This proverb signifies:

Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed

    than to share plunder with the proud.

Why is it better to suffer and identify with those less fortunate rather than back and hop-on-board with the gains of the plunderers?

Because:

1. It shows who you are, your character, where your values lie. Integrity high, exploitation and manipulation low.

2. Wealth accrued this way is not sustainable because of the personage of the plunderer – he/she/they often become lonely and without friends or are taken out by their competitors in the same way they abused others.