--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a poor person who has money." description: "\"I'm a poor person who has money.\" — Jonathan Franzen" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/jonathan-franzen-801_money_i-m-a-poor-person-who-has-money-370100_370100.jpg" --- # I'm a poor person who has money. ![“I'm a poor person who has money.” quote by Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/jonathan-franzen-801_money_i-m-a-poor-person-who-has-money-370100_370100.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/jonathan-franzen-801_money_i-m-a-poor-person-who-has-money-370100_370100.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/jonathan-franzen-801_money_i-m-a-poor-person-who-has-money-370100_370100.jpg) > “I'm a poor person who has money.” [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A person feels financially poor despite having money, highlighting emotional poverty. **In simple terms:** Having money but feeling poor emotionally. Key Takeaway Address emotional well‑being, not just finances. Themes wealth poverty emotional health Mood introspective melancholic Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - personal finance counseling - mental health - storytelling Key Concepts materialism self-worth psychology Questions to Reflect On - What defines true wealth for you? - How can you nurture emotional richness? A Different Perspective Money alone can't fulfill deeper needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person/) [Person Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-money-447601/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-person/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Who](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/who/) ## Related quotes > [Giving a poor person money keeps them poorer longer...often forever; give them knowledge instead...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/giving-a-poor-person-money-keeps-them-poorer-longer-often-forever/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [Giving a poor person money keeps them poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kiyosaki/giving-a-poor-person-money-keeps-them-poor/) [Robert Kiyosaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kiyosaki/) > [I'm a big game show fan. When you're a poor person, you watch game shows. I don't think people realize that. Maybe everybody watches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louie-anderson/i-m-a-big-game-show-fan-when-you-re-a-poor-person-you-watch-game/) [Louie Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louie-anderson/) > [I went to university with no money. I can't understand a society that wouldn't give a poor person the same opportunity as a rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-gervais/i-went-to-university-with-no-money-i-can-t-understand-a-society-that/) [Ricky Gervais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-gervais/) > [It’s never an insult to be called what somebody thinks is a bad name. It just shows you how poor that person is, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-lee/it-s-never-an-insult-to-be-called-what-somebody-thinks-is-a-bad-name/) [Harper Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-lee/) > [If one person starts crying, I'll cry. If one person has no money, I'll give them mine. If I had a bicycle growing up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-mcgowan/if-one-person-starts-crying-i-ll-cry-if-one-person-has-no-money-i-ll/) [Rose McGowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-mcgowan/) > [“He had a principle: if you lend money and never see the person again, that's money well spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/he-had-a-principle-if-you-lend-money-and-never-see-the-person-again/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) > [Money will make you more of what you already are. If you're not a nice person, money's going to make you a despicable individual.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/money-will-make-you-more-of-what-you-already-are-if-you-re-not-a-nice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [I'm the person who stops and gives any homeless person any money that they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannen-doherty/i-m-the-person-who-stops-and-gives-any-homeless-person-any-money-that/) [Shannen Doherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannen-doherty/) > [I always was a rich person because money's not related to happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-always-was-a-rich-person-because-money-s-not-related-to-happiness/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've always found the thousand dollar dinners more unsettling than the twenty-five-thousand dollar ones --- if someone pays the Republican National Committee twenty-five thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/curtis-sittenfeld/i-ve-always-found-the-thousand-dollar-dinners-more-unsettling-than/) [Curtis Sittenfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-sittenfeld/) > [When a person with money meets a person with experience, the person with the experience winds up with the money and the person with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/when-a-person-with-money-meets-a-person-with-experience-the-person/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [I'd be the last guy to tell a wealthy person what to do with their money. They're entitled to do whatever they want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-feeney/i-d-be-the-last-guy-to-tell-a-wealthy-person-what-to-do-with-their/) [Chuck Feeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-feeney/) > [“I’m a nice person. I give money to starving babies and properly tip my hairdresser. Why am I the one everyone tries to kill?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-oak/i-m-a-nice-person-i-give-money-to-starving-babies-and-properly-tip-my/) [Sophie Oak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-oak/) > [Most amusements only mean trying to win another person's money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/most-amusements-only-mean-trying-to-win-another-person-s-money/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) ## More by Jonathan Franzen > [“The fundamental fact about all of us is that we’re alive for a while but will die before long. This fact is the real…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-fundamental-fact-about-all-of-us-is-that-we-re-alive-for-a-while/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/fiction-that-isn-t-an-author-s-personal-adventure-into-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Parents are programmed to want the best for their kids, regardless of what they get in return. That's what love is supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/parents-are-programmed-to-want-the-best-for-their-kids-regardless-of/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Birds were what became of dinosaurs. Those mountains of flesh whose petrified bones were on display at the Museum of Natural History had done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/birds-were-what-became-of-dinosaurs-those-mountains-of-flesh-whose/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Can a better kind of fiction save the world? 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I'm saying the bureaucracy has arrogated the right to define certain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/i-m-saying-the-structure-and-f-the-entire-culture-is-flawed-chip-said/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Integrity's a neutral value. Hyenas have integrity, too. They're pure hyena.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/integrity-s-a-neutral-value-hyenas-have-integrity-too-they-re-pure/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“An odd thing about beauty, however, is that it's absence tends not to arouse our sympathy as much as other forms of privation do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/an-odd-thing-about-beauty-however-is-that-it-s-absence-tends-not-to/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-became-another-data-point-in-the-american-experiment-of-self/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“It was this motley band of modest peeps and plovers on the beach who reminded me of the human beings I loved best -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/it-was-this-motley-band-of-modest-peeps-and-plovers-on-the-beach-who/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Alfred believed that the real and the true were a minority that the world was bent on exterminating.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/alfred-believed-that-the-real-and-the-true-were-a-minority-that-the/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“Imagine that human existence is defined by an Ache: the Ache of our not being, each of us, the center of the universe; of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/imagine-that-human-existence-is-defined-by-an-ache-the-ache-of-our/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [The problem was money and the indignities of life without it. Every stroller, cell phone, Yankees cap, and SUV he saw was a torment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/the-problem-was-money-and-the-indignities-of-life-without-it-every/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) [Explore all 345 Jonathan Franzen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) ## More Money quotes > [You've got to tell your money what to do or it will leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-ramsey/you-ve-got-to-tell-your-money-what-to-do-or-it-will-leave/) [Dave Ramsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-ramsey/) > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. It is open markets, it is capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rupert-murdoch/don-t-let-s-lose-sight-of-what-creates-wealth-it-is-open-markets-it/) [Rupert Murdoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rupert-murdoch/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [I would borrow money all day long, if the cost of borrowing is less than the expected return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-schneider/i-would-borrow-money-all-day-long-if-the-cost-of-borrowing-is-less/) [Brad Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-schneider/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Maybe you can,t buy a big house.. A new car.. A huge diamond ring.. But if you have just one true friend who loves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy/maybe-you-can-t-buy-a-big-house-a-new-car-a-huge-diamond-ring-but-if/) [Cathy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy/) > [“Don't allow money to become the yardstick by which you measure the worth of the world around you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-james-pritchard/don-t-allow-money-to-become-the-yardstick-by-which-you-measure-the/) [Andrew James Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-james-pritchard/) > [Academically, I was never that interested. I skipped classes. My biggest dream was to have a coffee shop, but I had no idea how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-espinosa/academically-i-was-never-that-interested-i-skipped-classes-my-biggest/) [Daniel Espinosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-espinosa/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [I doubt that we Americans can come to terms with our money neuroses without understanding the more florid pathology of the very rich for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-slater/i-doubt-that-we-americans-can-come-to-terms-with-our-money-neuroses/) [Philip Slater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-slater/) > [“The writer must earn money in order to be able to live and to write, but he must by no means live and write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goins/the-writer-must-earn-money-in-order-to-be-able-to-live-and-to-write/) [Jeff Goins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goins/) > [Jobs and money are never the primary cause of stress. Thinking, negative thinking causes stress. 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