--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Farmers are respectable and interesting…" description: "\"Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.\" — Henry David Thoreau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg" --- # Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in… ![“Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg) > “Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.” [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The value we assign to people is tied to their socioeconomic status, reflecting a bias that equates poverty with lack of respect. **In simple terms:** We respect people less when they are poor. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge class bias. Themes class bias respect poverty human dignity Mood reflective critical Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - social interactions - policy discussions - community building - advocacy - education Key Concepts socioeconomic status ethical perception Questions to Reflect On - How does your view of the poor affect your actions? - What steps can you take to value people beyond their wealth? A Different Perspective Respect should be based on character, not wealth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Farmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farmers/) [Farming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farming/) [Farming and farmers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farming-and-farmers/) ## Related quotes > [By avarice and selfishness, and a groveling habit, from which none of us is free, of regarding the soil as property, or the means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/by-avarice-and-selfishness-and-a-groveling-habit-from-which-none-of/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Not only does the proportion of the poor increase with the growth of the city, but their condition becomes more wretched.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josiah-strong/not-only-does-the-proportion-of-the-poor-increase-with-the-growth-of/) [Josiah Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josiah-strong/) > [There seem to be but three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/there-seem-to-be-but-three-ways-for-a-nation-to-acquire-wealth-the/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The small landholders are the most precious part of a state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-small-landholders-are-the-most-precious-part-of-a-state/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants at tree, is more than all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/who-sows-a-field-or-trains-a-flower-or-plants-at-tree-is-more-than-all/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [Farm policy, although it's complex, can be explained. What it can't be is believed. No cheating spouse, no teen with a wrecked family car,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/farm-policy-although-it-s-complex-can-be-explained-what-it-can-t-be/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Farmers are philosophical. They have learned that it is less wearing to shrug than to beat their breasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-stout/farmers-are-philosophical-they-have-learned-that-it-is-less-wearing/) [Ruth Stout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-stout/) > [Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-alain-liogier/life-on-a-farm-is-a-school-of-patience-you-can-t-hurry-the-crops-or/) Henri Alain Liogier > [On a farm the best fertilizer is the master's eye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pliny-the-elder/on-a-farm-the-best-fertilizer-is-the-master-s-eye/) [Pliny the Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pliny-the-elder/) > [The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/the-farmer-is-the-only-man-in-our-economy-who-buys-everything-at/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [Whenever there are in any country uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/whenever-there-are-in-any-country-uncultivated-lands-and-unemployed/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [He felt with the force of a revelation that to throw up the clods of earth manfully is as beneficent as to revolutionize the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-glasgow/he-felt-with-the-force-of-a-revelation-that-to-throw-up-the-clods-of/) [Ellen Glasgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-glasgow/) > [There seems to be three ways for a nation to acquire wealth: the first is by war...this is robbery; the second by commerce, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/there-seems-to-be-three-ways-for-a-nation-to-acquire-wealth-the-first/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [There is, of course, a gold mine or a buried treasure on every mortgaged homestead. Whether the farmer ever digs for it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fawn-m-brodie/there-is-of-course-a-gold-mine-or-a-buried-treasure-on-every/) [Fawn M. Brodie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fawn-m-brodie/) > [No one hates his job so heartily as a farmer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/no-one-hates-his-job-so-heartily-as-a-farmer/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More by Henry David Thoreau > [If ever I did a man any goodof course it was something exceptional and insignificant compared with the good or evil which I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-ever-i-did-a-man-any-goodof-course-it-was-something-exceptional/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“Men say they know many things; But lo! they have taken wings, — The arts and sciences, And a thousand appliances; The wind that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/men-say-they-know-many-things-but-lo-they-have-taken-wings-the-arts/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I am not afraid of praise, for I have practiced it on myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-am-not-afraid-of-praise-for-i-have-practiced-it-on-myself/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or back gammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/all-voting-is-a-sort-of-gaming-like-checkers-or-back-gammon-with-a/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/this-spending-of-the-best-part-of-one-s-life-earning-money-in-order/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [As for doing good; that is one of the professions which is full. Moreover I have tried it fairly and, strange as it may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/as-for-doing-good-that-is-one-of-the-professions-which-is-full/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [A traveler who looks at things with an impartial eye may see what the oldest inhabitant has not observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/a-traveler-who-looks-at-things-with-an-impartial-eye-may-see-what-the/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-had-three-chairs-in-my-house-one-for-solitude-two-for-friendship/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Concord's little arch does not span all our fate, nor is what transpires under it law for the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/concord-s-little-arch-does-not-span-all-our-fate-nor-is-what/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The lumberers rarely trouble themselves to put out their fires, such is the dampness of the primitive forest; and this is one cause, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-lumberers-rarely-trouble-themselves-to-put-out-their-fires-such/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“When he has obtained those things which are necessary to life, there is another alternative than to obtain the superfluities; and that is, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-he-has-obtained-those-things-which-are-necessary-to-life-there/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Wealth is measured by the level of experience in all aspects of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/wealth-is-measured-by-the-level-of-experience-in-all-aspects-of-life/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) [Explore all 3,376 Henry David Thoreau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More Farmers quotes > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [...it was a huge creature, luminous, ghastly, and spectral. I have cross-examined these men, one of them a hard-headed countryman, one a farrier, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/it-was-a-huge-creature-luminous-ghastly-and-spectral-i-have-cross/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [The "health, education, and welfare" section of government is another boondoggle. First we manufacture indigent and superfluous people by legal monopolies in land, money…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurance-labadie/the-health-education-and-welfare-section-of-government-is-another/) [Laurance Labadie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurance-labadie/) > [Im a farmer. I always will be a farmer. When I die, Ill be a farmer. Its something that Ive wanted to do since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-tester/im-a-farmer-i-always-will-be-a-farmer-when-i-die-ill-be-a-farmer-its/) [Jon Tester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-tester/) > [I am not a pig farmer. The pigs had a great time, but I didn't make any money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/i-am-not-a-pig-farmer-the-pigs-had-a-great-time-but-i-didn-t-make-any/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [It's a pleasure to talk to the farmers. That's my favorite part, always was. It's really the communication and exchange that builds communities. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-waters/it-s-a-pleasure-to-talk-to-the-farmers-that-s-my-favorite-part-always/) [Alice Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-waters/) > [In most agencies, account executives outnumber the copywriters two to one. If you were a dairy farmer, would you employ twice as many milkers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ogilvy/in-most-agencies-account-executives-outnumber-the-copywriters-two-to/) [David Ogilvy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ogilvy/) > [The most peaceful thing in the world is plowing a field. Chances are you’ll do your best thinking that way. And that’s why I’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-most-peaceful-thing-in-the-world-is-plowing-a-field-chances-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The best thing for you to do is shop at your local farmer's market and support the organic growers who are there. Because those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/the-best-thing-for-you-to-do-is-shop-at-your-local-farmer-s-market/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [Elect me to office. I will protect and defend the U.S. Constitution. Because there's no constitutional authority for Congress spending on the objects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-e-williams/elect-me-to-office-i-will-protect-and-defend-the-u-s-constitution/) [Walter E. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-e-williams/) > [Genetic engineering is having a serious impact on the food we eat, on the environment, and on farmers. To ensure we can maximize benefits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-kucinich/genetic-engineering-is-having-a-serious-impact-on-the-food-we-eat-on/) [Dennis Kucinich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-kucinich/) > [Farmers are the only indispensable people on the face of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-zhaoxing/farmers-are-the-only-indispensable-people-on-the-face-of-the-earth/) [Li Zhaoxing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-zhaoxing/) > [One performer whose band played my music better than I could myself was Art Farmer. He recorded 'Sing Me Softly of the Blues' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carla-bley/one-performer-whose-band-played-my-music-better-than-i-could-myself/) [Carla Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carla-bley/) > [What is commonly honored with the name of Friendship is no very profound or powerful instinct. Men do not, after all, love their Friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-is-commonly-honored-with-the-name-of-friendship-is-no-very/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Farmers, get out your sense of humor. Congress meets to relieve you again next week.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/farmers-get-out-your-sense-of-humor-congress-meets-to-relieve-you/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) [Browse all 1,063 Farmers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farmers/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry David Thoreau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting-to-me-in-proportion-as-they/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Farmers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting-to-me-in-proportion-as-they/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/252/henry-david-thoreau-20_farmers_farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting_2230821.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Farmers are respectable and interesting to me in proportion as they are poor.” — Henry David Thoreau", "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": "Henry David Thoreau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Farmers are respectable and interesting to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting-to-me-in-proportion-as-they/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/farmers-are-respectable-and-interesting-to-me-in-proportion-as-they/#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 } } ] } ```