--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No man is so poor as that. As well might…" description: "\"No man is so poor as that. As well might the mountain streamlets say they have nothing worth giving to the sea, because they are not rivers. Give what ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/202/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_better-than-you_no-man-is-so-poor-as-that-as-well-might_253330.jpg" --- # No man is so poor as that. As well might the mountain… ![“No man is so poor as that. As well might the mountain streamlets say they have nothing worth giving to the sea, because they are not rivers. Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think.” quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/202/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_better-than-you_no-man-is-so-poor-as-that-as-well-might_253330.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/202/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_better-than-you_no-man-is-so-poor-as-that-as-well-might_253330.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/202/henry-wadsworth-longfellow-284_better-than-you_no-man-is-so-poor-as-that-as-well-might_253330.jpg) > “No man is so poor as that. As well might the mountain streamlets say they have nothing worth giving to the sea, because they are not rivers. Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think.” [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Recognize that even small contributions matter; humility and generosity outweigh perceived insignificance. **In simple terms:** Small gifts can be valuable. Key Takeaway Share what you can, even if modest. Themes generosity humility selfworth Mood reflective encouraging Type moral inspirational When to use this quote - volunteering - community support - gift giving - team projects - charitable acts Key Concepts interdependence value of contribution Questions to Reflect On - What small offering could you give today? - How does humility change your view of worth? A Different Perspective Assuming others will reject modest help can discourage sharing. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Better than you](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better-than-you/) [Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dare/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Giving Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving-sea-2514308/) [Man Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-poor/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain/) [Mountain Streamlets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mountain-streamlets-2514309/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Mountain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-mountain-2514307/) [Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivers/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [Give what you have. To some one, it may be better than you dare to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/give-what-you-have-to-some-one-it-may-be-better-than-you-dare-to-think/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [No man is so poor as to have nothing worth giving.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/no-man-is-so-poor-as-to-have-nothing-worth-giving/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [No man is so poor as to have nothing worth giving; as well might the mountain streamlets say they have nothing to give the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/no-man-is-so-poor-as-to-have-nothing-worth-giving-as-well-might-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [What is courage? Let me tell you what I think it is. An indefinable quality that makes a man put out that extra something,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-brooks/what-is-courage-let-me-tell-you-what-i-think-it-is-an-indefinable/) [Herb Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-brooks/) > [A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/a-rich-man-is-nothing-but-a-poor-man-with-money/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [No man is poor who does not think himself so. But if in a full fortune with impatience he desires more, he proclaims his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-taylor/no-man-is-poor-who-does-not-think-himself-so-but-if-in-a-full-fortune/) [Jeremy Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-taylor/) > [To say to a rich man: You are poor! is to tell the Archbishop of Granada that his sermons are worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/to-say-to-a-rich-man-you-are-poor-is-to-tell-the-archbishop-of/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [In the works of man, everything is as poor as its author; vision is confined, means are limited, scope is restricted, movements are labored,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-de-maistre/in-the-works-of-man-everything-is-as-poor-as-its-author-vision-is/) [Joseph de Maistre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-de-maistre/) > [I regard no man as poor who has a godly mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/i-regard-no-man-as-poor-who-has-a-godly-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [“Man,poor guy.I kept ruining his afterlives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiersten-white/man-poor-guy-i-kept-ruining-his-afterlives/) [Kiersten White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiersten-white/) > [With the best equipment in the world the man with poor judgment is in mortal danger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/royal-robbins/with-the-best-equipment-in-the-world-the-man-with-poor-judgment-is-in/) [Royal Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/royal-robbins/) > [A man is a poor creature compared to a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/a-man-is-a-poor-creature-compared-to-a-woman/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [The poor man the guys that dug his hole, even they don't have any respect for him. His last farewell before he is put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/the-poor-man-the-guys-that-dug-his-hole-even-they-don-t-have-any/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon/lazy-hands-make-a-man-poor-but-diligent-hands-bring-wealth/) [Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon/) > [I'd rather marry a poor man with a rich heart, than a rich man with a poor heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-d-rather-marry-a-poor-man-with-a-rich-heart-than-a-rich-man-with-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow > [The spring came suddenly, bursting upon the world as a child bursts into a room, with a laugh and a shout and hands full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-spring-came-suddenly-bursting-upon-the-world-as-a-child-bursts/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [In old age our bodies are worn-out instruments, on which the soul tries in vain to play the melodies of youth. But because the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/in-old-age-our-bodies-are-worn-out-instruments-on-which-the-soul/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“ Endymion The rising moon has hid the stars; Her level rays, like golden bars, Lie on the landscape green, With shadows brown between.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/endymion-the-rising-moon-has-hid-the-stars-her-level-rays-like-golden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [There's nothing fair nor beautiful, but takes Something from thee, that makes it beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/there-s-nothing-fair-nor-beautiful-but-takes-something-from-thee-that/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Fame comes only when deserved, and then is as inevitable as destiny, for it is destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/fame-comes-only-when-deserved-and-then-is-as-inevitable-as-destiny/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Nature paints not; In oils, but frescoes the great dome of heaven; With sunsets, and the lovely forms of clouds; And flying vapors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/nature-paints-not-in-oils-but-frescoes-the-great-dome-of-heaven-with/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“  Thus dwelt together in love these simple Acadian farmers,—   Dwelt in the love of God and of man. Alike were they free from   Fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-dwelt-together-in-love-these-simple-acadian-farmers-dwelt-in-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/heights-by-great-men-reached-and-kept-were-not-obtained-by-sudden/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [All things come round to him who will but wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/all-things-come-round-to-him-who-will-but-wait/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Ah, how skillful grows the hand That obeyeth Love's command! It is the heart, and not the brain, That to the highest doth attain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/ah-how-skillful-grows-the-hand-that-obeyeth-love-s-command-it-is-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Thus departed Hiawatha, Hiawatha the Beloved, In the glory of the sunset, In the purple mists of evening, To the regions of the home-wind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/thus-departed-hiawatha-hiawatha-the-beloved-in-the-glory-of-the/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Books are sepulchres of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/books-are-sepulchres-of-thought/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning - an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/morality-without-religion-is-only-a-kind-of-dead-reckoning-an/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [Buried was the bloody hatchet; Buried was the dreadful war-club; Buried were all warlike weapons, And the war-cry was forgotten. Then was peace among…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/buried-was-the-bloody-hatchet-buried-was-the-dreadful-war-club-buried/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) [Explore all 755 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) ## More Better than you quotes > [It is not too late. You are not too old. 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