Poor

• D&C 44:6…Visit the poor and needy and administer to their relief
• 1 Nephi 10: 16…Lehi had many great spiritual experiences while he dwelt in a tent (lived poor, humble life)
• Mosiah 4: 16…Give to the less fortunate
• Mosiah 4:17…The excuse people give to not help out beggars
• Mosiah 4: 19…Poor or not, we all depend on God for everything
• Mosiah 4: 22…Our substance belongs to God.  Share it with the needy.
• Mosiah 4: 17-18…Those who reject the poor for the pride of heart will perish forever, has no interest in the kingdom of God, unless he repents.
• 2 Nephi 28:13… They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.
• “The collapse of wealth over several generations is not news to your financial or legal advisors.  It wasn’t news two thousand years ago when a Chinese scholar penned the adage: “fu bu guo san dai,” or “Wealth never survives three generations.”  Or in the thirteenth century England, where the proverb, “Clogs to clogs in three generations,” had morphed by the 1600s to “Rags to riches to rags.”  In nineteenth century America, where fortunes were made and lost with astounding speed amidst the gold fields, oil wells, copper mines, and railroad booms, people said “From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.”  Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 26-27
• “If you want to know how God feels about money, look who He chooses to make rich.”  Yiddish Proverb. Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 48
• “The same principle can be applied to children: ‘Don’t over fund children- you’ll ruin them.  It will impair their character and destroy their motivation to succeed.’ When children study the plight of people in need, and they understand that they have the wherewithal to do something about it, it is a powerful experience.  That is especially true of children who have never experienced scarcity in any respect. With knowledge about the needs of others, children can experience scarcity from the vantage point of the helping hand in the field. As one advisor put it, ‘Instead of merely sailing on a sea of riches, children can experience an ocean of needs.”  Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 150
• “The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”– Thomas Jefferson
• “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”– Thomas Jefferson
• “You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.”
• “The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.”
• “You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
• “After she lost her husband in the martyrdom at Nauvoo and made her way west with five fatherless children, Mary Fielding Smith continued in her poverty to pay tithing. When someone at the tithing office inappropriately suggested one day that she should not contribute a tenth of the only potatoes she had been able to raise that year, she cried out to the man, “William, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing, I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me. I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God, but because I expect a blessing by doing it. [I need a blessing.] By keeping this and other laws, I expect to . . . be able to provide for my family.””  Broken Things to Mend (Jeffrey R. Holland) Kindle Loc. 1166-71
• “We are indebted to our parents for many things but one of the most important examples for us was that no matter how tough times got, my mother believed that we were better off than some and had an obligation to share with those less fortunate.”  Remarks to The 2008 Annual Membership Meeting Society of Financial Service Professionals, Bethesda Country Club.  Bill Walace, CLU®, ChFC® JUNE 13, 2008
• “One of the pitfalls of wealth is that children may live in an isolated world of socioeconomic homogeneity and may not be exposed  regularly to the “have not” segment of society. Our culture is replete with subtle and not-so-subtle messages about the “failures of the poor.” Sometimes our American spirit of individual achievement and competition can be understood to mean that everyone gets a fair chance. Parents can debunk these stereotypes and take proactive steps to broaden their children’s horizons. Encourage your child to join after-school activities with diverse groups of kids. Get involved as a family in community service projects. Use travel together as an opportunity to “unshelter” your children.”  Remmer, “Raising Children with Philanthropic Values” 
• Jacob 2: 12-21… And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully. 13 And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. 14 And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. But he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you. 15 O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust! 16 O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls! 17 Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. 18 But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. 19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. 20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbor, and persecuted him because ye were proud in your hearts, of the things which God hath given you, what say ye of it? 21 Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever.