--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Exploitation of the poor can be…" description: "\"Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the poor and teac..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg" --- # Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by… ![“Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the poor and teaching them to non-cooperate with their exploiters.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg) > “Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the poor and teaching them to non-cooperate with their exploiters.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Change comes from educating the poor to resist exploitation rather than targeting the rich. **In simple terms:** Teach the poor to resist exploitation. Key Takeaway Educate and empower the oppressed. Themes justice education empowerment non‑cooperation Mood determined hopeful Type political activist When to use this quote - community organizing - adult literacy programs - union building - consumer boycotts - political advocacy Key Concepts social theory economic inequality grassroots activism Questions to Reflect On - How can education be made accessible to the poorest? - What forms of non‑cooperation are most effective? A Different Perspective If the poor remain uneducated, resistance may be ineffective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Exploitation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exploitation/) [Ignorance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorance/) [Millionaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/millionaire/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) ## Related quotes > [Ignorance is a poor tool in a battle of wits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/ignorance-is-a-poor-tool-in-a-battle-of-wits/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Indeed, the test of orderliness in a country is not the number of millionaires it owns, but the absence of starvation among its masses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/indeed-the-test-of-orderliness-in-a-country-is-not-the-number-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I recognize that Republicans see a moral difference between a dollar taken away from a millionaire in government benefits and a dollar taken away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-noah/i-recognize-that-republicans-see-a-moral-difference-between-a-dollar/) [Timothy Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-noah/) > [Money comes and goes. I'm thankful I have money. I'm trying to save up more. I would like more money. But it's not happiness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dat-phan/money-comes-and-goes-i-m-thankful-i-have-money-i-m-trying-to-save-up/) [Dat Phan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dat-phan/) > [“People don’t make too much money around here, but what comes with that is a different definition of what it means to be well-off.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-oyeyemi/people-don-t-make-too-much-money-around-here-but-what-comes-with-that/) [Helen Oyeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-oyeyemi/) > [Don't be doubtful to your goals or else you will end up your life as a beggar, keep faith on yourself and you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athar-azeem/don-t-be-doubtful-to-your-goals-or-else-you-will-end-up-your-life-as/) [Athar Azeem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athar-azeem/) > [“You have two options. work on someone else's ideas and make some money or generate ideas make them work and become a millionaire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-llamas/you-have-two-options-work-on-someone-else-s-ideas-and-make-some-money/) [Roberto Llamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-llamas/) > [“In general, poor is polite and rich is rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-general-poor-is-polite-and-rich-is-rude/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I would rather sit still in a state of peace on a stone than ride in the motor-car of a multi-millionaire and feel the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-would-rather-sit-still-in-a-state-of-peace-on-a-stone-than-ride-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It sucks to be an orphan. But you know what doesn't suck? Being a millionaire. -Mr. Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eastbound-and-down/it-sucks-to-be-an-orphan-but-you-know-what-doesn-t-suck-being-a/) Eastbound And Down > [Some day I'll write a book and call it 'How I Got the Nickname Pumpsie' and sell it for one dollar, and if everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pumpsie-green/some-day-i-ll-write-a-book-and-call-it-how-i-got-the-nickname-pumpsie/) Pumpsie Green > [I am a millionaire today and my wife deserves all of the credit. Before I met her I was a multi-millionaire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chi-chi-rodriguez/i-am-a-millionaire-today-and-my-wife-deserves-all-of-the-credit/) [Chi Chi Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chi-chi-rodriguez/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. So, when I first got the script and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/since-i-worked-with-danny-boyle-before-on-slumdog-millionaire-we-have/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. There is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ebert/it-goes-to-show-you-how-we-in-the-press-so-often-miss-the-big-stories/) [Roger Ebert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ebert/) > [A time will come when the science of destruction shall bend before the arts of peace; when the genius which multiplies our powers, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-arago/a-time-will-come-when-the-science-of-destruction-shall-bend-before/) [Francois Arago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-arago/) > [Perhaps the greatest and least visible form of impoverishment caused by the Corporate State is the destruction of community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-a-reich/perhaps-the-greatest-and-least-visible-form-of-impoverishment-caused/) [Charles A. Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-a-reich/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by removing the ignorance of the poor and teaching them to non-cooperate with their exploiters.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extinguished-not-by-effecting-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Destruction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extinguished-not-by-effecting-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ccd/mahatma-gandhi-23_destruction_exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extingui_1703885.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Exploitation of the poor can be extinguished not by effecting the destruction of a few millionaires, but by…” — Mahatma Gandhi", "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": "Mahatma Gandhi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Exploitation of the poor can be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extinguished-not-by-effecting-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/exploitation-of-the-poor-can-be-extinguished-not-by-effecting-the/#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 } } ] } ```