#pov

He seems so frivolous and so careless, but he gives money to beggars, not frivolously or carelessly, but because he believes in giving money to beggars, and giving it to them “where they stand”. He says he knows perfectly well all the arguments against giving money to beggars. But he finds those to be precisely the arguments for giving money to them. If beggars are lazy or deceptive or wanting a drink, he knows only too well his own lack of motivation, his own dishonesty, his own thirst. He doesn’t believe in “scientific charity” because that is too easy, as easy as writing a check. He believes in “promiscuous charity” because that is really difficult. “It means the most dark and terrible of all human actions—talking to a man. In fact, I know of nothing more difficult than really talking to the poor men we meet.” (pp. 13-14) ↗

— Dale Ahlquist

#social-justice #men

If the anti-abortion movement took a tenth of the energy they put into noisy theatrics and devoted it to improving the lives of children who have been born into lives of poverty, violence, and neglect, they could make a world shine. ↗

— Michael Jay Tucker

#poverty

We must powder our wigs; that is why so many poor people have no bread. ↗

— Jean-Jacques Rousseau

#poverty #poverty

To seek "causes" of poverty in this way is to enter an intellectual dead end because poverty has no causes. Only prosperity has causes. ↗

— Jane Jacobs

#prosperity #poverty

Society was cut in two: those who had nothing united in common envy; those who had anything united in common terror. ↗

— Alexis de Tocqueville

#terror #poverty

It is a good thing to know what it is to be poor, and a better thing if you can do it in company. ↗

— Marilynne Robinson

#poverty

Poverty is the frontier we have to be able to cross. ↗

— Ricardo Lagos

#cross #frontier #poverty

There are many programs specifically aimed at helping people in poverty start a business. ↗

— Matthew Lesko

#business #helping #helping people #many #people

Poverty does not make people terrorists, but terrorists can exploit the frustration it creates and use it as a breeding-ground for violent ideas. ↗

— Anna Lindh

#does #exploit #frustration #ideas #make

The explosive growth in places like Shanghai has helped lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and into a thriving new middle class. What China has done is nothing short of an economic transformation, and the citizens of this country have every right to be proud. ↗

— Gary Locke

#citizens #class #country #done #economic