The expression means that a person in poverty does not need to learn how to be frugal because he is naturally frugal, and a person with a humble background does not need to learn how to be respectful because he is naturally respectful. This Chinese proverb does not mean to discourage people from learning those two virtues universally held in high esteem. Rather, it is meant to shed light on an essential and philosophical principle that a person’s character, in the final analysis, is not born nor randomly formed, but is determined by one’s circumstances. In other words, “a person is the product of his environment.”

As the proverb goes,“Poor people do not need to learn frugality, and humble people do not need to learn respectfulness.”People vary in their character not because they are born so, but because they are shaped into who they are by their physical environment. (History as a Mirror)

People from poor families do not need to learn how to be frugal because things follow their natural laws with inevitable results. (Lu You: Poem to My Son Lu Yu)