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There is a saying in Chinese, 安贫乐道, which means something along the lines of "To be content with poverty and strive for virtue."

I'm looking for something similar in English, even if it's not a very commonly used expression. (At the very least, what may be a more concise way to convey the same idea?)

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    Can you perhaps expand a bit on the contexts in which this idiom is used in Chinese?
    – Heartspring
    Commented Sep 4 at 23:39
  • Not a Western virtue, perhaps except in the theater: "When you are poor. It is toujours l'amour— For l'amour all the poor have leisure.". "No little cold-water flat have we, Warmed by the glow of insolvency."
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented Sep 4 at 23:46
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    Some sample sentences in Chinese with a literal translation to English would be helpful.
    – GratefulDisciple
    Commented Sep 5 at 1:05
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    What does it mean? Does it mean that if you're content with poverty then you can strive for virtue, or then you will achieve virtue, or are the two halves entirely separate and unconnected?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 5 at 8:53
  • Poor but happy?
    – fev
    Commented Sep 5 at 10:47

3 Answers 3

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Two from the Bible :

Better is a handful with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

Ecclesiastes 4:6 Authorised Version 1769

... godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6 Authorised Version 1769

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    That rolls off the tongue... and I've never heard of it.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Sep 7 at 11:21
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Proverbs 19:22

It is better to be poor than a liar.

KJV:

The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.

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Too poor to paint, to proud to whitewash

Ok, this is not an exact match, as pride is not typically considered a virtue.

The expression was coined in the South of the USA following the Civil War which destroyed the slave-based economy and led to widespread poverty. Whitewash Is a lime-based paint that was cheaper than ‘real’ paint and was used on agricultural buildings but not on residences. However, in the post bellum poverty, it was used on homes. The phrase indicates that the person cannot afford paint, but would rather have their house unpainted than stoop so low as to use whitewash.

It can be used as a statement of principle, or it can be used pejoratively, as a statement that a person cannot accept the realities of their situation.

It’s not a phrase with a lot of currency.

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  • That should be 'Too poor to ....' // .Reminds me of Jethro Tull's '"Too young to die, too old to rock and roll"'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Sep 6 at 23:09

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