It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.
Interpretation
People often prioritize wealth over basic human needs, revealing a flaw in human nature.
This quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt highlights a critical observation about human beings and society; it suggests that material wealth tends to be prioritized and given more attention than the fundamental needs of survival, such as food. It reflects the notion that individuals may tend to complain more about their financial status than about the suffering that comes from hunger, revealing a deeper commentary on values and societal priorities.
In practice
In a speech about social priorities, one might say, 'As Franklin D. Roosevelt mentioned, it is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach, reminding us to focus on fundamental human needs.'
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
Fear the sins that you commit in secret, because the Witness of those sins is the Judge Himself!
There are people who will say that this whole account is a lie, but a thing isn't necessarily a lie even if it didn't necessarily happen.
It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law
No one β¦ can entirely step out of his time, that despite his keenness of vision his thinking is in many ways bound to be influenced by the mentality of his time
Moderation has been called a virtue to limit the ambition of great men, and to console undistinguished people for their want of fortune and their lack of merit.
And inasmuch as feeling, the East's gift, Is quick and transient,- comes, and lo! is gone, While Northern thought is slow and durable.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.