Empty stomach Quote by Margaret Mitchell
““Throughout the South for fifty years there would be bitter-eyed women who looked backward, to dead times, to dead men, evoking memories that hurt and were futile, bearing poverty with bitter pride because they had those memories. But Scarlett was never to look back. She gazed at the blackened stones and, for the last time, she saw Twelve Oaks rise before her eyes as it had once stood, rich and proud, symbol of a race and a way of living. Then she started down the road toward Tara, the heavy basket cutting into her flesh. Hunger gnawed at her empty stomach again and she said aloud: “As God is my witness, as God is my witness, the Yankees aren’t going to lick me. I’m going to live through this, and when it’s over, I’m never going to be hungry again. No, nor any of my folks. If I have to steal or kill–as God is my witness, I’m never going to be hungry again.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 1936
Scarlett resolves to survive despite hardship, using faith and determination to reject hunger and oppression.
In simple terms: Scarlett vows never to be hungry again.
Key Takeaway
Use resolve and belief to overcome adversity.
Themes
survival
determination
faith
resilience
social class
Mood
determined
hopeful
defiant
Type
literary
motivational
emotional
When to use this quote
- post‑civil war South
- personal crisis
- family survival
- poverty relief
- psychological endurance
Key Concepts
personal agency
social oppression
economic hardship
Questions to Reflect On
- What inner resources sustain you in hardship?
- How does faith shape resilience?
A Different Perspective
Her defiance may ignore systemic issues that perpetuate poverty.
