--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poverty ... It is life near the bone…" description: "\"Poverty ... It is life near the bone, where it is sweetest.\" — Henry David Thoreau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/henry-david-thoreau-20_bone_poverty-it-is-life-near-the-bone-where-i_2593299.jpg" --- # Poverty ... It is life near the bone, where it is sweetest. ![“Poverty ... It is life near the bone, where it is sweetest.” quote by Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/henry-david-thoreau-20_bone_poverty-it-is-life-near-the-bone-where-i_2593299.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/henry-david-thoreau-20_bone_poverty-it-is-life-near-the-bone-where-i_2593299.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/825/henry-david-thoreau-20_bone_poverty-it-is-life-near-the-bone-where-i_2593299.jpg) > “Poverty ... It is life near the bone, where it is sweetest.” [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. True richness is found in simple, essential living close to nature’s core. **In simple terms:** Simplicity is sweet. Key Takeaway Embrace minimalism and nature. Themes poverty simplicity nature Mood reflective tranquil Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - rural life - voluntary simplicity - backpacking - urban minimalism Key Concepts philosophy existentialism self‑reliance Questions to Reflect On - What does “life near the bone” mean to you? - Can you find sweetness in scarcity? A Different Perspective May be uncomfortable for those accustomed to material comfort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) ## Related quotes > [There is no poverty in life when you have a loving, peaceful, happy family. They are a gift which cannot be bought nor traded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-dunn/there-is-no-poverty-in-life-when-you-have-a-loving-peaceful-happy/) Ryan Dunn > [I think if a youngster leaves school unable to read you're kind of condemning them to a life of poverty and a life of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-garraway/i-think-if-a-youngster-leaves-school-unable-to-read-you-re-kind-of/) [Kate Garraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-garraway/) > [We must be moving, working, making dreams to run toward; the poverty of life without dreams is too horrible to imagine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/we-must-be-moving-working-making-dreams-to-run-toward-the-poverty-of/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [Fasting will break poverty from your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jentezen-franklin/fasting-will-break-poverty-from-your-life/) [Jentezen Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jentezen-franklin/) > [“There was to be nothing special about it, nothing that savored of a religious Order, no special rule, no distinctive habit. She, and those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/there-was-to-be-nothing-special-about-it-nothing-that-savored-of-a/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [No person should live in poverty after a life of hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/letitia-james/no-person-should-live-in-poverty-after-a-life-of-hard-work/) [Letitia James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/letitia-james/) > [This is the pain pacemaker. I've got a battery under my skin. From that battery are two electrodes that go into the spine where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-lewis/this-is-the-pain-pacemaker-i-ve-got-a-battery-under-my-skin-from-that/) [Jerry Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-lewis/) > [America forms the longest and straightest bone in the earth's skeleton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellsworth-huntington/america-forms-the-longest-and-straightest-bone-in-the-earth-s-skeleton/) [Ellsworth Huntington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellsworth-huntington/) > [It will not out of the flesh that is bred in the bone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-heywood/it-will-not-out-of-the-flesh-that-is-bred-in-the-bone/) [John Heywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-heywood/) > [I've never broken a bone in my body, even though I've done some extreme things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/i-ve-never-broken-a-bone-in-my-body-even-though-i-ve-done-some/) [Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/) > [I don't have a political bone in my body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-allen/i-don-t-have-a-political-bone-in-my-body/) [Joan Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-allen/) > [Life's bare as a bone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/life-s-bare-as-a-bone/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [We definitely aren't very good at staying in one place. There's not a domesticated bone in my body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-smith/we-definitely-aren-t-very-good-at-staying-in-one-place-there-s-not-a/) [Brent Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-smith/) > [Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone, I here, though there, yet both but one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bradstreet/flesh-of-my-flesh-bone-of-my-bone-i-here-though-there-yet-both-but-one/) [Anne Bradstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bradstreet/) > [Entrepreneurship is the very back bone of our country and what makes us great - we are a nation of founders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/entrepreneurship-is-the-very-back-bone-of-our-country-and-what-makes/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) ## 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 Bone quotes > [Hebron is a bone of contention between Israeli settlers and the Palestinians in part because Abraham is buried there, in the Tomb of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-korda/hebron-is-a-bone-of-contention-between-israeli-settlers-and-the/) [Michael Korda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-korda/) > [“These guys put the 'bone' in Zamboni”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rosengren/these-guys-put-the-bone-in-zamboni/) John Rosengren > [Entrepreneurship is the very back bone of our country and what makes us great - we are a nation of founders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-lublin/entrepreneurship-is-the-very-back-bone-of-our-country-and-what-makes/) [Nancy Lublin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-lublin/) > [Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone, I here, though there, yet both but one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bradstreet/flesh-of-my-flesh-bone-of-my-bone-i-here-though-there-yet-both-but-one/) [Anne Bradstreet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bradstreet/) > [You love every bone in my body especially yours ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author-name/you-love-every-bone-in-my-body-especially-yours/) Author Name > [Bone Bone Bone Bone.. Bone.. Bone.. Bone.. Bone.. Bone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bone-thugs-n-harmony/bone-bone-bone-bone-bone-bone-bone-bone-bone/) [Bone Thugs N Harmony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bone-thugs-n-harmony/) > [“That's right, kid. Never play an ace if a two will do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-smith/that-s-right-kid-never-play-an-ace-if-a-two-will-do/) [Jeff Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-smith/) > [When I did a year-long study in 2005 of European countries integrating Muslims into their cultures, France came in the lowest of the rank.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-di-giovanni/when-i-did-a-year-long-study-in-2005-of-european-countries/) [Janine di Giovanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-di-giovanni/) > [I've broken probably every major bone in my body. I currently have, in my body, fifteen pins and a plate. I've broken my femur,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump-jr/i-ve-broken-probably-every-major-bone-in-my-body-i-currently-have-in/) [Donald Trump, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump-jr/) > [I tore ligaments in my shoulder completely off the bone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deandre-hopkins/i-tore-ligaments-in-my-shoulder-completely-off-the-bone/) [DeAndre Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deandre-hopkins/) > [We definitely aren't very good at staying in one place. There's not a domesticated bone in my body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-smith/we-definitely-aren-t-very-good-at-staying-in-one-place-there-s-not-a/) [Brent Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-smith/) > [Find something you love to do. Work it to the bone. And you'll be successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-schnatter/find-something-you-love-to-do-work-it-to-the-bone-and-you-ll-be/) [John Schnatter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-schnatter/) > [I've always been unhappy with my teeth. I've lost most of them from my bottom jaw, and those in the upper jaw have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-o-mara/i-ve-always-been-unhappy-with-my-teeth-i-ve-lost-most-of-them-from-my/) [Kate O'Mara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-o-mara/) > [The bone marrow transplant procedure itself can be dangerous, but it is swift, which makes it feel strangely anti-climactic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suleika-jaouad/the-bone-marrow-transplant-procedure-itself-can-be-dangerous-but-it/) [Suleika Jaouad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suleika-jaouad/) > [If you start dancing too young, it can be torture. The bone is too soft, and it is going everywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvie-guillem/if-you-start-dancing-too-young-it-can-be-torture-the-bone-is-too-soft/) [Sylvie Guillem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvie-guillem/) Browse all 318 Bone quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poverty ... 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