Quotes on Poverty and the Poor

If you see oppression of the poor, and justice and righteousness trampled in a country, do not be astounded.
King Solomon

All men are by nature equal, made all of the same earth by one Workman; and however we deceive ourselves, as dear unto God is the poor peasant as the mighty prince.
Plato

In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.
Aristotle

An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.
Plutarch

If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Jesus Christ

But Satan now is wiser than of yore, and tempts by making rich, not making poor.
Alexander Pope

Poverty is the worst form of violence.
Mohandas Gandhi

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.
Thomas Jefferson

If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.
Charles Darwin

Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor. Which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony.
Jane Austen


I met in the street a very poor young man who was in love. His hat was old, his coat worn, his cloak was out at the elbows, the water passed through his shoes, - and the stars through his soul.
Victor Hugo


I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.
Mother Teresa

No one has ever become poor by giving.
Anne Frank

The poor have to labour in the face of the majestic equality of the law, which forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.
Anatole France

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
William Butler Yeats

If you're in trouble, or hurt or need - go to the poor people. They're the only ones that'll help - the only ones.
John Steinbeck

When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.
Jean-Paul Sartre

You cannot sift out the poor from the community. The poor are indispensable to the rich.
Henry Ward Beecher

The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all.
Gilbert K. Chesterton

The mother's battle for her child with sickness, with poverty, with war, with all the forces of exploitation and callousness that cheapen human life needs to become a common human battle, waged in love and in the passion for survival.
Adrienne Rich

International lending banks need to focus on areas where private investment doesn't go, such as infrastructure projects, education and poverty relief.
Joseph Stiglitz

We can't leave people in abject poverty, so we need to raise the standard of living for 80% of the world's people, while bringing it down considerably for the 20% who are destroying our natural resources.
Jane Goodall