Poverty

Definition Paragraph

Because poverty is a topic of many conversations and the motivation of many charities, I think that it would be good to examine what sort of meaning the word poverty conveys. Poverty is not bounteousness or opulency, it is not a state of sufficiency or of bounty, and it is not a luxuriant lifestyle free from earthly wants. Words like exigence and deprivation more closely communicate the concept of poverty: this idea of living in a destitute condition with many needs. Similar words might be starvation and famine, but these are not equal to poverty since they deal only with a need for nourishment; whereas, poverty encompasses all of the basic needs of life such as food, shelter, and clothing. Poverty often connotates such ideas as: dirtiness, hunger, sadness, neediness, a lack of housing, and a lack of sufficient clothing. One of the most widely known personifications of poverty is the lower, common class of people in what are known today as third world countries. Let us heed the words of the Proverb which say, “A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.”