--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Under civilization poverty is born of…" description: "\"“Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself.”\" — Charles Fourier" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg" --- # Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself. ![“Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself.” quote by Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg) > ““Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself.”” [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Excessive material wealth creates social inequality and poverty. **In simple terms:** Too much abundance leads to poverty. Key Takeaway Address inequality by balancing resources. Themes inequality wealth social justice Mood reflective critical Type philosophical social When to use this quote - Urban planning - policy making - community development Key Concepts Economic disparity resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - How can societies redistribute surplus fairly? - What policies reduce poverty despite wealth? A Different Perspective Abundance alone does not guarantee well‑being. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socialism/) ## Related quotes > [“Many people----women especially----remain trapped in the poverty into which they were born. The successful person from this background is the exception. The American dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-isenberg/many-people-women-especially-remain-trapped-in-the-poverty-into-which/) [Nancy Isenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-isenberg/) > [“It is of our nature to exceed ourselves. Overflowing the mesaure is built into what we are. So, too, is rejoicing in this superabundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/it-is-of-our-nature-to-exceed-ourselves-overflowing-the-mesaure-is/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [“Anything which you have in profusion is poison”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/anything-which-you-have-in-profusion-is-poison/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [The superabundance alludes to the myth that is ensuring our demise but it's also the space around and possibly the void that we enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-sullivan/the-superabundance-alludes-to-the-myth-that-is-ensuring-our-demise/) [Daniel O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-sullivan/) > [It has a double meaning - the superabundance also means the space around, the incomparable massiveness of things, and how there's not much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-sullivan/it-has-a-double-meaning-the-superabundance-also-means-the-space/) [Daniel O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-sullivan/) > [Obsolescence is the moment of superabundance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/obsolescence-is-the-moment-of-superabundance/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [The superabundance is an ecological myth that we will never run out of resources, that the Earth, that Gaia, is in this perpetual state…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-o-sullivan/the-superabundance-is-an-ecological-myth-that-we-will-never-run-out/) [Daniel O'Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-o-sullivan/) > [The issue is Socialism versus Capitalism. I am for Socialism because I am for humanity. We have been cursed with the reign of gold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/the-issue-is-socialism-versus-capitalism-i-am-for-socialism-because-i/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [The final goal of world revolution is not socialism, or even communism, it is not a change in the present economic system, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-v-deponcins/the-final-goal-of-world-revolution-is-not-socialism-or-even-communism/) [Leon V. DePoncins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-v-deponcins/) > [Civilization is a social plague on the planet, and vices are just as necessary to it as is a virus to disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/civilization-is-a-social-plague-on-the-planet-and-vices-are-just-as/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [One could judge the degree of civilization of a country by the social and political position of its women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/one-could-judge-the-degree-of-civilization-of-a-country-by-the-social/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [Gasahol is socialism's fuel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/gasahol-is-socialism-s-fuel/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [We do not want socialism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/we-do-not-want-socialism/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [Socialism is humanity's second nature. All politicians do is turn human vice into votes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilana-mercer/socialism-is-humanity-s-second-nature-all-politicians-do-is-turn/) [Ilana Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilana-mercer/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) ## More by Charles Fourier > [One could judge the degree of civilization of a country by the social and political position of its women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/one-could-judge-the-degree-of-civilization-of-a-country-by-the-social/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [Civilization is a social plague on the planet, and vices are just as necessary to it as is a virus to disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/civilization-is-a-social-plague-on-the-planet-and-vices-are-just-as/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [Any civilized administration, however organized, prefers its own good to that of the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/any-civilized-administration-however-organized-prefers-its-own-good/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [We must, then, apply the principle of Doubt to Civilization; we must doubt its necessity, its excellence, and its permanence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/we-must-then-apply-the-principle-of-doubt-to-civilization-we-must/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [“Social progress and changes of historical period take place in proportion to the advance of women toward liberty, and social decline occurs as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/social-progress-and-changes-of-historical-period-take-place-in/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [The Civilized… murder their children by producing too many of them without being able to provide for their well-being. Morality or theories of false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/the-civilized-murder-their-children-by-producing-too-many-of-them/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [Despots prefer the friendship of the dog, who, unjustly mistreated and debased, still loves and serves the man who wronged him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/despots-prefer-the-friendship-of-the-dog-who-unjustly-mistreated-and/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [Once upon a time people talked about the infallibility of the pope; today it is that of the merchant which they wish to establish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/once-upon-a-time-people-talked-about-the-infallibility-of-the-pope/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [“The philosophers say that the passions are too lively, too fiery; in truth they are weak and languid. All around one sees the mass…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/the-philosophers-say-that-the-passions-are-too-lively-too-fiery-in/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [It is known that the best nations have always been those which concede the greatest amount of liberty to women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/it-is-known-that-the-best-nations-have-always-been-those-which/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [“Philosophy was right to vaunt liberty ; it is the foremost desire of all creatures. But philosophy forgot that in civilized societies liberty is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/philosophy-was-right-to-vaunt-liberty-it-is-the-foremost-desire-of/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [To confound the tyranny of man there should exist for a century a third sex, both male and female, and stronger than men. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/to-confound-the-tyranny-of-man-there-should-exist-for-a-century-a/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [“It is easy to compress the passions by violence. Philosophy suppresses them with a stroke of the pen. Locks and the sword come to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/it-is-easy-to-compress-the-passions-by-violence-philosophy-suppresses/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [The peoples of civilization see their wretchedness increase in direct proportion to the advance of industry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/the-peoples-of-civilization-see-their-wretchedness-increase-in-direct/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) > [...commerce, which is mistakenly classified among the productive forms of work, ought to be ranked first among the parasitical professions like those of monk,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/commerce-which-is-mistakenly-classified-among-the-productive-forms-of/) [Charles Fourier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) [Explore all 24 Charles Fourier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/) ## More Civilization quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Sentiment is the mightiest force in civilization; not sentimentality, but sentiment. Women will bring this into politics. Home, sweet home, is as powerful on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-ellen-foster/sentiment-is-the-mightiest-force-in-civilization-not-sentimentality/) [Judith Ellen Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-ellen-foster/) > [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/) [Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/) > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [We released 400,000 classified documents, the most extraordinary history of a war to ever have been released in our civilization. Those documents cover 109,000…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-assange/we-released-400-000-classified-documents-the-most-extraordinary/) [Julian Assange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-assange/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/whenever-we-touch-nature-we-get-clean-people-who-have-got-dirty/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Another success is the post-office, with its educating energy augmented by cheapness and guarded by a certain religious sentimentin mankind; so that the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/another-success-is-the-post-office-with-its-educating-energy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our civilization, bequeathed to us by fierce adventurers, eaters of meat and hunters, is so full of hurry and combat, so busy about many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-joyce/our-civilization-bequeathed-to-us-by-fierce-adventurers-eaters-of/) [James Joyce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-joyce/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Once we allow ourselves to be disobedient to the test of an accountant's profit, we have begun to change our civilization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/once-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-disobedient-to-the-test-of-an/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [Our laws and our institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. It is impossible that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-josiah-brewer/our-laws-and-our-institutions-must-necessarily-be-based-upon-and/) [David Josiah Brewer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-josiah-brewer/) [Browse all 4,084 Civilization quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Fourier" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-superabundance-itself/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Civilization" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-superabundance-itself/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad9/charles-fourier-24480_civilization_under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-su_394676.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Under civilization poverty is born of superabundance itself.” — Charles Fourier", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Fourier", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-fourier/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Under civilization poverty is born of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-superabundance-itself/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-fourier/under-civilization-poverty-is-born-of-superabundance-itself/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```