--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People are wrong when they think that an…" description: "\"“People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/george-orwell-57_educated-man_people-are-wrong-when-they-think-that-an_534293.jpg" --- # People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man… ![“People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones, needs work even more than he needs money. An educated man can put up with enforced idleness, which is one of the worst evils of…” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/george-orwell-57_educated-man_people-are-wrong-when-they-think-that-an_534293.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/george-orwell-57_educated-man_people-are-wrong-when-they-think-that-an_534293.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e09/george-orwell-57_educated-man_people-are-wrong-when-they-think-that-an_534293.jpg) > ““People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones, needs work even more than he needs money. An educated man can put up with enforced idleness, which is one of the worst evils of poverty. But a man like Paddy, with no means of filling up time, is as miserable out of work as a dog on the chain. That is why it is such nonsense to pretend that those who have 'come down in the world' are to be pitied above all others. The man who really merits pity is the man who has been down from the start, and faces poverty with a blank, resourceless mind.”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People need purposeful activity; idleness harms dignity more than lack of money. **In simple terms:** Work gives meaning, not just income. Key Takeaway Provide meaningful work, not just wages. Themes dignity work poverty education Mood reflective somber Type analytical social commentary When to use this quote - unemployment - social policy - education reform - mental health - community programs Key Concepts existential need social critique psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does purposeful activity affect self‑worth? - What policies can give dignified work to the unemployed? A Different Perspective Assumes all individuals value work equally; some may prioritize leisure or creative pursuits. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Educated man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-man/) [Faces Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faces-poverty-4481912/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Pitied Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pitied-man-4481913/) [Pity Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity-man-514329/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Poverty Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty-man-376461/) [Think Unemployed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-unemployed-3297627/) ## Related quotes > [“...of all creatures that breathe and move on earth none is more to be pitied than a man.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/of-all-creatures-that-breathe-and-move-on-earth-none-is-more-to-be/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [When you are tired and complains about your job - Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had your job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-you-are-tired-and-complains-about-your-job-think-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know, I think when you are unemployed, especially for a long time, it's hard to be inspired or hopeful almost about anything. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-welch/you-know-i-think-when-you-are-unemployed-especially-for-a-long-time/) [Peter Welch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-welch/) > [If poverty were a man, I would have slain him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-ibn-abi-talib/if-poverty-were-a-man-i-would-have-slain-him/) [Ali ibn Abi Talib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-ibn-abi-talib/) > [Only by the candle, held in the skeleton hand of Poverty, can man read his own dark heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/only-by-the-candle-held-in-the-skeleton-hand-of-poverty-can-man-read/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [“A man of the present day, whether he believes in the divinity of Christ or not, cannot fail to see that to assist in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/a-man-of-the-present-day-whether-he-believes-in-the-divinity-of/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The educated man pictures a horde of submen, wanting only a day's liberty to loot his house, burn his books, and set him to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-educated-man-pictures-a-horde-of-submen-wanting-only-a-day-s/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I have always had a slight feeling of pity for man who has no knowledge of chess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegbert-tarrasch/i-have-always-had-a-slight-feeling-of-pity-for-man-who-has-no/) [Siegbert Tarrasch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegbert-tarrasch/) > [but very little achievement is required in order to pity another man's shortcomings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-very-little-achievement-is-required-in-order-to-pity-another-man/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [God pity the man of science who believes in nothing but what he can prove by scientific methods; for if ever a human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/god-pity-the-man-of-science-who-believes-in-nothing-but-what-he-can/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [“I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, ‘Tis all barren—and so it is; and so is all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-pity-the-man-who-can-travel-from-dan-to-beersheba-and-cry-tis-all-2/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I pity the man who can travel from Dan to Beersheba, and cry, 'Tis all barren--and so it is; and so is all the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-pity-the-man-who-can-travel-from-dan-to-beersheba-and-cry-tis-all/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [There is no pity for a man who moans about living in one town and does not move to another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-talmud/there-is-no-pity-for-a-man-who-moans-about-living-in-one-town-and/) [The Talmud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-talmud/) > [Pity the man who has a character to support - it is worse than a large family - he is silent poor indeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/pity-the-man-who-has-a-character-to-support-it-is-worse-than-a-large/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [If a man is tongue-tied, don't laugh at him, but, rather, feel pity for him, as you would for a man with broken legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-cahan/if-a-man-is-tongue-tied-don-t-laugh-at-him-but-rather-feel-pity-for/) [Abraham Cahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-cahan/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Educated man quotes > [I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-m-not-an-educated-man-i-only-know-what-i-m-told-and-i-m-not-told/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [“Looking back upon my career, I see myself as a person capable of undertaking almost any task, any vocation. It was the monotony and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/looking-back-upon-my-career-i-see-myself-as-a-person-capable-of/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [“Where any one body of educated men, of whatever denomination, are condemned indiscriminately, there must be a deficiency of information, (or smiling) of something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/where-any-one-body-of-educated-men-of-whatever-denomination-are/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [Tomorrow everybody - or practically everybody - will have had the education of the upper class of yesterday, and will expect equivalent opportunities. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/tomorrow-everybody-or-practically-everybody-will-have-had-the/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [An educated man is one who has the loves and hatreds together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lin-yutang/an-educated-man-is-one-who-has-the-loves-and-hatreds-together/) [Lin Yutang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lin-yutang/) > [The all-round liberally educated man, from Palaeolithic times to the time when the earth shall become a cold cinder, will always be the same,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fairfield-osborn/the-all-round-liberally-educated-man-from-palaeolithic-times-to-the/) [Henry Fairfield Osborn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fairfield-osborn/) > [You are an educated man. You know there are no such things as demons." Bast smiled a terrible smile. "There is only my kind."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/you-are-an-educated-man-you-know-there-are-no-such-things-as-demons/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [A man who cannot think is not an educated man however many college degrees he may have acquired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/a-man-who-cannot-think-is-not-an-educated-man-however-many-college/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [An educated man must have a "curiosity in exploring the unfamiliar and unexpected, an open-mindedness in entertaining opposing points of view, tolerance for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-bok/an-educated-man-must-have-a-curiosity-in-exploring-the-unfamiliar-and/) [Derek Bok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-bok/) > [An educated man should know everything about something, and something about everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-educated-man-should-know-everything-about-something-and-something/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is the mark of an educated man to look for precision in each class of things just so far as the nature of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/it-is-the-mark-of-an-educated-man-to-look-for-precision-in-each-class/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The more scholastically educated a man is generally, the more he is an emotional boor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-more-scholastically-educated-a-man-is-generally-the-more-he-is-an/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My very small part in WATCHMEN is that, every now and then, Alan would phone me: ''Neil, you're an educated man. Where does it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/my-very-small-part-in-watchmen-is-that-every-now-and-then-alan-would/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [“To be truly educated, a man needs his experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/to-be-truly-educated-a-man-needs-his-experience/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“And he is not at an age right for renunciation; he has not even entered the stage of the householder, as befits a well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-abha-a/and-he-is-not-at-an-age-right-for-renunciation-he-has-not-even/) [Bāṇabhaṭṭa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-abha-a/) [Browse all 124 Educated man quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educated-man/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People are wrong when they think that an unemployed man only worries about losing his wages; on the contrary, an illiterate man, with the work habit in his bones, needs work even more than he needs money. An educated man can put up with enforced idleness, which is one of the worst evils of poverty. But a man like Paddy, with no means of filling up time, is as miserable out of work as a dog on the chain. That is why it is such nonsense to pretend that those who have 'come down in the world' are to be pitied above all others. 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