--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Where there is a question of economy, I…" description: "\"Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation.\" — Sophie Swetchine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png" --- # Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation. ![“Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation.” quote by Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png) > “Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation.” [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Choosing poverty over economic questions reflects a belief that material scarcity sharpens moral clarity. **In simple terms:** Prefer simplicity over wealth. Key Takeaway Embrace minimalism for moral focus. Themes simplicity economics ethics Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - personal budgeting - ethical decision‑making - volunteering Key Concepts philosophy spirituality Questions to Reflect On - Is austerity always virtuous? - How does scarcity affect moral choices? A Different Perspective Poverty can limit opportunities and cause hardship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Privation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privation/) ## Related quotes > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Leaders fly economy. They prefer people around them than luxury.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/leaders-fly-economy-they-prefer-people-around-them-than-luxury/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) > [Economic privation proceeds by easy stages, and so long as men suffer it patiently the outside world cares little.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-keynes/economic-privation-proceeds-by-easy-stages-and-so-long-as-men-suffer/) [John Maynard Keynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-keynes/) > [“If you are rich and full-fed, don’t laugh at the impulsiveness of the poor. They were not acting from their souls, but they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jalal-ad-din-muhammad-ar-rumi/if-you-are-rich-and-full-fed-don-t-laugh-at-the-impulsiveness-of-the/) Jalal ad-Din Muhammad ar-Rumi > [“We love being mentally strong, but we hate situations that allow us to put our mental strength to good use.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/we-love-being-mentally-strong-but-we-hate-situations-that-allow-us-to/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [... privation is the source of appetite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juana-in-s-de-la-cruz/privation-is-the-source-of-appetite/) [Juana Inés de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juana-in-s-de-la-cruz/) > [For believers, both privilege and privation are a trial, and both demand responses: one demands service, and the other demands patience. The greatest privilege…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamza-yusuf/for-believers-both-privilege-and-privation-are-a-trial-and-both/) [Hamza Yusuf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamza-yusuf/) > [“In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, privation should not come with the job description, and survival should not be an aspiration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kendzior/in-one-of-the-wealthiest-countries-in-the-world-privation-should-not/) [Sarah Kendzior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kendzior/) > [“to arrive at this flourishing condition had required years. He had undergone everything, in the shape of privation; he had done everything, except get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/to-arrive-at-this-flourishing-condition-had-required-years-he-had/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“An odd thing about beauty, however, is that it's absence tends not to arouse our sympathy as much as other forms of privation do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/an-odd-thing-about-beauty-however-is-that-it-s-absence-tends-not-to/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [Nature has provided for the exigency of privation, by putting the measure of our necessities far below the measure of our wants. Our necessities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/nature-has-provided-for-the-exigency-of-privation-by-putting-the/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The real scientist is ready to bear privation and, if need be, starvation rather than let anyone dictate to him which direction his work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-szent-gyorgyi/the-real-scientist-is-ready-to-bear-privation-and-if-need-be/) [Albert Szent-Gyorgyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-szent-gyorgyi/) > [“The place suggested a convent with the modern improvements—an asylum in which privacy, though unbroken, might be not quite identical with privation, and meditation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-james/the-place-suggested-a-convent-with-the-modern-improvements-an-asylum/) [Henry James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-james/) > [“Take the case (to use an easy example) of a river, carrying boats and communicating to them its own velocity, yet limited by their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/take-the-case-to-use-an-easy-example-of-a-river-carrying-boats-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But I do not remember ever having seen a newspaper in the house; and, most certainly, that privation did not render us less industrious,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/but-i-do-not-remember-ever-having-seen-a-newspaper-in-the-house-and/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) ## More by Sophie Swetchine > [A good, finished scandal, fully armed and equipped, such as circulates in the world, is rarely the production of a single individual, or even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/a-good-finished-scandal-fully-armed-and-equipped-such-as-circulates/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Respect is a serious thing in him who feels it, and the height of honor for him who inspires the feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/respect-is-a-serious-thing-in-him-who-feels-it-and-the-height-of/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Since there must be chimeras, why is not perfection the chimera of all men?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/since-there-must-be-chimeras-why-is-not-perfection-the-chimera-of-all/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Those who have suffered much are like those who know many languages; they have learned to understand and be understood by all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/those-who-have-suffered-much-are-like-those-who-know-many-languages/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Men are always invoking justice; yet it is justice which should make them tremble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/men-are-always-invoking-justice-yet-it-is-justice-which-should-make/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/to-reveal-imprudently-the-spot-where-we-are-most-sensitive-and/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [God has prohibited despair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/god-has-prohibited-despair/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [There are questions so indiscreet, that they deserve neither truth nor falsehood in reply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/there-are-questions-so-indiscreet-that-they-deserve-neither-truth-nor/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Antiquity is a species of aristocracy with which it is not easy to be on visiting terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/antiquity-is-a-species-of-aristocracy-with-which-it-is-not-easy-to-be/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [The best of lessons, for a good many people, would be to listen at a keyhole. It is a pity for such that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/the-best-of-lessons-for-a-good-many-people-would-be-to-listen-at-a/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [There is, by God's grace, an immeasurable distance between late and too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/there-is-by-god-s-grace-an-immeasurable-distance-between-late-and-too/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [A malicious enemy is better than a clumsy friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/a-malicious-enemy-is-better-than-a-clumsy-friend/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Truth only is prolific. Error, sterile in itself, produces only by means of the portion of truth which it contains. It may have offspring,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/truth-only-is-prolific-error-sterile-in-itself-produces-only-by-means/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [By becoming unhappy, we sometimes learn how to be less so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/by-becoming-unhappy-we-sometimes-learn-how-to-be-less-so/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) > [Our faults afflict us more than our good deeds console. Pain is ever uppermost in the conscience as in the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/our-faults-afflict-us-more-than-our-good-deeds-console-pain-is-ever/) [Sophie Swetchine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) [Explore all 123 Sophie Swetchine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/) ## More Economics quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. 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Future job and economic growth in industry, defense, transportation, agriculture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-bond/advances-in-technology-will-continue-to-reach-far-into-every-sector/) [Christopher Bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-bond/) > [Our engagement through international economics, trade, these trade agreements, is vital and is linked to our national security. This is a lesson we learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-boustany/our-engagement-through-international-economics-trade-these-trade/) [Charles Boustany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-boustany/) > [“The free-market economy and globalisation process have brought about, in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, a sharp and sudden rise in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yaakov-malkin/the-free-market-economy-and-globalisation-process-have-brought-about/) Yaakov Malkin > [“Everything economic science posits as given, that is, the range of dispositions of the economic agent which ground the illusion of the ahistorical universality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-bourdieu/everything-economic-science-posits-as-given-that-is-the-range-of/) [Pierre Bourdieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-bourdieu/) > [Politics is about power. It is about the power of the state. It is about the power of the state as applied to individuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-rudd/politics-is-about-power-it-is-about-the-power-of-the-state-it-is/) [Kevin Rudd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-rudd/) > [Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winnie-byanyima/having-an-economy-that-works-for-the-99-is-achievable/) [Winnie Byanyima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winnie-byanyima/) > [“a select group of high-performing companies have managed to close the strategy-to-performance gap through better planning and execution. These companies—Barclays, Cisco Systems, Dow Chemical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-c-mankins/a-select-group-of-high-performing-companies-have-managed-to-close-the/) [Michael C. Mankins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-c-mankins/) > [The system of private property is the most important guaranty of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-august-von-hayek/the-system-of-private-property-is-the-most-important-guaranty-of/) [Friedrich August von Hayek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-august-von-hayek/) > [Economists think about what people ought to do. Psychologists watch what they actually do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/economists-think-about-what-people-ought-to-do-psychologists-watch/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [“Economists have a singular method of procedure. There are only two kinds of institutions for them, artificial and natural. The institutions of feudalism are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/economists-have-a-singular-method-of-procedure-there-are-only-two/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) [Browse all 7,788 Economics quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sophie Swetchine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-prefer-privation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Economics" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-prefer-privation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/215/sophie-swetchine-3738_economics_where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-p_311514.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Where there is a question of economy, I prefer privation.” — Sophie Swetchine", "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": "Sophie Swetchine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-swetchine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Where there is a question of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-prefer-privation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-swetchine/where-there-is-a-question-of-economy-i-prefer-privation/#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 } } ] } ```