Better poor with honour than rich with shame.

Meaning: Poverty preserves your integrity and self-respect, while wealth gained dishonestly corrodes your character and social standing.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Wisdom

• Honour and ease are seldom bed-fellows. — Pursuing comfort and leisure inevitably requires compromising one's principles or reputat…
• Where honour ceaseth, there knowledge decreaseth. — Loss of integrity corrodes the mind's capacity to perceive and retain truth.
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• All are not hunters that blow the horn. — Not everyone who announces themselves possesses the skill or worthiness their proclamatio…
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• Hold not with the hounds and run with the hare. — Trying to please both sides simultaneously leads to betrayal and failure for everyone inv…

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