--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Some people think that poor people are…" description: "\"Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you are dirt-poor.\" — Muhammad Yunus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/muhammad-yunus-2158_dirt_some-people-think-that-poor-people-are-l_2083242.png" --- # Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it… ![“Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you are dirt-poor.” quote by Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/muhammad-yunus-2158_dirt_some-people-think-that-poor-people-are-l_2083242.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/muhammad-yunus-2158_dirt_some-people-think-that-poor-people-are-l_2083242.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7d/muhammad-yunus-2158_dirt_some-people-think-that-poor-people-are-l_2083242.png) > “Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you are dirt-poor.” [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 is not a result of laziness; survival demands intense effort under severe scarcity. **In simple terms:** Poverty requires hard work, not laziness. Key Takeaway Address systemic barriers, not stereotypes. Themes poverty stigma work ethic Mood empathetic urgent Type advocacy inspirational When to use this quote - policy design - community aid - employment programs Key Concepts economics social justice Questions to Reflect On - How can societies reduce survival burdens? - What policies support the poor? A Different Perspective Hard work alone cannot lift all out of poverty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirt/) [Ending poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ending-poverty/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poor people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-people/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [When I say dirt-poor, I mean Mom made maybe $25,000 a year. I remember buying milk with food stamps. Vividly. So, growing up, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-sehorn/when-i-say-dirt-poor-i-mean-mom-made-maybe-25-000-a-year-i-remember/) [Jason Sehorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-sehorn/) > [I was dirt-poor. I could barely hold down a job. Eventually, though, I started getting small parts on shows like 'Smallville,' 'Supernatural'... and lots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-monteith/i-was-dirt-poor-i-could-barely-hold-down-a-job-eventually-though-i/) [Cory Monteith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-monteith/) > [If all we've got is the dirt poor and the filthy rich, the dirt poor would eat the filthy rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-ojeda/if-all-we-ve-got-is-the-dirt-poor-and-the-filthy-rich-the-dirt-poor/) [Richard Ojeda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-ojeda/) > [My mom had to be resourceful. She grew up dirt poor in rural Louisiana.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-gardner/my-mom-had-to-be-resourceful-she-grew-up-dirt-poor-in-rural-louisiana/) [Chris Gardner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-gardner/) > [There's an awful lot of misunderstanding here about what being poor actually means. I don't think people understand that being poor means you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-thompson/there-s-an-awful-lot-of-misunderstanding-here-about-what-being-poor/) [Emma Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-thompson/) > [My vision for the future? ... a world completely free from poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/my-vision-for-the-future-a-world-completely-free-from-poverty/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [We live in a world with serious class complexes. It is one thing to be a college student with loan debts and another thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bell-hooks/we-live-in-a-world-with-serious-class-complexes-it-is-one-thing-to-be/) [Bell Hooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bell-hooks/) > [I didn't have life that good coming up. I wasn't born with a lot of money. 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Here in the West we are still poor but have risen above the dirt to tower alongside stalks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-nazarian/back-in-russia-we-were-dirt-poor-here-in-the-west-we-are-still-poor/) [Vera Nazarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-nazarian/) > [I began my career as an economics professor but became frustrated because the economic theories I taught in the classroom didn't have any meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/i-began-my-career-as-an-economics-professor-but-became-frustrated/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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/) ## 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... 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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 Dirt quotes > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [“We have grace of strength to work, to clear our cities of any dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/we-have-grace-of-strength-to-work-to-clear-our-cities-of-any-dirt/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > ['Dirt Road Diaries,' in my mind, is a perfect country guy song. It speaks to the hard-working guy, and I'm excited for the fans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-bryan/dirt-road-diaries-in-my-mind-is-a-perfect-country-guy-song-it-speaks/) [Luke Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-bryan/) > [I spent all my time in the clouds or the dirt and that is why I think I’m successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-vaynerchuk/i-spent-all-my-time-in-the-clouds-or-the-dirt-and-that-is-why-i-think/) [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-vaynerchuk/) > [“A diamond's happy ending is on a crown, but its beauty was formed in dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/a-diamond-s-happy-ending-is-on-a-crown-but-its-beauty-was-formed-in/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [I love the little garden in the back of my family's brownstone in Brooklyn. Digging out there in the dirt is a joy for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/i-love-the-little-garden-in-the-back-of-my-family-s-brownstone-in/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [I dish the dirt out, and I can take it. But why should my mother and children have to take it? In 20 years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-clarkson/i-dish-the-dirt-out-and-i-can-take-it-but-why-should-my-mother-and/) [Jeremy Clarkson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-clarkson/) > [They only wanna do you dirt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-kingston/they-only-wanna-do-you-dirt/) [Sean Kingston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-kingston/) > [Her father had taught her about hands. About a dog's paws. Whenever her father was alone with a dog in a house he would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ondaatje/her-father-had-taught-her-about-hands-about-a-dog-s-paws-whenever-her/) [Michael Ondaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ondaatje/) > [Truthfully, I love being in the jungle. I love it when the make-up artists come to set, they come equipped with dirt and sweat.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evangeline-lilly/truthfully-i-love-being-in-the-jungle-i-love-it-when-the-make-up/) [Evangeline Lilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evangeline-lilly/) > [I grew up in the south, poor - on rock, dirt roads.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-turner/i-grew-up-in-the-south-poor-on-rock-dirt-roads/) [Tina Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-turner/) > [But we've all ended up giving body and soul to Africa, one way or another. 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Dahlke > [“ground where it smells like ice and metal and dirt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/ground-where-it-smells-like-ice-and-metal-and-dirt/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) [Browse all 991 Dirt quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dirt/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some people think that poor people are lazy. 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