Will Self Quotes

Films set in 90210 are ten a penny. But there's rarely room to make films about a different postal code, to show the lives of ordinary Americans who have to live with very limited material resources.

A shining city is perhaps all the President [Ronald Reagan] sees from the portico of the White House and the veranda of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well. But there's another part to the shining city. In this part of the shining city there are more poor than ever, more families in trouble, and more people who need help and can't find it.

Poverty is an open-mouthed, relentless hell which yawns beneath civilized society.

Poverty is a soft pedal upon all branches of human activity.

Poverty is a corrosive brew, capable of eating away at the underpinnings of democratic life itself.

By-and-large, these are families that are just waiting to get out of here. They are frustrated; I would be, too. I get frustrated at the cash register counter when the paper runs out.

Disparity is Australia's worst social problem. Thousands of lives are slowly being crushed, while billions are wasted on thousands of little initiatives trying to 'close the gap.'

America stands as a beacon of hope and the possibility of a better life - but it is also a nation where nearly 1 in 4 children live in poverty.

Both chronic, long-term poverty and downward mobility from the middle class are in the same category of things that America likes not to think about.

You know, Saudi Arabia has a lot of poverty also. Regardless about what you hear about the viceroy and people being rich, et cetera.

Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness. An appeal is a mask covering the face of tribulation.

The worst part of great poverty is that you become blind to it.

I could actually care less about the poor. We have some living near us, and pee-yew. They are always coming and going to their three or four jobs at all hours of the day and night. Annoying!

Corporate America cannot afford to remain silent or passive about the downward spiral we are undergoing. It cannot turn a blind eye to how difficult the experience of life is for so many of their customers.

During the Great Depression, African Americans were faced with problems that were not unlike those experienced by the most disadvantaged groups in society. The Great Depression had a leveling effect, and all groups really experienced hard times: poor whites, poor blacks.

We are at great risk in our democracy for failing to understand the great depths of poverty.

The poor will never cease out of the land.

Poverty abides no line drawn by color or culture.

When I was a young fellow I was very much disturbed by there being some people with lots of money and lots of people with no money.

One day our grandchildren will go to museums to see what poverty was like.

The Latin American people have become fed up with the 500 year siesta and the lack of opportunity. So they come to the United States. But that is because the leaders of their countries do not do anything to improve the situation…. When Mexican President Fox took office he observed that over half the Mexican population was living in poverty and that he was unlikely to make significant changes during his remaining term in office. That was a sophisticated way of saying to the Mexicans, “Go to the United States!”

God help the rich, the poor can look after themselves

Problems of persistent poverty cannot be addressed unless they are acknowledged.

Poverty Corrodes Freedom

Poverty, discrimination and ignorance decrease growth.