--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The abjectly poor, and all those person…" description: "\"The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg" --- # The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are… ![“The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative because they have small occasion to…” quote by Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg) > “The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative because they have small occasion to be discontented with the situation as it stands today.” [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic status influences conservative attitudes: the poor focus on survival, the rich on stability. **In simple terms:** Wealth shapes political views. Key Takeaway Recognize how economics shape beliefs. Themes economics political ideology class dynamics Mood critical thoughtful Type sociopolitical analytical When to use this quote - policy debates - social movements - education - media analysis Key Concepts sociology political theory Questions to Reflect On - Why do economic pressures affect politics? - Can wealth change conservative views? A Different Perspective Oversimplifies complex motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abjectly Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abjectly-poor-4786099/) [Complacency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complacency/) [Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative/) [Conservative Afford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conservative-afford-4786098/) [Day After Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/day-after-tomorrow/) [Effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effort/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Occasions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/occasions/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Prosperous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosperous/) [Prosperous Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prosperous-conservative-4786097/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) [Struggle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/struggle/) [Sustenance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sustenance/) [Sustenance Conservative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sustenance-conservative-4786096/) [Thought For The Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-for-the-day/) [Thought of the day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-of-the-day/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Tomorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tomorrow/) ## Related quotes > [Did you ever hear one of those corny, positive messages on someone's answering machine? 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Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-butler/life-is-the-art-of-drawing-sufficient-conclusions-from-insufficient-2/) [Samuel Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-butler/) > [Dreaming is another form of thinking, more concrete, more economical, more visual, and often more emotional than the thoughts of the day, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siri-hustvedt/dreaming-is-another-form-of-thinking-more-concrete-more-economical/) [Siri Hustvedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siri-hustvedt/) > [“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in day out Success is the not the thing we will find in a day.It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aamir-sarfraz-aamir-rajput-khan/success-is-the-sum-of-small-efforts-repeated-day-in-day-out-success/) [Aamir Sarfraz (aamir rajput khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aamir-sarfraz-aamir-rajput-khan/) > [Often I have thought of the day when I gazed for the first time at the sea. The sea is vast, the sea is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/often-i-have-thought-of-the-day-when-i-gazed-for-the-first-time-at/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) > [I literally fell into this business. I never came down one day and said, "Atticus' thought of the day...I want to be an actor!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atticus-shaffer/i-literally-fell-into-this-business-i-never-came-down-one-day-and/) [Atticus Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atticus-shaffer/) > [Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/whatever-the-mind-of-man-can-conceive-and-believe-it-can-achieve-2/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“Walking through darkness with thoughts full of colors".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prajakta-mhadnak/walking-through-darkness-with-thoughts-full-of-colors/) [Prajakta Mhadnak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prajakta-mhadnak/) ## More by Thorstein Veblen > [Born in iniquity and conceived in sin, the spirit of nationalism has never ceased to bend human institutions to the service of dissension and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/born-in-iniquity-and-conceived-in-sin-the-spirit-of-nationalism-has/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [In aesthetic theory it might be extremely difficult, if not quite impracticable, to draw a line between the canon of classicism, or regard for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/in-aesthetic-theory-it-might-be-extremely-difficult-if-not-quite/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [The addiction to sports, therefore, in a peculiar degree marks an arrested development in man's moral nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-addiction-to-sports-therefore-in-a-peculiar-degree-marks-an/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [A protective tariff is a typical conspiracy in restraint of trade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/a-protective-tariff-is-a-typical-conspiracy-in-restraint-of-trade/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [It is much more difficult to recede from a scale of expenditure once adopted than it is to extend the accustomed scale in response…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/it-is-much-more-difficult-to-recede-from-a-scale-of-expenditure-once/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [A standard of living is of the nature of habit. ...it acts almost solely to prevent recession from a scale of conspicuous expenditure that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/a-standard-of-living-is-of-the-nature-of-habit-it-acts-almost-solely/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [With the exception of the instinct of self-preservation, the propensity for emulation is probably the strongest and most alert and persistent of the economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/with-the-exception-of-the-instinct-of-self-preservation-the/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [It frequently happens that an element of the standard of living which set out with being primarily wasteful, ends with becoming, in the apprehension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/it-frequently-happens-that-an-element-of-the-standard-of-living-which/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [All business sagacity reduces itself in the last analysis to judicious use of sabotage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/all-business-sagacity-reduces-itself-in-the-last-analysis-to/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [“She lives with man on terms of equality, knows nothing of that relation of status which is the ancient basis of all distinctions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/she-lives-with-man-on-terms-of-equality-knows-nothing-of-that/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [The thief or swindler who has gained great wealth by his delinquency has a better chance than the small thief of escaping the rigorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-thief-or-swindler-who-has-gained-great-wealth-by-his-delinquency/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [The dog commends himself to our favor by affording play to our propensity for mastery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-dog-commends-himself-to-our-favor-by-affording-play-to-our/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [“The ceremonial differentiation of the dietary is best seen in the use of intoxicating beverages and narcotics. If these articles of consumption are costly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-ceremonial-differentiation-of-the-dietary-is-best-seen-in-the-use/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [The machine technology takes no cognizance of conventionally established rules of precedence; it knows neither manners nor breeding and can make no use of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-machine-technology-takes-no-cognizance-of-conventionally/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) > [Loud dress becomes offensive to people of taste, as evincing an undue desire to reach and impress the untrained sensibilities of the vulgar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/loud-dress-becomes-offensive-to-people-of-taste-as-evincing-an-undue/) [Thorstein Veblen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) [Explore all 63 Thorstein Veblen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/) ## More Complacency quotes > [“Complacency delivered us into the hands of evil greedy men like Cheney.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-rumzi/complacency-delivered-us-into-the-hands-of-evil-greedy-men-like-cheney/) [Sonia Rumzi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-rumzi/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Don't let your success of today lay you into complacency for tomorrow. For that is the worst form of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/og-mandino/don-t-let-your-success-of-today-lay-you-into-complacency-for-tomorrow/) [Og Mandino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/og-mandino/) > [One of the reasons people hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and power are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-thomas/one-of-the-reasons-people-hate-politics-is-that-truth-is-rarely-a/) [Cal Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-thomas/) > [We are the best the show, others weak hold. Just to get complacency / which does not](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/we-are-the-best-the-show-others-weak-hold-just-to-get-complacency/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [“It’s a fallacy that this generation does not know how to love as its predecessor did. Truth of the matter is, modern love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lebo-grand/it-s-a-fallacy-that-this-generation-does-not-know-how-to-love-as-its/) [Lebo Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lebo-grand/) > [“To move forward, one need only take the first step,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-neill/to-move-forward-one-need-only-take-the-first-step/) [Chase Neill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-neill/) > [Plato calls complacency the companion of loneliness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/plato-calls-complacency-the-companion-of-loneliness/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [“Half the ingratitude and complacency in the world down to how slowly and imperceptibly most good and bad things unfold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/half-the-ingratitude-and-complacency-in-the-world-down-to-how-slowly/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [Don't let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth - don't let that get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop/don-t-let-your-special-character-and-values-the-secret-that-you-know/) [Aesop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop/) > [In the mind engaged in struggling with hardship, one always finds something delightful. The sorrow of disappointment arises in the complacency of satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zicheng-hong/in-the-mind-engaged-in-struggling-with-hardship-one-always-finds/) [Zicheng Hong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zicheng-hong/) > [Complacency is a creeping danger. Unless wisdom sets in, you will never come to your senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jey-lopez/complacency-is-a-creeping-danger-unless-wisdom-sets-in-you-will-never/) [Jey Lopez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jey-lopez/) > [I have spoken about what we can do as citizens, what we can do as a responsive citizenry, and this is where we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-tempest-williams/i-have-spoken-about-what-we-can-do-as-citizens-what-we-can-do-as-a/) [Terry Tempest Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-tempest-williams/) > [“Listen to Mr. Complacency long enough and he'll convince you that what you really, really need is a nap.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-and-brett-harris/listen-to-mr-complacency-long-enough-and-he-ll-convince-you-that-what/) [Alex and Brett Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-and-brett-harris/) > [I always say, complacency is the kiss of death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-redstone/i-always-say-complacency-is-the-kiss-of-death/) [Shari Redstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-redstone/) [Browse all 437 Complacency quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complacency/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily sustenance, are conservative because they cannot afford the effort of taking thought for the day after tomorrow; just as the highly prosperous are conservative because they have small occasion to be discontented with the situation as it stands today.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thorstein Veblen" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-whose-energies-are-entirely/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Complacency" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-whose-energies-are-entirely/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/769/thorstein-veblen-10833_complacency_the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-w_3004570.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The abjectly poor, and all those person whose energies are entirely absorbed by the struggle for daily…” — Thorstein Veblen", "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": "Thorstein Veblen", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thorstein-veblen/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The abjectly poor, and all those...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-whose-energies-are-entirely/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thorstein-veblen/the-abjectly-poor-and-all-those-person-whose-energies-are-entirely/#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 } } ] } ```