--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is easy enough to say that poverty is…" description: "\"It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A po..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/jerome-k-jerome-1155_ashamed_it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-poverty-is_30007.png" --- # It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if… ![“It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A poor man is despised the whole world over.” quote by Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/jerome-k-jerome-1155_ashamed_it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-poverty-is_30007.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/jerome-k-jerome-1155_ashamed_it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-poverty-is_30007.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a81/jerome-k-jerome-1155_ashamed_it-is-easy-enough-to-say-that-poverty-is_30007.png) > “It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A poor man is despised the whole world over.” [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques societal condemnation of poverty, arguing that poverty itself is not a moral failing, yet people shame and punish the poor, reflecting systemic bias. **In simple terms:** Societal bias against the poor Key Takeaway Poverty is stigmatized, not criminal Themes social injustice stigma economic inequality moral judgment class prejudice Mood somber critical reflective Type social commentary philosophical observation When to use this quote - public policy debates - media commentary on welfare - academic discussions on class - activist speeches - personal reflections on inequality Key Concepts poverty shame punishment despise Practical Applications - advocacy for anti‑poverty reforms - education on socioeconomic bias Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling poverty as a crime affect policy? - What responsibilities do societies have toward the poor? A Different Perspective Some argue that personal choices, not systemic factors, drive poverty, but this overlooks structural barriers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ashamed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) [Blunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blunders/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Poor man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-man/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [No one is so rich and powerful that they cannot be punished, and no one is so poor that they cannot be protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joao-lourenco/no-one-is-so-rich-and-powerful-that-they-cannot-be-punished-and-no/) [Joao Lourenco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joao-lourenco/) > [What we call the Irish Brogue is no sooner discovered, than it makes the deliverer, in the last degree, ridiculous and despised; and, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/what-we-call-the-irish-brogue-is-no-sooner-discovered-than-it-makes/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [The poor man wishes to conceal his poverty, and the rich man his wealth: the former fears lest he be despised, the latter lest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/the-poor-man-wishes-to-conceal-his-poverty-and-the-rich-man-his/) [Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-von-ebner-eschenbach/) > [Poverty is a crime and the poor are terrorists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/poverty-is-a-crime-and-the-poor-are-terrorists/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“When wealth is passed off as merit, bad luck is seen as bad character. This is how ideologues justify punishing the sick and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kendzior/when-wealth-is-passed-off-as-merit-bad-luck-is-seen-as-bad-character/) [Sarah Kendzior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kendzior/) > [When families break down, you have a lot of repercussion from that, from poverty to crime to lack of discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/when-families-break-down-you-have-a-lot-of-repercussion-from-that/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) > [“though of course poverty is no crime—we must remember that!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/though-of-course-poverty-is-no-crime-we-must-remember-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“These were innocent people, so innocent that they thought poverty a crime that wealth would allow them to forget. --- from the notebooks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/these-were-innocent-people-so-innocent-that-they-thought-poverty-a/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [“Screening practices that banned criminality and poverty in the same stroke drew poor families shoulder to shoulder with drug dealers, sex offenders, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/screening-practices-that-banned-criminality-and-poverty-in-the-same/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“Poverty is no crime; always remember that. After all, why should we despair? Our present difficulties will pass away, and God will right us.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/poverty-is-no-crime-always-remember-that-after-all-why-should-we/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [The causes of crime are very complicated. But there is a very big literature, as you know, about single parenthood in crime, about race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bennett/the-causes-of-crime-are-very-complicated-but-there-is-a-very-big/) [Bill Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bennett/) > [Poverty is not an accident of, sort of, an economic spreadsheet. Poverty is a crime. There are criminals involved. And those criminals walk the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-morello/poverty-is-not-an-accident-of-sort-of-an-economic-spreadsheet-poverty/) [Tom Morello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-morello/) > [People say that poverty is bad, but in fact poverty is good. The poorer people are, the more revolutionary they are. It is dreadful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/people-say-that-poverty-is-bad-but-in-fact-poverty-is-good-the-poorer/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [I have no patience for those who say that poverty is a blessing. Poverty is the greatest curse on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-mcdonald/i-have-no-patience-for-those-who-say-that-poverty-is-a-blessing/) [Roger McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-mcdonald/) > [“In spite of everything that proverbs may say, poverty keeps together more homes than it breaks up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saki/in-spite-of-everything-that-proverbs-may-say-poverty-keeps-together/) [Saki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saki/) ## More by Jerome K. 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Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“The only feeling that a closer intimacy has created in him for his wife is that of indulgent contempt. As there is no equality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/the-only-feeling-that-a-closer-intimacy-has-created-in-him-for-his/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Evil thought is a dangerous pet. It is safer to play with it from behind the iron bars of circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/evil-thought-is-a-dangerous-pet-it-is-safer-to-play-with-it-from/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [If you are foolish enough to be contented, don't show it, but grumble with the rest; and if you can do with a little,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/if-you-are-foolish-enough-to-be-contented-don-t-show-it-but-grumble/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [Life will always remain a gamble, with prizes sometimes for the imprudent, and blanks so often to the wise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/life-will-always-remain-a-gamble-with-prizes-sometimes-for-the/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“You can never rouse Harris. There is no poetry about Harris- no wild yearning for the unattainable. Harris never "weeps, he knows not why."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/you-can-never-rouse-harris-there-is-no-poetry-about-harris-no-wild/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) > [“And we sit there, by its margin, while the moon, who loves it too, stoops down to kiss it with a sister’s kiss, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-k-jerome/and-we-sit-there-by-its-margin-while-the-moon-who-loves-it-too-stoops-2/) [Jerome K. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) [Explore all 267 Jerome K. Jerome quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-k-jerome/) ## More Ashamed quotes > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I know what you're thinking... and you oughtta be ashamed of yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-preston/i-know-what-you-re-thinking-and-you-oughtta-be-ashamed-of-yourself/) Robert Preston > [You never meet the writer when you're making a TV movie in America - they're too ashamed to show up and see how their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-don-baker/you-never-meet-the-writer-when-you-re-making-a-tv-movie-in-america/) [Joe Don Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-don-baker/) > [I'm not ashamed of the things I believe and why I believe them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-huckabee/i-m-not-ashamed-of-the-things-i-believe-and-why-i-believe-them/) [Mike Huckabee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-huckabee/) > [If, with all the time at my disposal, with all the wealth of the resources of this vast universe, to do with as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/if-with-all-the-time-at-my-disposal-with-all-the-wealth-of-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“with her own life. And I was ashamed.” Humiliated. Broken. Miserable. If Wilcher had stood by Jaymee, if her father hadn’t berated her, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-green/with-her-own-life-and-i-was-ashamed-humiliated-broken-miserable-if/) Stacy Green > [You should avoid hedging, at least that's what I think. You should be ashamed to die until you've made some contribution to mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-johns/you-should-avoid-hedging-at-least-that-s-what-i-think-you-should-be/) Vernon Johns > [There was no mistake in us making abortion legal and available on demand. That was what we call progress. Just like it was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ruffalo/there-was-no-mistake-in-us-making-abortion-legal-and-available-on/) [Mark Ruffalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ruffalo/) > [“When all are undressed, one is somehow not ashamed, but when one's the only one undressed and everybody is looking, it's degrading,' he kept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/when-all-are-undressed-one-is-somehow-not-ashamed-but-when-one-s-the/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-weldon-johnson/there-are-a-great-many-colored-people-who-are-ashamed-of-the-cake/) [James Weldon Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-weldon-johnson/) > [I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favour, and who then asketh: "Am I a dishonest player?" - for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/i-love-him-who-is-ashamed-when-the-dice-fall-in-his-favour-and-who/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zondervan-publishing/whoever-is-ashamed-of-me-and-my-words-the-son-of-man-will-be-ashamed/) [Zondervan Publishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zondervan-publishing/) > [You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. 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And now you are ashamed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-brinkley/to-survive-during-the-khmer-rouge-you-had-to-steal-cheat-lie-point/) [Joel Brinkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-brinkley/) [Browse all 1,607 Ashamed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ashamed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn't be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A poor man is despised the whole world over.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jerome K. 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