| 1. | Lean penury within that pen doth dwell. - from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare |
| 2. | Elton's notice and the penury of her conversation, rather than return to the superior companions who have always loved her with such real, generous affection.. - from Emma by Jane Austen |
| 3. | During one of their walks a poor cot in the foldings of a vale attracted their notice as being singularly disconsolate, while the number of half-clothed children gathered about it spoke of penury in its worst shape. - from Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley |
| 4. | For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. - from The King James Bible |