Series of quotes: Poor

January 28, 2013

Series of quotes: Poor

“Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.”
– Herman Melville

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal bread.”
– Anatole France

“When the rich wage war it’s the poor who die.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre

“The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time.”
– Willem de Kooning

“When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist.”
– Dom Helder Camara

“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”
– John F. Kennedy

Feel free to add more or discuss in the comments ;)

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Living 400lbs

I blog about what it’s like to be live life at about 400lbs. :)

5 responses to “Series of quotes: Poor”

closetpuritan

January 28, 2013 at 6:40 pm

“When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist.”
– Dom Helder Camara

I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that the only reason I’ve heard that one is because my boyfriend plays the Civilization games…

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JeninCanada

January 28, 2013 at 9:23 pm

“The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time.”
– Willem de Kooning

It really does. We almost didn’t take Ryan’s promotion because it meant another move, and we weren’t sure we’d be able to afford it. How ironic, no? Finally get the opportunity we’ve been waiting for, and might’ve missed it because we’re too poor to improve our situation. For those even worse off, working two or three jobs to make ends meet, there’s so very little time for anything but work and sleep.

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Fivehundredpoundpeep

January 29, 2013 at 7:42 am

“The trouble with being poor is that it takes up all of your time.”
– Willem de Kooning

Love this one, it sure does. People don’t realize how money fixes things and makes everything much easier to accomplish. I was at my self help support group last night. Yeah I am in one. One lady talked about having a “TO-DO” list she was running down, and I keep thinking but I don’t have money to get anything done…

The middle and upper middle class are so accomplished on goal-setting, and achieving things. What gets me is I grew up this way, so I got through college and understand the mentality but today it’s a joke with an empty bank account. Staying alive for me is an achievement. The lonelieness of those who fell down the ladder is immense. Six figure types from my family have cut me off or consider me such an object of pathos and shame, I am dis-invited from weddings etc.

LOL and everything is much more complicated, and yes so much time is wasted and opportunities too. Per the above comment, I had the 4 jobs combined together and the 70 hours weeks, still struggling, pre-disability life.

I believe being poor ruined my life and I see the endocrine collapse and severe weight gain as totally linked. I told someone once, if I won the Lotto or came into real money, I’d lose 100lbs at least within the year, not from even dieting or any food changes but just having a lifting up of the stress and cortisol going through my system. I always tried to hold on to good things in life, but when you are poor so much is stripped away. I’ve lost so much from constant economic nomadness, not having money to visit people, and more.

The scary thing to me now, is I know there is even further to fall. what other people consider just a mild stumbling block, can render me homeless, and are emergencies. I have a lot of regrets about my life, and being poor is the worse and at the top of the list. Among my faults, is the horrible seeming inability to make money or manage a living, I struggled even before I got severely ill.

I think in societies where there are social connections and other things, being poor is not as much of a burden like it is in America. Here you are a nobody. Some of us live in a sea of affluence, where the people around us never could imagine our day to day reality.

Reply
inge

February 1, 2013 at 4:56 pm

“The poor have been rebels, but they have never been anarchists; they have more interest than anyone else in there being some decent government. The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn’t; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all. Aristocrats were always anarchists.” (G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday)

“If work were good for you, the rich would leave none for the poor.” (Haitian proverb)

“Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.” (John Scalzi)

Reply
Christine

February 22, 2013 at 4:36 am

I love the quotes you post.

Reply

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Former software tester, now retired heart patient having fun and working on building endurance and strength. See also About page.

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