--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poverty does not belong in civilized…" description: "\"Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That's where it will be.\" — Muhammad Yunus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/muhammad-yunus-2158_civilized_poverty-does-not-belong-in-civilized-hum_3082210.png" --- # Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its… ![“Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That's where it will be.” quote by Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/muhammad-yunus-2158_civilized_poverty-does-not-belong-in-civilized-hum_3082210.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/muhammad-yunus-2158_civilized_poverty-does-not-belong-in-civilized-hum_3082210.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/483/muhammad-yunus-2158_civilized_poverty-does-not-belong-in-civilized-hum_3082210.png) > “Poverty does not belong in civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That's where it will be.” [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poverty should be treated as a historical artifact, not a present reality, urging society to eliminate it. **In simple terms:** Poverty belongs in history, not today. Key Takeaway Work to eradicate poverty. Themes social justice poverty eradication human dignity Mood determined hopeful Type activist inspirational When to use this quote - government policy - NGO programs - education initiatives - community development Key Concepts economic development social policy human rights Questions to Reflect On - What concrete actions can we take to end poverty? - How can societies shift from charity to empowerment? A Different Perspective Eliminating poverty requires systemic change, not just moral statements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belong Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belong-civilized-2398852/) [Civilized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized/) [Civilized Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilized-human-1372448/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Human society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-society/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Museums](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/museums/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Poverty Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty-does-1176337/) [Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich/) ## Related quotes > [ We believe that poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. It belongs in museums \[...\] A poverty-free world might not be perfect,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/we-believe-that-poverty-does-not-belong-in-a-civilized-human-society/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [“If one does not have the basic conscientious capacity to refute the primitive textual verses of the scriptures that demand one to kill or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-one-does-not-have-the-basic-conscientious-capacity-to-refute-the/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [“Baltimore is warm but pleasant... I belong here, where everything is civilized and gay and rotted and polite.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/baltimore-is-warm-but-pleasant-i-belong-here-where-everything-is/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [“one should give up the conditional life of this material world and the association of so-called civilized human beings who are simply following, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-should-give-up-the-conditional-life-of-this-material-world-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Among the laws controlling human societies there is one more precise and clearer, it seems to me, than all the others. If men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/among-the-laws-controlling-human-societies-there-is-one-more-precise/) [Alexis De Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Every civilized human being, whatever his conscious development, is still an archaic man at the deeper levels of his psyche.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/every-civilized-human-being-whatever-his-conscious-development-is-2/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [We are civilized human beings, but we're all animals deep down, and that creates a certain friction in all of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-skarsgard/we-are-civilized-human-beings-but-we-re-all-animals-deep-down-and/) [Alexander Skarsgard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-skarsgard/) > [“We all can't be Rich, but we can be civilized human beings to each other.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saleem-durrani/we-all-can-t-be-rich-but-we-can-be-civilized-human-beings-to-each/) [Saleem Durrani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saleem-durrani/) > [As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/as-i-write-highly-civilized-human-beings-are-flying-overhead-trying-2/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“All social orders command their members to imbibe in pipe dreams of posterity, the mirage of immortality, to keep them ahead of the extinction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/all-social-orders-command-their-members-to-imbibe-in-pipe-dreams-of/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [“As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/as-i-write-highly-civilized-human-beings-are-flying-overhead-trying/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“As civilized human beings, we are the inheritors, neither of an inquiry about ourselves and the world, nor of an accumulating body of information,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-oakeshott/as-civilized-human-beings-we-are-the-inheritors-neither-of-an-inquiry/) [Michael Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-oakeshott/) > [Too much of the animal disfigures the civilized human being, too much culture makes a sick animal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/too-much-of-the-animal-disfigures-the-civilized-human-being-too-much/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [This, I believe, is the appropriate image of human intercourse -- appropriate because it recognizes the qualities, the diversities, and the proper relationships of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-joseph-oakeshott/this-i-believe-is-the-appropriate-image-of-human-intercourse/) [Michael Joseph Oakeshott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-joseph-oakeshott/) > [As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me. They do not feel any enmity against me as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/as-i-write-highly-civilized-human-beings-are-flying-overhead-trying-3/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More by Muhammad Yunus > [What is entrepreneurship, after all? Bigness is not the issue. Poor people are the ones who take challenges every day. The guy who sells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/what-is-entrepreneurship-after-all-bigness-is-not-the-issue-poor/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Here we were talking about economic development, about investing billions of dollars in various programs, and I could see it wasn't billions of dollars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/here-we-were-talking-about-economic-development-about-investing/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [All human beings are very creative - full of potential, full of energy... So, money kind of allows them to express it... And if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/all-human-beings-are-very-creative-full-of-potential-full-of-energy/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Credit markets were originally created to serve human needs; to provide businesses and individuals with capital to start or expand businesses or fulfill other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/credit-markets-were-originally-created-to-serve-human-needs-to/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [We have a list of human rights - right to food, right to shelter, right to health, right to education, many such items which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/we-have-a-list-of-human-rights-right-to-food-right-to-shelter-right/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [If we are looking for one single action which will enable the poor to overcome their poverty, I would go for credit. Money is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/if-we-are-looking-for-one-single-action-which-will-enable-the-poor-to/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [What we are trying to do is to create a social business in Bangladesh, a joint venture to create restaurants for common people. Good,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/what-we-are-trying-to-do-is-to-create-a-social-business-in-bangladesh/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [There is the expression of selfishness and there is the expression of selflessness - but economists or theoreticians never touched that part. They said:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/there-is-the-expression-of-selfishness-and-there-is-the-expression-of/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [I did something that challenged the banking world. Conventional banks look for the rich; we look for the absolutely poor. All people are entrepreneurs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-did-something-that-challenged-the-banking-world-conventional-banks/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [Poverty is an artificial, external imposition on a human being; it is not innate in a human being. And since it is external, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/poverty-is-an-artificial-external-imposition-on-a-human-being-it-is/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [I made a list of people who needed just a little bit of money. And when the list was complete, there were 42 names.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-made-a-list-of-people-who-needed-just-a-little-bit-of-money-and/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [I dismiss personal profit and focus exclusively on people and planet. That's what I call social business: a nondividend company dedicated to solving human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-dismiss-personal-profit-and-focus-exclusively-on-people-and-planet/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [I have come to believe, deeply and firmly, that we can create a poverty free world if we want to. I came to this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-have-come-to-believe-deeply-and-firmly-that-we-can-create-a-poverty/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [The crisis is the price for the capitalist system](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/the-crisis-is-the-price-for-the-capitalist-system/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [I was teaching in one of the universities while the country was suffering from a severe famine. People were dying of hunger, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-was-teaching-in-one-of-the-universities-while-the-country-was/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) [Explore all 182 Muhammad Yunus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) ## More Civilized quotes > [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/) [Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/) [Joseph Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-anderson/) > [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/) [Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/) > [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/) [Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The military mind is indeed a menace. 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