youre-in-trouble", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath/if-youre-in-trouble", "text": "If you're in trouble or hurt or need—go to poor people. They're the only ones that'll help—the only ones.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "The Grapes of Wrath", "slug": "the-grapes-of-wrath", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/the-grapes-of-wrath" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 376, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "kindness", "slug": "kindness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:59" }, { "id": "f6f62d2c-620a-4b0f-8afe-e6b7d9e9e91e", "slug": "economic-privation-proceeds", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes/the-economic-consequences-of-the-peace/economic-privation-proceeds", "text": "Economic privation proceeds by easy stages, and so long as men suffer it patiently the outside world cares little.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Maynard Keynes", "slug": "john-maynard-keynes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes" }, "book": { "title": "The Economic Consequences of the Peace", "slug": "the-economic-consequences-of-the-peace", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-maynard-keynes/the-economic-consequences-of-the-peace" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 250, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "indifference", "slug": "indifference", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/indifference" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes#The_Economic_Consequences_of_the_Peace_(1919)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:53" }, { "id": "a498f009-a914-4762-b001-37eac27494fb", "slug": "while-i-listened", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein/while-i-listened", "text": "While I listened to the instructions which Felix bestowed upon the Arabian, the strange system of human society was explained to me. I heard of the division of property, of immense wealth and squalid poverty, of rank, descent, and noble blood. The words induced me to turn towards myself. I learned that the possessions most esteemed by your fellow creatures were high and unsullied descent united with riches. A man might be respected with only one of these advantages, but without either he was considered, except in very rare instances, as a vagabond and a slave, doomed to waste his powers for the profits of the chosen few! And what was I? Of my creation and creator I was absolutely ignorant, but I knew that I possessed no money, no friends, no kind of property. I was, besides, endued with a figure hideously deformed and loathsome; I was not even of the same nature as man. I was more agile than they and could subsist upon coarser diet; I bore the extremes of heat and cold with less injury to my frame; my stature far exceeded theirs. When I looked around I saw and heard of none like me. Was I, then, a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned? I cannot describe to you the agony that these reflections inflicted upon me; I tried to dispel them, but sorrow only increased with knowledge. Oh, that I had forever remained in my native wood, nor known nor felt beyond the sensations of hunger, thirst, and heat!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Mary Shelley", "slug": "mary-shelley", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley" }, "book": { "title": "Frankenstein", "slug": "frankenstein", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-shelley/frankenstein" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "knowledge", "slug": "knowledge", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/knowledge" }, { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "sadness", "slug": "sadness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sadness" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(novel)#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:46" }, { "id": "70d532ea-385b-4fb8-a8e0-97bb6694efe6", "slug": "society-is-set", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/white-noise/society-is-set", "text": "“Society is set up in such a way that it’s the poor and the uneducated who suffer the main impact of natural and man-made disasters.” – Jack", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Don DeLillo", "slug": "don-delillo", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo" }, "book": { "title": "White Noise", "slug": "white-noise", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/don-delillo/white-noise" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "society", "slug": "society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/White_Noise_(novel)#Jack", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:45:38" }, { "id": "df2d9787-041d-4094-85f2-9cdd07a1247e", "slug": "beans-are-a-roof", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat/beans-are-a-roof", "text": "Beans are a roof over your stomach. Beans are a warm cloak against economic cold.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Steinbeck", "slug": "john-steinbeck", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck" }, "book": { "title": "Tortilla Flat", "slug": "tortilla-flat", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/tortilla-flat" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "humor", "slug": "humor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "food", "slug": "food", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/food" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck#Tortilla_Flat_(1935)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:44:57" }, { "id": "e8917695-610b-4c01-b9af-43ee4c62c1c6", "slug": "poverty-pitt-exclaimed", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society/poverty-pitt-exclaimed", "text": "\"Poverty\" Pitt exclaimed \"is no disgrace but it is damned annoying.\" In the contemporary United States it is not annoying but it is a disgrace.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "John Kenneth Galbraith", "slug": "john-kenneth-galbraith", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith" }, "book": { "title": "The Affluent Society", "slug": "the-affluent-society", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-kenneth-galbraith/the-affluent-society" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Kenneth_Galbraith#The_Affluent_Society_(1958)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:55" }, { "id": "b44bcbf0-215d-43dc-8cd8-cf91fb2545cd", "slug": "crime-had-practically", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/childhoods-end/crime-had-practically", "text": "Crime had practically vanished. It had become unnecessary and impossible. When no one lacks anything there is no point in stealing.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Arthur C. Clarke", "slug": "arthur-c-clarke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke" }, "book": { "title": "Childhood's End", "slug": "childhoods-end", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-c-clarke/childhoods-end" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "crime", "slug": "crime", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/crime" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Childhood's_End#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:52" }, { "id": "bea46bd2-a6eb-4357-8d74-a9e35070bf3e", "slug": "heirs-leap-screeching", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/maggie-cassidy/heirs-leap-screeching", "text": "Heirs leap screeching from doctors' laps while the old and the poor die on, and who's to bend over their bed and comfort.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jack Kerouac", "slug": "jack-kerouac", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac" }, "book": { "title": "Maggie Cassidy", "slug": "maggie-cassidy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jack-kerouac/maggie-cassidy" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "old age", "slug": "old-age", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/old-age" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maggie_Cassidy#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:46" }, { "id": "a45f822c-9105-4f65-8c2c-1a7f30086b79", "slug": "there-is-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle/there-is-one", "text": "There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Upton Sinclair", "slug": "upton-sinclair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair" }, "book": { "title": "The Jungle", "slug": "the-jungle", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/upton-sinclair/the-jungle" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "desire", "slug": "desire", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/desire" }, { "name": "prison", "slug": "prison", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/prison" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Jungle_(novel)#Chapter_27", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:44" }, { "id": "fc5d3e0b-87f7-4ff2-8a46-21c1307aef56", "slug": "they-didnt-understand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dolly-parton/coat-of-many-colors/they-didnt-understand", "text": "They didn't understand it and I tried to make them see That one is only poor only if they choose to be Now I know we had no money but I was rich as I could be In my coat of many colors that Momma made for me Made just for me...", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Dolly Parton", "slug": "dolly-parton", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dolly-parton" }, "book": { "title": "Coat of Many Colors", "slug": "coat-of-many-colors", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/dolly-parton/coat-of-many-colors" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton#Coat_of_Many_Colors_(1971)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:14" }, { "id": "d05058a0-4428-4480-8333-3287369867bf", "slug": "events-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway/events-of-the", "text": "Events of the past two years have virtually decreed that I shall wrestle with the literary muse for the rest of my days. And so, having tasted the poverty of one end of the scale, I have no choice but to direct my energies toward the acquisition of fame and fortune. Frankly, I have no taste for either poverty or honest labor, so writing is the only recourse left me.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Hunter S. Thompson", "slug": "hunter-s-thompson", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson" }, "book": { "title": "Proud Highway", "slug": "proud-highway", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/hunter-s-thompson/proud-highway" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 106, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "writing", "slug": "writing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson#The_Proud_Highway_:_The_Fear_and_Loathing_Letters_Volume_I_(1997)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:43:09" }, { "id": "d97d990a-a889-425b-9c71-60c8229b6d05", "slug": "it-directs-attention", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/it-directs-attention", "text": "It directs attention away from the central fact that poverty is poverty, whether the tool you work with is a pick-axe or a fountain-pen.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:51" }, { "id": "907000d0-bf5c-4ffc-acba-35c6794a9e5b", "slug": "i-found-one", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/i-found-one", "text": "I found — one might expect it, perhaps — that the small landlords are usually the worst. It goes against the grain to say this, but one can see why it should be so. Ideally, the worst type of slum landlord is a fat wicked man, preferably a bishop, who is drawing an immense income from extortionate rents. Actually, it is a poor old woman who has invested her life's savings in three slum houses, inhabits one of them and tries to live on the rent of the other two — never, in consequence, having any money for repairs.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:51" }, { "id": "f08f8cec-8816-492f-a6ba-2af629fe4c14", "slug": "this-business-of-petty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/this-business-of-petty", "text": "This business of petty inconvenience and indignity, of being kept waiting about, of having to do everything at other people's convenience, is inherent in working-class life. A thousand influences constantly press a working man down into a passive role. He does not act, he is acted upon. He feels himself the slave of mysterious authority and has a firm conviction that 'they' will never allow him to do this, that, and the other.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "power", "slug": "power", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/power" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "bc163908-0bf2-480f-ab4c-eec96bcf37ee", "slug": "columbus-sailed-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/columbus-sailed-the", "text": "Columbus sailed the Atlantic, the first steam engines tottered into motion, the British squares stood firm under the French guns at Waterloo, the one-eyed scoundrels of the nineteenth century praised God and filled their pockets; and this is where it all led to — to labyrinthine slums and dark back kitchens with sickly, ageing people creeping round and round them like blackbeetles.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "history", "slug": "history", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "0cc2f740-459f-4cc4-82e1-00a2bec311c5", "slug": "in-such-places", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier/in-such-places", "text": "In such places as these a woman is only a poor drudge muddling among an infinity of jobs. She may keep up her spirits, but she cannot keep up her standards of cleanliness and tidiness. There is always something to be done, and no conveniences and almost literally not room to turn round. No sooner have you washed one child's face than another is dirty; before you have washed the crocks from one meal the next is due to be cooked.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "The Road to Wigan Pier", "slug": "the-road-to-wigan-pier", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/the-road-to-wigan-pier" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "women", "slug": "women", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/women" }, { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Road_to_Wigan_Pier#Quotes", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:50" }, { "id": "04080c4c-9df2-4b42-b014-4833bac04a73", "slug": "and-whereas-many", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan/and-whereas-many", "text": "And whereas many men, by accident unevitable, become unable to maintain themselves by their labour; they ought not to be left to the Charity of private persons; but to be provided for, (as far-forth as the necessities of Nature require,) by the Lawes of the Common-wealth. For as it is Unchariablenesse in any man, to neglect the impotent; so it is in the Soveraign of a Common-wealth, to expose them to the hazard of such uncertain Charity.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Thomas Hobbes", "slug": "thomas-hobbes", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes" }, "book": { "title": "Leviathan", "slug": "leviathan", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/thomas-hobbes/leviathan" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 181, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "the state", "slug": "the-state", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-state" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobbes#Chapter_30", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:48" }, { "id": "41931598-4130-495a-994b-c375c6eaac38", "slug": "beer-of-course", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/hocus-pocus/beer-of-course", "text": "Beer, of course, is actually a depressant. But poor people will never stop hoping otherwise.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Hocus Pocus", "slug": "hocus-pocus", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/hocus-pocus" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "alcohol", "slug": "alcohol", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/alcohol" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Hocus_Pocus_(1990)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:43" }, { "id": "351d3b72-1315-4b10-a405-b7ed08431637", "slug": "a-lot-of-the", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions/a-lot-of-the", "text": "A lot of the people on the wrecked planet were Communists. They had a theory that what was left of the planet should be shared more or less equally among all the people, who hadn't asked to come to a wrecked planet in the first place. Meanwhile, more babies were arriving all the time—kicking and screaming, yelling for milk. In some places people would actually try to eat mud or such on gravel while babies were being born just a few feet away. And so on. Dwayne Hoover's and Kilgore Trout's country, where there was still plenty of everything, was opposed to Communism. It didn't think that Earthlings who had a lot should share it with others unless they really wanted to, and most of them didn't want to. So they didn't have to.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Kurt Vonnegut", "slug": "kurt-vonnegut", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut" }, "book": { "title": "Breakfast of Champions", "slug": "breakfast-of-champions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/kurt-vonnegut/breakfast-of-champions" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "America", "slug": "america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "communism", "slug": "communism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/communism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kurt_Vonnegut#Breakfast_of_Champions_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:40" }, { "id": "70d4fca5-9325-4ca2-b8c8-00b6118ac641", "slug": "if-the-street", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/willa-cather-in-europe/if-the-street", "text": "If the street life, not the Whitechapel street life, but that of the common but so-called respectable part of town is in any city more gloomy, more ugly, more grimy, more cruel than in London, I certainly don't care to see it. Sometimes it occurs to one that possibly all the failures of this generation, the world over, have been suddenly swept into London, for the streets are a restless, breathing, malodorous pageant of the seedy of all nations.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Willa Cather", "slug": "willa-cather", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather" }, "book": { "title": "Willa Cather In Europe", "slug": "willa-cather-in-europe", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/willa-cather-in-europe" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "cities", "slug": "cities", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/cities" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Willa_Cather#Willa_Cather_in_Europe_(1956)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:42:05" }, { "id": "4efb986a-4fce-4e0b-9fd4-a750f0408c6e", "slug": "capitalism-has-created", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism/capitalism-has-created", "text": "Capitalism has created the highest standard of living ever known on earth. The evidence is incontrovertible. The contrast between West and East Berlin is the latest demonstration, like a laboratory experiment for all to see. Yet those who are loudest in proclaiming their desire to eliminate poverty are loudest in denouncing capitalism. Man's well-being is not their goal.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "Capitalism", "slug": "capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/capitalism" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "capitalism", "slug": "capitalism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/capitalism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#Capitalism:_The_Unknown_Ideal_(1966)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:52" }, { "id": "94fafe04-c39b-4866-b670-0fe894608033", "slug": "poverty-ignorance-illness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness/poverty-ignorance-illness", "text": "Poverty, ignorance, illness and other problems of that kind are not metaphysical emergencies. By the metaphysical nature of man and of existence, man has to maintain his life by his own effort; the values he needs—such as wealth or knowledge—are not given to him automatically, as a gift of nature, but have to be discovered and achieved by his own thinking and work.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Ayn Rand", "slug": "ayn-rand", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand" }, "book": { "title": "The Virtue of Selfishness", "slug": "the-virtue-of-selfishness", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayn-rand/the-virtue-of-selfishness" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "work", "slug": "work", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/work" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ayn_Rand#The_Virtue_of_Selfishness_(1964)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:51" }, { "id": "810e6608-7a21-4b00-a7bf-2756fc238e9d", "slug": "when-a-third", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant/when-a-third", "text": "When a third wave of poverty overwhelmed me, I knew with even greater certitude than when I lived in Clerkenwell that the only complete solution to my problems was suicide. I never brought it off. I was afraid... Hopelessness was thinly spread like a drizzle over my whole outlook. But, in an emergency, I could not find a puddle of despondency deep enough to drown in.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Quentin Crisp", "slug": "quentin-crisp", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp" }, "book": { "title": "The Naked Civil Servant", "slug": "the-naked-civil-servant", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/quentin-crisp/the-naked-civil-servant" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "despair", "slug": "despair", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/despair" }, { "name": "suicide", "slug": "suicide", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suicide" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Quentin_Crisp#The_Naked_Civil_Servant_(1968)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:41:11" }, { "id": "b2b0b466-2b09-441b-8a3b-d9140f05004b", "slug": "in-this-world", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick/in-this-world", "text": "In this world, shipmates, sin that pays its way can travel freely and without a passport; whereas Virtue, if a pauper, is stopped at all frontiers.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Herman Melville", "slug": "herman-melville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville" }, "book": { "title": "Moby-Dick", "slug": "moby-dick", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/herman-melville/moby-dick" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 48, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "sin", "slug": "sin", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sin" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick#The_Sermon_(9)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:40" }, { "id": "da621e04-3ee3-4000-960d-d4eddd37fb93", "slug": "the-territorial-aristocracy", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america/the-territorial-aristocracy", "text": "The territorial aristocracy of former ages was either bound by law, or thought itself bound by usage, to come to the relief of its serving-men and to relieve their distresses. But the manufacturing aristocracy of our age first impoverishes and debases the men who serve it and then abandons them to be supported by the charity of the public.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Alexis de Tocqueville", "slug": "alexis-de-tocqueville", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville" }, "book": { "title": "Democracy in America", "slug": "democracy-in-america", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexis-de-tocqueville/democracy-in-america" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "social inequality", "slug": "social-inequality", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocqueville#Democracy_in_America,_Volume_II_(1840)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:38" }, { "id": "11483084-55a0-4811-87f2-0c383019d17d", "slug": "man-is-gods", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple/man-is-gods", "text": "Man is God's image; but a poor man is Christ's stamp to boot: both images regard.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Herbert", "slug": "george-herbert", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert" }, "book": { "title": "The Temple", "slug": "the-temple", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-herbert/the-temple" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "god", "slug": "god", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Herbert#The_Temple_(1633)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:00" }, { "id": "2a8b7cf1-35a9-4fe1-971c-4be4170a4d36", "slug": "on-several-occasions", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding/on-several-occasions", "text": "On several occasions during my visit, she referred to herself as poor, and that depressed me. Most people would say they're broke. That word suggests a temporary setback. Poor, on the other hand, conveys a permanence.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "David Sedaris", "slug": "david-sedaris", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris" }, "book": { "title": "Theft by Finding", "slug": "theft-by-finding", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-sedaris/theft-by-finding" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": 431, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "words", "slug": "words", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Sedaris#Theft_by_Finding:_Diaries,_Volume_1_(1977-2002)_(2017)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:59" }, { "id": "4eb5be4e-3d64-4e8a-bcf8-ad33703eb756", "slug": "it-has-been", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon/it-has-been", "text": "It has been said that the love of money is the root of all evil. The want of money is so quite as truly.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Samuel Butler", "slug": "samuel-butler", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler" }, "book": { "title": "Erewhon", "slug": "erewhon", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-butler/erewhon" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "evil", "slug": "evil", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/evil" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Butler_(novelist)#Erewhon_(1872)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:53" }, { "id": "c45cd3f6-dabe-46a9-b4b8-c7bcde140fb1", "slug": "one-must-be-poor", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch/one-must-be-poor", "text": "One must be poor to know the luxury of giving!", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Eliot", "slug": "george-eliot", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot" }, "book": { "title": "Middlemarch", "slug": "middlemarch", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-eliot/middlemarch" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Eliot#Middlemarch_(1871-72)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:52" }, { "id": "e84a1a99-97c3-4326-8810-5b478730690e", "slug": "the-poor-by-thinking", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/the-trouble-with-being-born/the-poor-by-thinking", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Emil Cioran", "slug": "emil-cioran", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran" }, "book": { "title": "The Trouble With Being Born", "slug": "the-trouble-with-being-born", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/emil-cioran/the-trouble-with-being-born" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emil_Cioran#The_Trouble_With_Being_Born_(1973)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:42" }, { "id": "69ad1051-652a-4ebf-b16a-86b734d8c17f", "slug": "there-is-a-stage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/there-is-a-stage", "text": "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.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "conscience", "slug": "conscience", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/conscience" }, { "name": "hunger", "slug": "hunger", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hunger" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:35" }, { "id": "cd97cb3d-3703-44e7-993d-0c130a171a09", "slug": "the-rich-console", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/the-rich-console", "text": "the rich console themselves for the harm done by them to the poor, by the assumption that the poor are too stupid to feel. I usually judge of the value any one puts on the welfare of his fellow-creatures by what he seems to think of them. We naturally think lightly of the happiness of those we despise. It need not surprise you that politicians speak so scornfully of the people, and philosophers profess to think mankind so wicked.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "contempt", "slug": "contempt", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/contempt" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:34" }, { "id": "245a206e-e912-47d3-adc4-c21bfa771deb", "slug": "second-maxim-we-never", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/second-maxim-we-never", "text": "SECOND MAXIM.—We never pity another's woes unless we know we may suffer in like manner ourselves. Why have kings no pity on their people? Because they never expect to be ordinary men. Why are the rich so hard on the poor? Because they have no fear of becoming poor. Why do the nobles look down upon the people? Because a nobleman will never be one of the lower classes.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "wealth", "slug": "wealth", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/wealth" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "compassion", "slug": "compassion", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/compassion" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_IV", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:34" }, { "id": "e4b7b15c-ebec-44dc-8ac3-73c1d451ea97", "slug": "if-in-this", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/if-in-this", "text": "If in this world there is any condition so miserable that one cannot live without wrong-doing, where the citizen is driven into evil, you should hang, not the criminal, but those who drove him into crime.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "Jean Jacques Rousseau", "slug": "jean-jacques-rousseau", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau" }, "book": { "title": "Emile; or On Education", "slug": "emile-or-on-education", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "justice", "slug": "justice", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/justice" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "crime", "slug": "crime", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/crime" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Emile,_or_On_Education#Book_III", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:33" }, { "id": "8ebb81a0-37fd-4c95-a238-e4ae267ef674", "slug": "dyou-call-life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage/dyou-call-life", "text": "D'you call life a bad job? Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always been poor, but it's been worth it, ay, worth it a hundred times I say when I look round at my children.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "Of Human Bondage", "slug": "of-human-bondage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "life", "slug": "life", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "family", "slug": "family", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/family" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Of_Human_Bondage_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:26" }, { "id": "8153fbd0-7296-4776-89e1-31f0d9c22c29", "slug": "you-will-hear", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage/you-will-hear", "text": "You will hear people say that poverty is the best spur to the artist. They have never felt the iron of it in their flesh. They do not know how mean it makes you. It exposes you to endless humiliation, it cuts your wings, it eats into your soul like a cancer. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity, to work unhampered, to be generous, frank, and independent.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "Of Human Bondage", "slug": "of-human-bondage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "art", "slug": "art", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "dignity", "slug": "dignity", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/dignity" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Of_Human_Bondage_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:26" }, { "id": "7d0f87e4-4362-42ca-b40f-f5ea35f70cd2", "slug": "there-is-nothing", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage/there-is-nothing", "text": "There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood...Money is like a sixth sense without which you cannot make a complete use of the other five.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "William Somerset Maugham", "slug": "william-somerset-maugham", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham" }, "book": { "title": "Of Human Bondage", "slug": "of-human-bondage", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-somerset-maugham/of-human-bondage" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "money", "slug": "money", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham#Of_Human_Bondage_(1915)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:26" }, { "id": "24fb710a-147a-4aad-83e3-c127c9eafb99", "slug": "the-reality-was", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four/the-reality-was", "text": "The reality was decaying, dingy cities where underfed people shuffled to and fro in leaky shoes, in patched-up nineteenth-century houses that smelt always of cabbage and bad lavatories.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Nineteen Eighty-Four", "slug": "nineteen-eighty-four", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/nineteen-eighty-four" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "totalitarianism", "slug": "totalitarianism", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/totalitarianism" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four#Chapter_7", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:13" }, { "id": "c124377b-9fae-40c0-ad25-ad5d3f0c1aa8", "slug": "the-paris-slums", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london/the-paris-slums", "text": "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 normal standards of behaviour, just as money frees people from work. Some of the lodgers in our hotel lived lives that were curious beyond words.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "George Orwell", "slug": "george-orwell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell" }, "book": { "title": "Down and Out in Paris and London", "slug": "down-and-out-in-paris-and-london", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-orwell/down-and-out-in-paris-and-london" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" }, { "name": "being different", "slug": "being-different", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/being-different" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_Orwell#Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London_(1933)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:39:09" }, { "id": "1e3176e2-de1a-431b-ba59-792f4d7e7775", "slug": "there-are-probably", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pj-orourke/holidays-in-hell/there-are-probably", "text": "There are probably more fact-finding tours of Nicaragua right now than there are facts— the country has shortages of practically everything.", "language": "en", "author": { "name": "P.J. O'Rourke", "slug": "pj-orourke", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pj-orourke" }, "book": { "title": "Holidays in Hell", "slug": "holidays-in-hell", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/pj-orourke/holidays-in-hell" }, "character": null, "chapter": null, "chapter_parent": null, "page": null, "verified": false, "original": null, "other_languages": [], "topics": [ { "name": "irony", "slug": "irony", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony" }, { "name": "poverty", "slug": "poverty", "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/poverty" } ], "source": { "name": "Wikiquote", "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/P._J._O'Rourke#Holidays_in_Hell_(1989)", "license": { "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/" } }, "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:37:59" } ] }