Shahid Khan Quotes

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

Poverty is the schoolmaster of character.

Bums are the well-to-do of this day. They didn't have as far to fall.

I developed a loyal following. No one knew I was homeless.

Homelessness is a part of our American system. There should be nothing wrong with this condition as long as the individual is not sentenced to unnecessary suffering and punishment.

No one should be richer than a ten millionaire and no one should be without a home.

I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.

My real passion is social justice, resolving the lack of empowerment, the lack of skills, the fact that young people can't get on the housing ladder, they feel they can't have a decent job, they feel they aren't in control of their lives.

I think, for me, the biggest issue is poverty in general, poverty in this time of plenty. It's reflected in homelessness. It's reflected in educational gaps. It's reflected in racial disparities.

When I was around 18, I got kicked out of my parents' house, and I wasn't allowed to take anything with me. I slept on YMCA towels for a whole semester in university before my father found out and bought me a mattress. I felt really free because I was finally living on my own, but I was also really depressed because I had nothing.

I consider the homeless just as important as the richest of the rich.

Societies tend to presume that poor people are unable to handle money. If they had any, people reason, the poor and homeless would probably spend it on fast food and cheap beer, not on fruit or education.

If you look at European societies since the financial crisis began in 2008, with very, very few exceptions, the differences between rich and poor have increased, and sometimes hugely.

Republicans need to define and present specific policies on how to eradicate poverty, help every child achieve a quality education, and lower the cost of increasing health premiums.

I've never had much and I've never needed much. If I had only two bucks in my pocket, I knew I could spend it because I could always do another show of some kind, even on a sidewalk.

We had no money. My family was in Southie; I was in affluent Brookline. I don't know if it's my personality or the circumstance, but it all kind of led to this feeling of being an observer on the outside.

The biggest problem in America is most people believe poor people are poor because they are lazy.

Any one of us could fall on hard times. Work and housing have the potential to be unstable, especially for those earning low wages or relying on family and friends. It should not be a criminal offence to sleep on the street.

Housing insecurity isn't just an abstract point of policy for me. I've lived it.

If you don't have money or you come from a background that doesn't have money, it's harder to achieve your ambition in life. It's not that you can't, but it becomes harder. Inequality is one of the worst things that can exist in our society, so I am interested in those kind of things.

There are lots of different people who use food banks - from young parents to older people.

When you grow up in poverty and learn how to survive it, it's something that stays with you forever.

As a country, we can do better. Our home should be a source of stability, not insecurity. This issue is personal for me... even with a steady paycheck, I couldn't pay rent.

I know people think I'm a stupid little street queen out there begging for change cause there's nothing else she knows how to do.

The 'Guardian' supports the vital work that volunteers and campaigners do to mitigate homelessness and destitution; we will also continue to report on the causes of homelessness and destitution and urge policy change that will solve it.