Dorothy Day Quotes

No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged.

It is not enough, for example, to acknowledge and respect every man's right to the means of subsistence if we do not strive to the best of our ability for a sufficient supply of what is necessary for his sustenance

The destiny of world civilization depends on providing a decent standard of living for all mankind …. The first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind.

Clean water and health care and school and food and tin roofs and cement floor, all of these things should constitute a set of basics that people must have as birthrights.

… poor people deserve access to food, education, housing, and medical services

The seven basic, essential goods and services, Food, Clothing, Shelter, Transportation, Protection, Tools, and (special) Education.

No man can live well, or indeed live at all, unless he be provided with necessaries.

Every man has a right to bread.

China is a developing country and we regard subsistence as the fundamental human right.

Especially in a rich nation, there is absolutely no reason why everyone couldn't and shouldn't have a life of dignity.

My goal is to eradicate poverty. I think we can't have equality until we eradicate poverty.

As long as there are cold and nakedness in the land around you, so long can there be no question at all but that splendor of dress is a crime. In due time, when we have nothing better to set people to work at, it may be right to let them make lace and cut jewels; but as long as there are any who have no blankets for their beds, and no rags for their bodies, so long it is blanket-making and tailoring we must set people to work at, not lace.

Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society.

Those in the developing world have so few rights - we take a lot for granted in the developed world.

We have no right to luxuries while the poor want bread.

Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world.

The right to happiness is fundamental.

Whereas it has long been known and declared that the poor have no right to the property of the rich, I wish it also to be known and declared that the rich have no right to the property of the poor.

I have said democracy and freedom do not work too well if you are hungry, if you are starving.

Could we do without the social safety net, without Social Security, without Medicare, without farm subsidies, without unemployment compensation, without school lunch programs, without housing assistance? Of course we could. But we would not be a civilized society and we would not be an American nation any of us would be proud of.

Everyone, without distinction as to economic and social conditions, has the right to the preservation of his health through the highest standards of food, clothing, housing and medical care which the resources of the State and community can provide. The responsibility of the State and community for the health and safety of its people can be fulfilled only by provision of adequate health and social measures

Excessive economic and social disparity between individuals and peoples of the one human race is a source of scandal and militates against social justice, equity, human dignity, as well as social and international peace.

The hungry and homeless don't care about liberty any more than they care for cultural heritage.

Our nation cannot call for respect for human rights when it lacks the moral courage to save its own cities, its own poor, its own minorities whose rights are trampled upon.

Without economic security, liberty is not worth having.