Samuel Johnson Quotes

No sir, tho’ I was born and bred in England, I can dare to be poor, which is the only thing now—a—days men are asham’d of.

False shame accompanies a man that is poor, shame that either harms a man greatly or profits him; shame is with poverty, but confidence with wealth.

There's no scandal like rags, nor any crime so shameful as poverty.

Being poor is a mere trifle. It is being known to be poor that is the sting.

The worst thing about poverty is not the actual living of it, but the shame of it.

A man guilty of poverty easily believes himself suspected.

There is nothing worse than being ashamed of parsimony or poverty.

Having been poor is no shame, but being ashamed of it, is.

When you're poor, you don't want anyone to know you're poor.

It is not poverty so much as pretense that harasses a ruined man - the struggle between a proud mind and an empty purse - the keeping up of a hollow show that must soon come to an end.

The burden of poverty isn't just that you don't always have the things you need, it's the feeling of being embarrassed every day of your life, and you'd do anything to lift that burden.

It is easy to say that poverty is no crime .... It is a blunder though, and is punished ... A poor man is despised the whole world over.

It has been the great curse of American women that work--work for a living--was considered dishonorable, and only to be resorted to in case of necessity.

Only in recent history has “working hard” signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.

One of our most unfortunate believes is that a person who lives on welfare is not only unfortunate, but somehow defective.

People on welfare are fornicating deadbeats

When I was pretending not to be pregnant, I knew where I stood with everyone, and I knew that the world would accept me; I knew where I fit.

In Long Island, people care about how much money you have. Even I did when I was growing up. I never wanted kids to see my mom's house because I was embarrassed that they'd tell everyone, 'Oh, Madison's mom is poor!' And she was definitely far from poor.

I understand the dignity that comes from work and caring for one's family.

I come home that morning, after I been fired, and stood outside my house with my new work shoes on. The shoes my mama paid a month's worth a light bill for. I guess that's when I understood what shame was and the color of it too. Shame ain't black, like dirt, like I always thought it was. Shame be the color of a new white uniform your mother ironed all night to pay for, white without a smudge or a speck a work-dirt on it.

A man with money to pay for a meal can talk about hunger without demeaning himself. ... But for a man with no money hunger is a disgrace.

It is no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be.

We should not so much esteem our poverty as a misfortune, were it not that the world treats it so much as a crime

Poverty is no disgrace. But it is certainly not a recommendation.

Tis hard to be wretched, but worse to be knowne so.