--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It…" description: "\"Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces degradation.\" — George Bernard Shaw" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png" --- # Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces… ![“Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces degradation.” quote by George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png) > “Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces degradation.” [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poverty erodes dignity and self‑respect, leading to a sense of worthlessness rather than mere lack of joy. **In simple terms:** Poverty harms dignity more than happiness. Key Takeaway Address systemic inequality to restore dignity. Themes poverty dignity social justice Mood somber reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy reform - community support - education programs - advocacy Key Concepts degradation human worth economic disparity Questions to Reflect On - How does dignity affect personal well‑being? - What policies best restore dignity? A Different Perspective Even with basic needs met, loss of dignity can cause deep unhappiness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Degradation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Unhappiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappiness/) ## Related quotes > [Poverty doesn't bring unhappiness; it brings degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-doesn-t-bring-unhappiness-it-brings-degradation/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Poverty does not create our social problems...our social problems create our poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/poverty-does-not-create-our-social-problems-our-social-problems/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [We always come back to the same vicious circle - an extreme degree of material or intellectual poverty does away with the means of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/we-always-come-back-to-the-same-vicious-circle-an-extreme-degree-of/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [ We believe that poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. It belongs in museums \[...\] A poverty-free world might not be perfect,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/we-believe-that-poverty-does-not-belong-in-a-civilized-human-society/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Poverty does not make people terrorists, but terrorists can exploit the frustration it creates and use it as a breeding-ground for violent ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-lindh/poverty-does-not-make-people-terrorists-but-terrorists-can-exploit/) [Anna Lindh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-lindh/) > [The second truism that we must understand is that poverty does not create our social problems, our social problems create our poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/the-second-truism-that-we-must-understand-is-that-poverty-does-not/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [Poverty does not cause violence and terrorism. Lack of education does not cause terrorism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-brennan/poverty-does-not-cause-violence-and-terrorism-lack-of-education-does/) [John O. Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-brennan/) > [I've been working on issues of poverty for more than 20 years, and so it's ironic that the problem that and question that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-novogratz/i-ve-been-working-on-issues-of-poverty-for-more-than-20-years-and-so/) [Jacqueline Novogratz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-novogratz/) > [The only thing poverty does is grind down your nerve endings to a point that you can work harder and stoop lower than most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-bragg/the-only-thing-poverty-does-is-grind-down-your-nerve-endings-to-a/) [Rick Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-bragg/) > [But poverty, though it does not prevent the generation, is extremely unfavourable to the rearing of children. The tender plant is produced, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-smith/but-poverty-though-it-does-not-prevent-the-generation-is-extremely/) [Adam Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-smith/) > [I am open-eyed about what poverty does to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-faber/i-am-open-eyed-about-what-poverty-does-to-people/) [Michel Faber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-faber/) > [True poverty does not come from God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-poverty-does-not-come-from-god/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“There is no point in poverty if it does not make a rich man, observing it, feel better.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morrison/there-is-no-point-in-poverty-if-it-does-not-make-a-rich-man-observing/) [Tom Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morrison/) > [There is no worse material poverty than one that does not allow for earning one’s bread and deprives one of the dignity of work.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/there-is-no-worse-material-poverty-than-one-that-does-not-allow-for/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [Poverty in itself does not make men into a rabble; a rabble is created only when there is joined to poverty a disposition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/poverty-in-itself-does-not-make-men-into-a-rabble-a-rabble-is-created/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) ## More by George Bernard Shaw > [I love little children too but I don't cut off their heads and stick them in vases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/i-love-little-children-too-but-i-don-t-cut-off-their-heads-and-stick/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Blasphemy and sedition (meaning the truth about Church and State).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/blasphemy-and-sedition-meaning-the-truth-about-church-and-state/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of life, man invents nothing; but in the arts of death he outdoes Nature herself, and produces by chemistry and machinery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-life-man-invents-nothing-but-in-the-arts-of-death-he/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“My religious convictions and scientific views cannot at present be more specifically defined than as those of a believer in creative evolution. I desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/my-religious-convictions-and-scientific-views-cannot-at-present-be/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [What a man believes may be ascertained, not from his creed, but from the assumptions on which he habitually acts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/what-a-man-believes-may-be-ascertained-not-from-his-creed-but-from/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [You are my inspiration and my folly. You are my light across the sea, my million nameless joys, and my day's wage. You are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/you-are-my-inspiration-and-my-folly-you-are-my-light-across-the-sea/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/men-have-to-do-some-awfully-mean-things-to-keep-up-their/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The schoolmaster is the person who takes the children off the parents' hands for a consideration. That is to say, he establishes a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-schoolmaster-is-the-person-who-takes-the-children-off-the-parents/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [As long as I have a want, I have a reason for living. Satisfaction is death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/as-long-as-i-have-a-want-i-have-a-reason-for-living-satisfaction-is/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The camera can represent flesh so superbly that, if I dared, I would never photograph a figure without asking that figure to take its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-camera-can-represent-flesh-so-superbly-that-if-i-dared-i-would/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [A man who is not a communist at the age of twenty is a fool. Any man who is still communist at the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-man-who-is-not-a-communist-at-the-age-of-twenty-is-a-fool-any-man/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [But to admire a strong person and to live under that strong person’s thumb are two different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/but-to-admire-a-strong-person-and-to-live-under-that-strong-person-s/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [Socialism is the same as Communism, only better English.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/socialism-is-the-same-as-communism-only-better-english/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [The person who is ignorant enough to believe that his nourishment depends on meat is in a horrible dilemma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/the-person-who-is-ignorant-enough-to-believe-that-his-nourishment/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [In the arts of peace Man is a bungler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/in-the-arts-of-peace-man-is-a-bungler/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Explore all 1,640 George Bernard Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) ## More Degradation quotes > [All our efforts to defeat poverty and pursue sustainable development will be in vain if environmental degradation and natural resource depletion continue unabated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/all-our-efforts-to-defeat-poverty-and-pursue-sustainable-development/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [The global industrial economy is the engine for massive environmental degradation and massive human (and nonhuman) impoverishment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/the-global-industrial-economy-is-the-engine-for-massive-environmental/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Poverty, for me, is synonymous with degradation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/poverty-for-me-is-synonymous-with-degradation/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [We must begin by acknowledging that there is a complete absence of two things in Indian Society. One of these is equality. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-r-ambedkar/we-must-begin-by-acknowledging-that-there-is-a-complete-absence-of/) [B. R. Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) > [In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kofi-annan/in-an-age-of-interdependence-global-citizenship-based-on-trust-and/) [Kofi Annan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kofi-annan/) > [If all boys could be made to know that with every breath of cigarette smoke they inhale imbecility and exhale manhood ... and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hudson-maxim/if-all-boys-could-be-made-to-know-that-with-every-breath-of-cigarette/) Hudson Maxim > [If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/if-the-world-suffers-from-mental-deterioration-or-from-moral/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-meacham/as-a-southerner-born-after-the-epic-events-of-the-civil-rights/) [Jon Meacham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-meacham/) > [It's a terrible cruelty of predatory capitalism: both parents now have to work. A family has to have two incomes in order to buy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hillman/it-s-a-terrible-cruelty-of-predatory-capitalism-both-parents-now-have/) [James Hillman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hillman/) > [Environmental degradation, overpopulation, refugees, narcotics, terrorism, world crime movements, and organized crime are worldwide problems that don't stop at a nation's borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-christopher/environmental-degradation-overpopulation-refugees-narcotics-terrorism/) [Warren Christopher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-christopher/) > [What is it in absinthe that makes it a separate cult? The effects of its abuse are totally distinct from those of other stimulants.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleister-crowley/what-is-it-in-absinthe-that-makes-it-a-separate-cult-the-effects-of/) [Aleister Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleister-crowley/) > [Restoration ecology is experimental science, a science of love and altruism. In its attempts to reverse the processes of ecosystem degradation it runs exactly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-mills/restoration-ecology-is-experimental-science-a-science-of-love-and/) [Stephanie Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-mills/) > [Well, for starters, we have to do more to create demand for new technologies that can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and environmental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-boehlert/well-for-starters-we-have-to-do-more-to-create-demand-for-new/) [Sherwood Boehlert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-boehlert/) > [When we hit a nail with a hammer the whole of the shock received by the large head of the nail passes into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/when-we-hit-a-nail-with-a-hammer-the-whole-of-the-shock-received-by/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) [Browse all 309 Degradation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degradation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces degradation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Bernard Shaw" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it-produces-degradation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Degradation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it-produces-degradation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d3/george-bernard-shaw-68_degradation_poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it_1068258.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It produces degradation.” — George Bernard Shaw", "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": "George Bernard Shaw", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poverty does not produce unhappiness: It...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it-produces-degradation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/poverty-does-not-produce-unhappiness-it-produces-degradation/#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 } } ] } ```