--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have found out in later years that we…" description: "\"I have found out in later years that we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then.\" — Dwight D. Eisenhower" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/dwight-d-eisenhower-499_america_i-have-found-out-in-later-years-that-we_1963277.jpg" --- # I have found out in later years that we were very poor… ![“I have found out in later years that we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then.” quote by Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/dwight-d-eisenhower-499_america_i-have-found-out-in-later-years-that-we_1963277.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/dwight-d-eisenhower-499_america_i-have-found-out-in-later-years-that-we_1963277.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/796/dwight-d-eisenhower-499_america_i-have-found-out-in-later-years-that-we_1963277.jpg) > “I have found out in later years that we were very poor, but the glory of America is that we didn't know it then.” [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s strength lay in its ignorance of poverty, allowing optimism to thrive. **In simple terms:** America thrived because people didn’t see its poverty. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden hardships to foster true progress. Themes optimism national identity ignorance progress Mood reflective critical Type historical political When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community development - media analysis Key Concepts American exceptionalism social blind spots historical reflection Questions to Reflect On - How does ignorance shape national confidence? - What can be done when prosperity masks need? A Different Perspective Overlooking poverty can perpetuate inequality. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Didn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-didn-359089/) [Didn Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/didn-know/) [Found](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/found/) [Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/glory/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Glory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-glory-3253360/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-poor-2705497/) ## Related quotes > [“You do not do, you do not do Any more, black shoe In which I have lived like a foot For thirty years, poor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath-daddy/you-do-not-do-you-do-not-do-any-more-black-shoe-in-which-i-have-lived/) [Sylvia Plath Daddy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath-daddy/) > [Poor people have been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years and they're still poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/poor-people-have-been-voting-for-democrats-for-the-last-50-years-and/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [We fed 'em Xmas and New Years; now all the poor have to do is just fill the few meals until next Xmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/we-fed-em-xmas-and-new-years-now-all-the-poor-have-to-do-is-just-fill/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [“Funny, there had been a time when building things was what America did. From massive dams to towering skyscrapers, from mechanized factories to moon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-sakey/funny-there-had-been-a-time-when-building-things-was-what-america-did/) [Marcus Sakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-sakey/) > [I had a feeling about what I wanted to say, and I wasn't really qualified to discuss real things out of America because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-marr/i-had-a-feeling-about-what-i-wanted-to-say-and-i-wasn-t-really/) [Johnny Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-marr/) > [America didn’t bypass or escape civilization. It did something far more profound, far cleverer: it simply changed what civilization could be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/america-didn-t-bypass-or-escape-civilization-it-did-something-far/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“America: You didn't have to do that. Maxon: I know. 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Religious liberty created America,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-jindal/america-didn-t-create-religious-liberty-religious-liberty-created/) [Bobby Jindal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-jindal/) > [“When we came to America, though, we didn't know what the right thing was. Here we lived with no map. We became invisible, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marina-budhos/when-we-came-to-america-though-we-didn-t-know-what-the-right-thing/) [Marina Budhos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marina-budhos/) > [...America didn't have to fight scarcity and we all felt guilty before people who still had to struggle for bread and freedom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saul-bellow/america-didn-t-have-to-fight-scarcity-and-we-all-felt-guilty-before/) [Saul Bellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saul-bellow/) > [Our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/our-friends-at-the-republican-convention-were-more-than-happy-to-talk/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Everybody in America who didn't come over the Bering Strait ice bridge stole his land from somebody else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/everybody-in-america-who-didn-t-come-over-the-bering-strait-ice/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [My father cared about the world he lived in, and so he admitted his confusion about his place in America because he didn't want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/my-father-cared-about-the-world-he-lived-in-and-so-he-admitted-his/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) ## More by Dwight D. Eisenhower > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/every-gun-that-is-made-every-warship-launched-every-rocket-fired/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [We have won an armistice on a single battlefield, not peace in our world. We may not now relax our guard nor cease our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/we-have-won-an-armistice-on-a-single-battlefield-not-peace-in-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Things are more like they are now than they ever were before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/things-are-more-like-they-are-now-than-they-ever-were-before/) [Dwight D. 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Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Knowledge-full, unfettered knowledge of its own heritage, of freedom's enemies, of the whole world of men and ideas-this knowledge is a free people's surest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/knowledge-full-unfettered-knowledge-of-its-own-heritage-of-freedom-s/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Any nations right to a form of government and economic system of its own choosing is inalienable. Any nations attempt to dictate to other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/any-nations-right-to-a-form-of-government-and-economic-system-of-its/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [The peace we seek, founded upon decent trust and cooperation among nations, can be fortified not by weapons of war but by wheat and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-peace-we-seek-founded-upon-decent-trust-and-cooperation-among/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [The only way to win World War III is to prevent it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-only-way-to-win-world-war-iii-is-to-prevent-it/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [I’m going to pass a law that no one can ask me my golf score.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/i-m-going-to-pass-a-law-that-no-one-can-ask-me-my-golf-score/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [For all that we cherish and justly desire - for ourselves or for our children - the securing of peace is the first requisite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/for-all-that-we-cherish-and-justly-desire-for-ourselves-or-for-our/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Never waste a minute thinking about people you don't like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/never-waste-a-minute-thinking-about-people-you-don-t-like/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [Do not needlessly endanger your lives until I give you the signal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/do-not-needlessly-endanger-your-lives-until-i-give-you-the-signal/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) [Explore all 515 Dwight D. Eisenhower quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. 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