“Rather than trying to put an end to Eminem or some other rapper, politicians should think about why they're rapping. It's easier to try to censor some kid who's swearing about poverty than it is to stop the poverty.”— Willie Nelson, en.wikiquote.org
“My parents worked their tails off, but we weren't the poorest people in town. Some people I went to school with, you could tell they were dirt poor. What we were doing in those days were stolen pharmaceuticals. Though you could be tempted with heroin, I wasn't. And it was mainly heroin then, there w…”— Danny DeVito, theguardian.com
“We're consumers. We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don't concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy's name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra.”— Chuck Pahlaniuk, Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt, amazon.com
“No men living are more worthy to be trusted than those who toil up from poverty; none less inclined to take or touch aught which they have not honestly earned. Let them beware of surrendering a political power which they already possess, and which if surrendered will surely be used to close the door…”— Abraham Lincoln, en.wikisource.org
“When one starts poor, as most do in the race of life, free society is such that he knows he can better his condition; he knows that there is no fixed condition of labor, for his whole life. I am not ashamed to confess that twenty five years ago I was a hired laborer, mauling rails, at work on a flat…”— Abraham Lincoln, historyplace.com
“Humanity in the abstract will never inspire you in the same way as human beings you meet. Poverty is not going to motivate you. But people will motivate you.”— Melinda Gates, today.duke.edu
“Mr. Clay's lack of a more perfect early education, however it may be regretted generally, teaches at least one profitable lesson; it teaches that in this country, one can scarcely be so poor, but that, if he will, he can acquire sufficient education to get through the world respectably.”— Abraham Lincoln, abrahamlincolnonline.org
“America has grown by expansion in a practical vacuum; the pioneers of the West had to overcome terrific natural obstacles, but negligible human resistance. The Russia of today had to conquer not only natural but human difficulties: she had to break up the rotten system of the Czars and to assimilate…”— Max Born, en.wikiquote.org
“Poverty is probably the greatest asset the Communists have. Wherever it exists, anyplace in the world, you have a potential Communist breeding ground. It figures that if a man is frustrated in a material sense, his family hungry, he suffers, he broods and he becomes susceptible to the blandishments…”— Frank Sinatra, reprints.longform.org
“We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred and the mistrust. We must dissent from a nation that has buried its head in the sand, waiting in vain for the needs of its poor, its elderly, and its sick to disappear and just blow away…”— Thurgood Marshall, thurgoodmarshall.com
“We shouldn’t just be looking to end poverty but to have bigger dreams too - my take on why Charlie & the Chocolate Factory should be on reading list of everyone who’s fighting injustice.”— Caroline Lucas, twitter.com
“Global temperatures are rising, giving way to extreme weather events. The Arctic shelf is melting, and fire, floods, and famine will ensue Exacerbating poverty, political instability, terrorism. Everything we know will collapse, but those of us who ascend The Ladder will be safe.”— Jessica Goldberg, Cal Roberts, Hugh Dancy, imdb.com
“My intention is to light a flame. Because the America I live in in devastated by poverty, social neglect, economic abandonment, police brutality, and mass incarceration.”— Jessica Goldberg, Samuel, Herbert Point-Du Jour, imdb.com
“We can now take care of everybody at a higher standard of living than anybody has ever known. It does not have to be "you or me," so selfishness is unnecessary and war is obsolete.”— Buckminster Fuller, amazon.com
“I know what you thought. They don't have homes, they don't have jobs, what do they need the top of a muffin for? They're lucky to get the stumps.”— Spike Feresten, Rebecca, Sony Eddy, imdb.com
“Homeless people are human beings with immense value. They are members of our families, communities, neighborhoods, cities, and, for a number of people reading this, they are themselves (or have been). The fact that homeless people do not have housing is a wrong done against them, not a sign they did…”— @entitledrichpeople, entitledrichpeople.tumblr.com
“But that myth is consumed only by those who have the means to work hard. The myth of the American Dream is only for those who have the privilege to believe in it; it’s not for those who need to figure out how to feed their children breakfast. Those people aren’t in a position to dream.”— Dina Leygerman, huffingtonpost.com
“I don’t know what it’s like to be poor. I am privileged. And yet so many of us pretend we know. Can’t they just go get a job? Can’t they just work harder? Can’t they just go get a degree? Can’t they just save more? Spend less? These questions are ridiculous. They come from people who have never know…”— Dina Leygerman, huffingtonpost.com
“We have been told our entire lives that if we work hard we can achieve whatever we wish. That's simply untrue. Someone forgot to add one detail to that adage: You must be born into a world of opportunity and choice. That world does not exist to all, only to some. And those born into the world of opp…”— Dina Leygerman, huffingtonpost.com
“When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn’t. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry. I had to get up. I was one of those hungry fighters. You could have hit me on the chin with a sledgehammer for five dollars. When you haven’t eaten f…”— Jack Dempsey, books.google.com