--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man is born rich, but almost everywhere…" description: "\"“Man is born rich, but almost everywhere is poor. It is to the elucidation of this paradox that many of the finest minds ... have been devoted for near..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/theodore-dalrymple-7084_end-of-time_man-is-born-rich-but-almost-everywhere-i_915868.png" --- # Man is born rich, but almost everywhere is poor. It is to… ![“Man is born rich, but almost everywhere is poor. It is to the elucidation of this paradox that many of the finest minds ... have been devoted for nearly a century. And the best answer they have been able to give is that most men are poor because a few men are rich. And, by the same token, those…” quote by Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/theodore-dalrymple-7084_end-of-time_man-is-born-rich-but-almost-everywhere-i_915868.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/theodore-dalrymple-7084_end-of-time_man-is-born-rich-but-almost-everywhere-i_915868.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aed/theodore-dalrymple-7084_end-of-time_man-is-born-rich-but-almost-everywhere-i_915868.png) > ““Man is born rich, but almost everywhere is poor. It is to the elucidation of this paradox that many of the finest minds ... have been devoted for nearly a century. And the best answer they have been able to give is that most men are poor because a few men are rich. And, by the same token, those few men are rich because most men are poor. On this view, wealth is a form of institutionalized plunder. Nothing had to be —or remains to be—discovered, invented, or developed. The wealth of the world has been the same since the beginning of time and will remain the same until the end of time. Hence your slice of the economic cake, both personal and international, necessarily decreases the size of mine, and thus poverty is always someone else’s fault. This means that the wealth of Europe and America was erected on a foundation of cheap bananas. These ideas—a kind of anti-Semitism sans the Jews—are so absurd that they are almost auto-refuting, at least for anyone with a few facts at his disposal and a minimal ability to think connectedly. Yet they have had an historical importance and influence vastly disproportionate to their intellectual merit, and have even constituted an unassailable orthodoxy among ... intellectuals, some of them of great distinction. Indeed, it was hardly possible for someone to be considered an intellectual at all in Latin America unless he subscribed to these ideas. A man who pointed out their logical and empirical shortcomings was considered a traitor to the patria and most likely in the pay of the CIA to boot.”” [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Wealth distribution is a zero‑sum view, framing poverty as others’ fault and justifying inequality. **In simple terms:** Rich get richer, poor stay poor. Key Takeaway Challenge the zero‑sum narrative. Themes economics inequality history Mood critical reflective Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy debates - education - social activism - academic research Key Concepts wealth institutional power Questions to Reflect On - What policies could break the wealth‑poverty cycle? - How does narrative shape economic policy? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex economic dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [End of time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-time/) [Latin america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/latin-america/) [Money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Rich men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rich-men/) [Wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wealth/) ## Related quotes > [“There are poor men out there. And rich ones. Rich men never wait for nothing, so why would they be good? Good men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-gaughen/there-are-poor-men-out-there-and-rich-ones-rich-men-never-wait-for/) [A.C. Gaughen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-gaughen/) > [Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/content-makes-poor-men-rich-discontent-makes-rich-men-poor/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Contentment makes poor men rich, Discontent makes rich men poor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/contentment-makes-poor-men-rich-discontent-makes-rich-men-poor/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Newspapers are owned and published by rich men. Rich men all belong to the same club. 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Poor men die to make them come true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-cook/rich-men-have-dreams-poor-men-die-to-make-them-come-true/) [Glen Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-cook/) > [There are two things needed in these days; first, for rich men to find out how poor men live, and second, for poor men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-atkinson/there-are-two-things-needed-in-these-days-first-for-rich-men-to-find/) Edward Atkinson > [“Rich men have big libraries. Poor men have big TVs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-fox/rich-men-have-big-libraries-poor-men-have-big-tvs/) Mark Fox > [There is no sound basis upon which it may be assumed that all poor men are godly and all rich men are evil, no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/there-is-no-sound-basis-upon-which-it-may-be-assumed-that-all-poor/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [“It is as necessary for a poor man to give away, as for a rich man. Many poor men are more devoted worshipers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/it-is-as-necessary-for-a-poor-man-to-give-away-as-for-a-rich-man-many/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [In England the rich own the poor and the men own the women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/in-england-the-rich-own-the-poor-and-the-men-own-the-women/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [Few men are both rich and generous; fewer are both rich and humble.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-edward-manning/few-men-are-both-rich-and-generous-fewer-are-both-rich-and-humble/) [Henry Edward Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-edward-manning/) > [Paying attention to simple little things that most men neglect makes a few men rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/paying-attention-to-simple-little-things-that-most-men-neglect-makes/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [For often evil men are rich, and good men poor; But we will not exchange with them Our virtue for their wealth since one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solon/for-often-evil-men-are-rich-and-good-men-poor-but-we-will-not/) [Solon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solon/) ## More by Theodore Dalrymple > [Life is a biography, not a series of disconnected moments, more or less pleasurable but increasingly tedious and unsatisfying unless one imposes a purposive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/life-is-a-biography-not-a-series-of-disconnected-moments-more-or-less/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [Many young people now end a discussion with the supposedly definitive and unanswerable statement that such is their opinion, and their opinion is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/many-young-people-now-end-a-discussion-with-the-supposedly-definitive/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“even received a few requests that I send medicine, since none was available in the local pharmacies—an admission, unthinkable a few years ago, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/even-received-a-few-requests-that-i-send-medicine-since-none-was/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [There is nothing an addict likes more, or that serves as better pretext for continuing his present way of life, than to place the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/there-is-nothing-an-addict-likes-more-or-that-serves-as-better/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“pride must be in the work, not the person.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/pride-must-be-in-the-work-not-the-person/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“In The Gulag Archipelago, for example, Alexander Solzhenitsyn remarks that Shakespeare’s evildoers, Macbeth notably among them, stop short at a mere dozen corpses because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/in-the-gulag-archipelago-for-example-alexander-solzhenitsyn-remarks/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [Orders can be benign or malign, but the habit of obeying them can become ingrained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/orders-can-be-benign-or-malign-but-the-habit-of-obeying-them-can/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“A taste for kitsch among the well-to-do is a sign of spiritual impoverishment; but among the poor, it represents a striving for beauty, an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/a-taste-for-kitsch-among-the-well-to-do-is-a-sign-of-spiritual/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“Facts are much more malleable than prejudices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/facts-are-much-more-malleable-than-prejudices/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. 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These words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satyajit-chhotaray/i-love-you-no-matter-what-the-future-holds-for-us-i-will-love-you/) [Satyajit Chhotaray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satyajit-chhotaray/) [Browse all 311 End of time quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/end-of-time/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man is born rich, but almost everywhere is poor. It is to the elucidation of this paradox that many of the finest minds ... have been devoted for nearly a century. And the best answer they have been able to give is that most men are poor because a few men are rich. And, by the same token, those few men are rich because most men are poor. On this view, wealth is a form of institutionalized plunder. Nothing had to be —or remains to be—discovered, invented, or developed. The wealth of the world has been the same since the beginning of time and will remain the same until the end of time. Hence your slice of the economic cake, both personal and international, necessarily decreases the size of mine, and thus poverty is always someone else’s fault. This means that the wealth of Europe and America was erected on a foundation of cheap bananas. These ideas—a kind of anti-Semitism sans the Jews—are so absurd that they are almost auto-refuting, at least for anyone with a few facts at his disposal and a minimal ability to think connectedly. Yet they have had an historical importance and influence vastly disproportionate to their intellectual merit, and have even constituted an unassailable orthodoxy among ... intellectuals, some of them of great distinction. Indeed, it was hardly possible for someone to be considered an intellectual at all in Latin America unless he subscribed to these ideas. 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