proverb · Words worth keeping
When poverty comes in through the door, love goes out through the window.
When poverty comes in through the door, love goes out through the window.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Poverty entering and love leaving gives material difficulty an image of strain on a relationship. The saying warns that affection can face practical pressure.
What the words are saying
The universal wording does not prove that poor people cannot love or that every relationship fails under hardship. A responsible reading recognises actual needs and unequal resources without shame. Mutual care and support may remain, and wealth does not guarantee a respectful relationship.
Everyday example
Partners discuss practical strain and seek support without treating limited resources as proof that affection is absent.
When to use it
Use it critically to discuss material pressures without wealth-based judgments of love.
What it does not mean
No relationship failure or inability to love established by poverty is established.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
Greece
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin.- Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided wisdom reference (2014 AD)
Supplied reference B; unit 809; PDF page 72; collection label: Greece
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- Greece