Hadith regarding the person who is ashamed to ask others for meal

Question:
I do not understand this Hadith. Aren't Muslims discouraged from begging generally?

Volume 2, Book 24, Number 554: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "The poor person is not the one who asks a morsel or two (of meals) from the others, but the poor is the one who has nothing and is ashamed to beg from others."

Response:
This is a typical example of a hadith which can cause problems if it is not understood in its proper context. What the hadith, to me, means is simply the fact that if Muslims are looking for the right candidate to give their charity, they should look for the one "who has nothing and is ashamed to beg from others"; they should not look for the one who "asks a morsel or two (of meals) from the others".

Quite often we find in ahadith that the narrator quotes a statement of the prophet, alaihissalaam, but doesn't give you the context. You have to imagine a context yourself through your understanding of Qur'an and hadith and through the use of your common sense.

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