W. H. Davies Quotes

Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty: permit the distinctive sign of our order to be that it does not possess anything of its own beneath the sun, for the glory of your name, and that it have no other patrimony than begging.

To be obliged to beg our daily happiness from others bespeaks a more lamentable poverty than that of him who begs his daily bread.

I always tell people, 'I have more respect for somebody with no money and class than somebody who is trash and makes $1 billion.'

You lose your manners when you are poor.

The world does not have time to be with the poor, to learn with the poor, to listen to the poor. To listen to the poor is an exercise of great discipline, but such listening surely is what is required if charity is not to become a hatred of the poor for being poor.

There's something very visceral about watching people beg for money. It's powerful.

Too poor for a bribe, and too proud to importune, he had not the method of making a fortune.

The man forget not, though in rags he lies, and know the mortal through a crown's disguise.

Having leveled my palace, don't erect a hovel and complacently admire your own charity in giving me that for a home.

His Majesty had on enough clothes for the both of us.

It's panhandling... That's the system we have, though. It's based on bribery.

As a young man, I was a navy officer in Vietnam. I made $320 a month and would always give away $50 a month to a family I felt that was in greater need than me, in addition to my tithing to my church. I've just always felt in my heart, coming from a very humble background, that there are plenty of people who need a break in life.

There is nothing remotely dignified about sorting through rotting trash to find something to feed your child, or asking someone for money because you have none (anyone who has contrived to give people money before they had to ask will never forget the look of gratitude in their eyes).

[T]he blossom of benevolence, of charity, is the fairest flower, no matter whether it blooms by the side of a hovel, or bursts from a vine climbing the marble pillar of a palace. I respect no man because he is rich; I hold in contempt no man because he is poor.

That acknowledgment of weakness which we make in imploring to be relieved from hunger and from temptation is surely wisely put in our daily prayer. Think of it, you who are rich, and take heed how you turn a beggar away.

Virtue shows quite as well in rags and patches as she does in purple and fine linen.

No nation respects a beggar.

Modesty is of no use to a beggar.

Beggars should be no choosers.

I do not give alms; I am not poor enough for that.

When I had the honor to be a second lieutenant, I ate dry bread, but I never let anyone know that I was poor.

Give, but, if possible, spare the poor man the shame of begging.

If all alms were given only from pity, all beggars would have starved long ago.

Do not think me mad. It is not to make money that I believe a Christian should live. The noblest thing a man can do is, just humbly to receive, and then go amongst others and give.

In a very real way, the poor are our teachers. They show us that people’s value is not measured by their possessions or how much money they have in the bank. A poor person, a person lacking material possessions, always maintains his or her dignity. The poor can teach us much about humility and trust in God.