Man can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as... from a lack of bread.

The line equates psychological and spiritual deprivation with physical hunger. Wright suggests that a person’s need to understand and develop the self—through education, creative expression, dignity, and agency—is not a luxury but a necessity. In his work, material poverty is often intertwined with social forces (racism, exploitation, censorship) that also stunt inner growth. The quote implies that denying people the conditions for self-realization can be as destructive as denying food: it produces a kind of living death, a withering of identity and purpose. It also functions as a critique of societies that measure welfare only in economic terms while ignoring the human need for meaning and selfhood.