Thomas Paine Quotes

We are undemocratic, then, in our religion, as is proved by our efforts to “raise” the poor.

The French don't think everyone should have the same bank balance, but they're offended by extremes of inequality.

Class is real. It can't be faked.

Growing richer every day, for as rich and poor are relative terms, when the rich are growing poor, it is pretty much the same as if the poor were growing rich. Nobody is poor when the distinction between rich and poor is destroyed.

I don't care about wealth. What seems to be upsetting is institutionalizing the advantages that wealth gives you.

It has often been said, that there is but one rank of men in America… we have no artificial distinctions of men into noblemen and commoners among us, but it ought to be remarked, that superior degrees of industry and capacity, and above all, commerce, have introduced inequality of property among us, and these have introduced natural distinctions of rank in Pennsylvania, as certain and general as the artificial distinctions of men in Europe. This will ever be the case while commerce exists in this country.

An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

No one should have more than five times the wealth of the poorest person.

The rich are few everywhere, the poor many.

Is the great working class oppressed? Yes, undoubtedly it is. God has intended the great to be great and the little to be little.

There are no great lords who possess everything and a herd of people who have nothing

God help the rich, the poor can look after themselves

To be concerned about inequality is not engaging in class warfare.

We learned many years ago that the rich may have money, but the poor have time.

There's more poor people in this country than there are rich, and I stick up for the poor people.

Our inequality materializes our upper class, vulgarizes our middle class, brutalizes our lower class.

The endurance of the inequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society.

I think greed is a critical problem - the gap between the poor and the rich. The gap between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent.

It is a curious phenomena that God has made the hearts of the poor, rich and those of the rich, poor.

If no man could become rich in Peru, no man could become poor.

Between richer and poorer classes in a free country a mutually respecting antagonism is much healthier than pity on the one hand and dependence on the other, as is, perhaps, the next best thing to fraternal feeling.

Class structures are a luxury that we cannot afford.

The needs of the poor take priority over the desires of the rich

The prime culprit in causing contemporary social inequality seems to be merit.

The poor will never cease out of the land.