Inequality Quotes

• Inequality is the root of social evil.

  Pope Francis

  Roots, Evil, Social

  Pope Francis‏ @Pontifex, twitter.com. April 28, 2014.

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• The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.

  Aristotle

  Philosophical, Equality, Egalitarianism

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• No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.

  Adam Smith

  Happiness, Equality, Society

  Adam Smith (1827). “An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, p.33

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• 

  A nation will not survive morally or economically when so few have so much and so many have so little.

  Bernie Sanders

  Economic Inequality, Littles, Nations

  "Commentary: Yes, This Campaign Can Get Even More Spectacular". www.chicagotribune.com. January 22, 2016.

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• There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.

  Warren Buffett

  War, Winning, Class

  "In Class Warfare, Guess Which Class Is Winning". New York Times Magazine, www.nytimes.com. November 26, 2006.

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• As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

  Nelson Mandela

  Compassion, Our World, Long

  Nelson Mandela's speech in London's Trafalgar Square for the campaign to end poverty in the developing world, news.bbc.co.uk. February 3, 2005.

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• There can be no peace as long as there is grinding poverty, social injustice, inequality, oppression, environmental degradation, and as long as the weak and small continue to be trodden by the mighty and powerful.

  Dalai Lama

  Powerful, Long, Environmental

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• Inequality hardens society into a class system. Inequality divides us from one another... Inequality undermines democracy.

  George Packer

  Class, Democracy, Divides

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• Rising inequality isn’t about who has the knowledge; it’s about who has the power.

  Paul Krugman

  Rising

  "Knowledge Isn’t Power" by Paul Krugman, www.nytimes.com. February 23, 2015.

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• It is not inequality which is the real misfortune, it is dependence.

  Voltaire

  Real, Dependence, Misfortunes

  "Equality" by Voltaire, 1764.

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• The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Money, Economic Inequality, History

  Second Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1937

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• Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Kings, Health

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• Our inequality materializes our upper class, vulgarizes our middle class, brutalizes our lower class.

  Matthew Arnold

  Class, Wealth, Middle

  Matthew Arnold (2013). “Delphi Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold (Illustrated)”, p.816, Delphi Classics

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• Inequalities of Fate very curious. Should like, on this account, to believe in Reincarnation.

  E. M. Delafield

  Believe, Fate, Immortality

  E. M. Delafield (2016). “Delphi Collected Works of E. M. Delafield (Illustrated)”, p.2419, Delphi Classics

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  An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

  Plutarch

  Freedom, Tyrants, Economic Inequality

  "When Inequality Isn't" by John Mauldin, www.forbes.com. March 29, 2014.

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• It is a wise man who said that there is no greater inequality than the equal treatment of unequals.

  Felix Frankfurter

  Wise, Equality, Men

  Dennis v. United States (dissenting opinion) (1950)

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• Rising inequality is a cultural and economic cancer on a lot of different levels.

  Kevin Drum

  Cancer, Different, Rising

  "In Which I Respond to My Critics About the Bernie Revolution" by Kevin Drum, www.motherjones.com. April 30, 2016.

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• Excessive economic, social and cultural inequalities among peoples arouse tensions and conflicts, and are a danger to peace.

  Pope Paul VI

  Peace, Ubuntu, Conflict

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• Just as the commandment 'Thou shalt not kill' sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say 'thou shalt not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality. Such an economy kills. How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?

  Pope Francis

  Elderly, Order, Two

  Pope Francis (2014). “The Joy of the Gospel”, p.21, BookBaby

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• It is the belief that extremes and excesses of inequality must be reduced so that each person is free to fully develop his or her full potential. This is why we take precious time out of our lives and give it to politics.

  Paul Wellstone

  Giving, Full Potential, Excess

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• There is always inequality in life. Some men are killed in a war and some men are wounded and some men never leave the country. Life is unfair.

  John F. Kennedy

  Life, Country, War

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• The only living socities are those which are animated by inequality and injustice.

  Paul Claudel

  Injustice, Animated

  "Conversations dans le Loir-et-Cher". Book by Paul Claudel, p. 22; translation from The Independent, February 6, 2001, 1984.

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• Inequality promotes progress.

  James Cook

  Progress

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• Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.

  Nelson Mandela

  Hunger And Poverty, Hunger Poverty, Justice

  Twitter post from Jan 21, 2016

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• No sustainable development, environmental harmony or lasting security will happen if we are unable to eradicate hunger and extreme inequality

  Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva

  Environmental, Development, Hunger

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