Below are ten quotes about life in poverty. Each of these quotes illuminates the everyday struggle of those living in poverty, a struggle which we here at the Borgen Project are working to eradicate.
1. “In a country well-governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of.” -Confucius
Consider two countries: the United States and Russia. In the United States, a country which we would consider well-governed, poverty is something which is never directly confronted by the media. Instead, US citizens believe that social welfare programs and soup kitchens can console the homeless and the poor.
Rather than working with the poor to help them out of poverty, we donate our spare change every once in a while. Moreover, we avoid sparking consolidated efforts within our communities because we do not believe we will receive the support of others.
Whereas in poorly governed countries, like Russia, wealth is something abstract. For the majority of people, wealth is unattainable. Poor governance and corruption create about wealth for the few, but not for the many. In these countries, wealth is a signal of corruption and unfair treatment.
2. “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” Mahatma Gandhi
Poverty is the worst form of violence because it cannot be easily eradicated with food or aid. Rather, poverty cultivates long-standing tendencies towards violence. When people live in poverty and feel as though they lack social mobility, they are more likely to resort to other forms of activity, namely violence, to get their point across.
3. “Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes.” Khalil Gibran
As Gibran explains, one can learn equality from poverty. When you don’t have anything to eat and you see other people with plenty, but who are unwilling to share with you, you wish that they could understand your hunger.
Moreover, when you have plenty and you see people with nothing, you are quick to defend your goods because maybe you ‘worked’ for them. However, it is only until you have endured a life of poverty and been lifted out of it, that you can see the humanity in other people and understand their pain. Hunger is universal, poverty doesn’t have to be.
4. “Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.”-Muhammad Ali
Traditional warfare has always changed landscapes. Wars have been fought, territories won, and people have been conquered. The wars of poverty are categorically different because communities lift themselves up, together, to create a new, more prosperous community. The individual plight of poverty requires change; it requires individuals to recognize their struggle, identify their strengths, seek help, and work with others to make their world a better place.
5. “The community which has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest principles.” – Plato
A rich community cannot know what it’s like to struggle, in the same way that a poor community cannot know what it’s like to be satisfied. Communities which are neither rich nor poor, but those which strike a healthy balance between the two, are those that can know a little bit of both. These communities are empowered with the ability to abstain but also to persevere.
6. “You are going to let the fear of poverty govern your life and your reward will be that you will eat but you will not live.” – George Bernard Shaw
If all you do is work to make money and be ‘successful,’ you won’t have the time to help others. If money is your only focus, your main goal, when will you be fulfilled? When will you say enough money is enough? The truth is you will never be fulfilled. A life led in pursuit of materialistic ideals is one led in vain. If your life is not governed by a fear of poverty, you have the freedom, time and energy to find fulfillment, wherever that may be.
7. “An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.” – Albert Einstein
Hunger is a human need. One cannot address higher cognitive pursuits without first addressing their hunger. If someone is poor and hungry, their first order of business is to procure food by whatever means possible (stealing, prostitution, or other illegal activities).
Accordingly, it’s unlikely that they will be able to make sound decisions under these circumstances. In order to create the most liberating political atmosphere, one in which many people can and are actively participating, one would have to first address poverty.
8. “He who is not capable of enduring poverty is not capable of being free.” – Victor Hugo
If you cannot endure a life in poverty, then you allow yourself to be constrained by materialistic concerns. If you were truly free, the material wouldn’t matter. However, for a lot of people, poverty is a huge constraint. It is difficult for them to want a better life but have no means of attaining it. A huge part of living in poverty is accepting that you lack the means to do what you want to do, but that that does not, and should not, define you. Only once you rid yourself of defining feature can you really enjoy your life.
9. “Poverty of goods is easily cured; poverty of soul, impossible.” Michel de Montaigne
Much of what we see in the development world addresses poverty of goods. We provide food, aid, and resources to those who lack them in hopes of lifting them out of poverty. With these resources, poverty of goods is often cured. However, we rarely, if ever, see programs to address poverty of the soul. Poverty of the soul, unlike of goods, is present in every country.
There will always be individuals who will never be satisfied with their life. Rather than trying to address those forms of poverty, we only focus on poverty of goods. However, I would argue that humanitarian work relieves one from poverty of the soul. Rather than leaving us devoid, humanitarian work fulfills our inner need to help others and satisfies our desire to leave the world a better place than we found it.
10. “The burden of poverty isn’t just that you don’t always have the things you need, it’s the feeling of being embarrassed every day of your life, and you’d do anything to lift that burden.” – Jay-Z
People can overcome poverty. However, people who have lived in poverty can never overcome the amount of shame incurred by their time spent in poverty. Throughout their time in poverty, these people remember being treated differently; they remember never having enough food on the table; they may even remember coveting others for having more than them.
These ills brought on by a life in poverty are not easily erased and they often leave a huge impact on these individuals if they come out of poverty, as Jay-Z did. The key for people who have come out of poverty is for them to carry those feelings with them in their daily intentions and to acknowledge people living in poverty today with certain compassion.
– Kelsey Ziomek
Sources: Good Reads, Brainy Quote
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