Poverty will not make a man worthless—he may be worth a great deal more when he is poor than he was when he was rich
 George MacDonald, At the Back of the North Wind (1871). copy citation

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Author George MacDonald
Source At the Back of the North Wind
Topic poverty worth
Date 1871
Language English
Reference
Note
Weblink http://www.gutenberg.org/files/225/225-h/225-h.htm

Context

“He was not so successful in his speculations as he had been, for he speculated a great deal more than was right, and it was time he should be pulled up. It is a hard thing for a rich man to grow poor; but it is an awful thing for him to grow dishonest, and some kinds of speculation lead a man deep into dishonesty before he thinks what he is about. Poverty will not make a man worthless—he may be worth a great deal more when he is poor than he was when he was rich; but dishonesty goes very far indeed to make a man of no value—a thing to be thrown out in the dust-hole of the creation, like a bit of a broken basin, or a dirty rag. So North Wind had to look after Mr.” source