--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: America, I think, is about poor people…" description: "\"“America, I think, is about poor people playing music and poor people sharing food and poor people dancing, even when everything else in their life is ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/nickolas-butler-22176_america_america-i-think-is-about-poor-people-pla_2869732.jpg" --- # America, I think, is about poor people playing music and… ![“America, I think, is about poor people playing music and poor people sharing food and poor people dancing, even when everything else in their life is so desperate, and so dismal that it doesn't seem there should be any room for any music, any extra food, or any extra energy for dancing. And people…” quote by Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/nickolas-butler-22176_america_america-i-think-is-about-poor-people-pla_2869732.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/nickolas-butler-22176_america_america-i-think-is-about-poor-people-pla_2869732.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/nickolas-butler-22176_america_america-i-think-is-about-poor-people-pla_2869732.jpg) > ““America, I think, is about poor people playing music and poor people sharing food and poor people dancing, even when everything else in their life is so desperate, and so dismal that it doesn't seem there should be any room for any music, any extra food, or any extra energy for dancing. And people can say that I'm wrong, that we're a puritanical people, an evangelical people, a selfish people, but I don't believe that. I don't want to believe that.”” [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes how poverty fuels communal joy and resilience despite hardship. **In simple terms:** Poor people find joy through music, food, dance even in desperation. Key Takeaway Recognize and nurture community creativity in tough times. Themes community resilience joy poverty culture Mood hopeful reflective Type observational inspirational When to use this quote - neighborhood gatherings - street festivals - family meals - dance events Key Concepts social cohesion creative expression survival human spirit Questions to Reflect On - How does art sustain hope in hardship? - What role does community play in resilience? A Different Perspective May overlook systemic causes of poverty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Dancing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dancing/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Playing music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-music/) [Poor people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-people/) [Selfish people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfish-people/) [Sharing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharing/) [Sharing food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sharing-food/) ## Related quotes > [You've got these twenty million people who call themselves the Evangelical Christians who will put their hand up and say, I believe in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanette-winterson/you-ve-got-these-twenty-million-people-who-call-themselves-the/) [Jeanette Winterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanette-winterson/) > [“The word hygge has been sifted to the surface in recent years but the concept is not new. 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Nor can poverty be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayawati/congress-yuvraj-rahul-gandhi-s-visit-to-houses-of-poor-sharing-food/) [Mayawati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayawati/) > [The sharing of food is the basis of social life, and to many people it is the only kind of social life worth participating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-colwin/the-sharing-of-food-is-the-basis-of-social-life-and-to-many-people-it/) [Laurie Colwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-colwin/) > [Cooking is a holistic process of planning, preparing, dining and sharing food. I place food at the center of our humanity, as it nourishes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-ripert/cooking-is-a-holistic-process-of-planning-preparing-dining-and/) [Eric Ripert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-ripert/) > [Performing live is like harvesting your crops and sharing your food with people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/performing-live-is-like-harvesting-your-crops-and-sharing-your-food/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [“It just may be that the most radical act we can commit is to stay home. What does that mean to finally commit to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/it-just-may-be-that-the-most-radical-act-we-can-commit-is-to-stay/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [The sharing of food is the basis of social life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-colwin/the-sharing-of-food-is-the-basis-of-social-life/) [Laurie Colwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-colwin/) > [When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them-some food, a place in our homes, our time-not only do we no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/when-we-are-generous-in-welcoming-people-and-sharing-something-with/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [My job involves sharing food and the stories behind the plate, in part, via social media.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-leong/my-job-involves-sharing-food-and-the-stories-behind-the-plate-in-part/) [Melissa Leong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-leong/) > [ My grandmother used to say that there's something truly intimate about sharing food with the people you love." \[Stacey\] "Intimate? Sharing food? People you… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-faria-stolarz/my-grandmother-used-to-say-that-there-s-something-truly-intimate/) [Laurie Faria Stolarz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-faria-stolarz/) > [The people who give you their food give you their heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/the-people-who-give-you-their-food-give-you-their-heart/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [Life is a hurricane, and we board up to save what we can and bow low to the earth to crouch in that small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/life-is-a-hurricane-and-we-board-up-to-save-what-we-can-and-bow-low/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) ## More by Nickolas Butler > [“It was the first time in her life that she considered clothing as a method of camoflaging our scars, the traumas of our lives.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/it-was-the-first-time-in-her-life-that-she-considered-clothing-as-a/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Goddamn golf shirts and gym memberships and fake muscles and tans and cell phones and new cars. Trevor didn't care about any of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/goddamn-golf-shirts-and-gym-memberships-and-fake-muscles-and-tans-and/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Corn might be the epidemic that kills us, but I've always loved staring at a big field of it, perfectly planted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/corn-might-be-the-epidemic-that-kills-us-but-i-ve-always-loved/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“The world is composed of people who are hungry, and those who are not hungry. It goes back to energy, to entropy. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/the-world-is-composed-of-people-who-are-hungry-and-those-who-are-not/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Sometimes that is what forgiveness is anyway, a deep sigh”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/sometimes-that-is-what-forgiveness-is-anyway-a-deep-sigh/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“something desperate, something ecstatic, some transference of, yes, energy”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/something-desperate-something-ecstatic-some-transference-of-yes-energy/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“It feels like she's having some very sophisticated sleepover with her spiritual sensei or guru. She has always avoided the term LIFE COACH, finding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/it-feels-like-she-s-having-some-very-sophisticated-sleepover-with-her/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Buttery nipples,” I said, smiling broadly. “Buttery nipples.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/buttery-nipples-i-said-smiling-broadly-buttery-nipples/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“and read the books that always seem to Jenga up on her bedside table without her managing to actually read them”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/and-read-the-books-that-always-seem-to-jenga-up-on-her-bedside-table/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“The way he loved was almost like a vise, a weight; at times she felt it verged on codependence--that his identity, his value system,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/the-way-he-loved-was-almost-like-a-vise-a-weight-at-times-she-felt-it/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Winter in Wisconsin is the ideal time to avoid someone because our garments grow ever larger, ever thicker, and we go about the frozen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/winter-in-wisconsin-is-the-ideal-time-to-avoid-someone-because-our/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“The world is full of bad men, but if you are prepared, and if you are STRONG, then you cannot be taken off guard,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/the-world-is-full-of-bad-men-but-if-you-are-prepared-and-if-you-are/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Kids keep you young...But Christ, they make you feel old, too.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/kids-keep-you-young-but-christ-they-make-you-feel-old-too/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“Someone possessed with hunger, with a thought, with a craving, with a perversion, someone who needs their drug, someone who comes to your door…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/someone-possessed-with-hunger-with-a-thought-with-a-craving-with-a/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) > [“He was righteous. He had a sense of duty, of what was right and wrong in the world, and I don't mean that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nickolas-butler/he-was-righteous-he-had-a-sense-of-duty-of-what-was-right-and-wrong/) [Nickolas Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) [Explore all 28 Nickolas Butler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nickolas-butler/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! 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And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. 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