--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being poor is like being a child. Being…" description: "\"Being poor is like being a child. Being rich is like being an adult: you get to do whatever you want. Everyone is nice when they have to be; rich peopl..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/fran-lebowitz-690_adults_being-poor-is-like-being-a-child-being-r_1033586.png" --- # Being poor is like being a child. Being rich is like being… ![“Being poor is like being a child. Being rich is like being an adult: you get to do whatever you want. Everyone is nice when they have to be; rich people are nice when they feel like it.” quote by Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/fran-lebowitz-690_adults_being-poor-is-like-being-a-child-being-r_1033586.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/fran-lebowitz-690_adults_being-poor-is-like-being-a-child-being-r_1033586.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7f0/fran-lebowitz-690_adults_being-poor-is-like-being-a-child-being-r_1033586.png) > “Being poor is like being a child. Being rich is like being an adult: you get to do whatever you want. Everyone is nice when they have to be; rich people are nice when they feel like it.” [Fran Lebowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fran-lebowitz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wealth grants freedom to act without external pressure, while poverty forces compliance and dependence. **In simple terms:** Rich have choice; poor have constraints. Key Takeaway Recognize how power shapes behavior. Themes wealth freedom responsibility social dynamics Mood reflective critical Type philosophical social commentary When to use this quote - personal relationships - workplace - public policy - social activism Key Concepts economic inequality agency social norms Questions to Reflect On - How does financial status affect your choices? - Can you act ethically regardless of wealth? A Different Perspective Wealth does not guarantee moral goodness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adults](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adults/) [Being rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-rich/) [Child Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/child-rich-551196/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Do whatever you want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/do-whatever-you-want/) [Feels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feels/) [Like Adult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-adult/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Nice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice/) [Nice Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nice-rich-582930/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) [Rich and poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-and-poor/) [Rich Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-like-983842/) [Rich people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-people/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [Don't you know that a man being rich is like a girl being pretty? 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He wanted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/naughty-and-nice-said-death-but-it-s-easy-to-be-nice-if-you-re-rich/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Yes, for every child, rich or poor, there's a time of running through a dark place; and there's no word for a child's fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agee/yes-for-every-child-rich-or-poor-there-s-a-time-of-running-through-a/) [James Agee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agee/) > [It is just as often a great misfortune to be the child of the rich as it is to be the child of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarence-darrow/it-is-just-as-often-a-great-misfortune-to-be-the-child-of-the-rich-as/) [Clarence Darrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarence-darrow/) > [If you teach your child to be rich he will know the price of things, if you teach him to be happy he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/punit-ghadge/if-you-teach-your-child-to-be-rich-he-will-know-the-price-of-things/) [Punit Ghadge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/punit-ghadge/) > [Do not educate your child to be rich. Educate him to be happy, so that when he grows up he knows the value of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-educate-your-child-to-be-rich-educate-him-to-be-happy-so-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You have the kindest father in the land,” her mother would often remark, and Sunja had been proud of his love for them, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/min-jin-lee/you-have-the-kindest-father-in-the-land-her-mother-would-often-remark/) [Min Jin Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/min-jin-lee/) > [Do not educate your child to be rich. Educate him to be happy. So when he grows up, he'll know the value of things,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keren-zhims/do-not-educate-your-child-to-be-rich-educate-him-to-be-happy-so-when/) [Keren Zhims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keren-zhims/) > [I would much rather be the trusting child of a rich Father, than a beggar at the door of worldly men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrie-ten-boom/i-would-much-rather-be-the-trusting-child-of-a-rich-father-than-a/) [Corrie Ten Boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corrie-ten-boom/) > [How often the rich like to play at being poor. A rather nasty game, I've always thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/how-often-the-rich-like-to-play-at-being-poor-a-rather-nasty-game-i/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I've been broke more than I've been rich. I like being in the middle way better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reagan-gomez-preston/i-ve-been-broke-more-than-i-ve-been-rich-i-like-being-in-the-middle/) [Reagan Gomez-Preston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reagan-gomez-preston/) > [“Fuck America and get rich like astronauts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-ellis/fuck-america-and-get-rich-like-astronauts/) [Warren Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-ellis/) > [After 'The Way Back,' which was so epic and so rich, it was like, 'What will I do now?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sturgess/after-the-way-back-which-was-so-epic-and-so-rich-it-was-like-what/) [Jim Sturgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sturgess/) > [“He buys Playboy magazines and looks through them once, then gives them to me. That’s what it’s like to be rich. 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