That why the quote is right, "rich get richer, the poor get poorer" because they don't have capital to invest, start a business, etc.
you are right that first we need to earn enough money that will give us big returns on investment, or enough money to start a small business which have high chances to grow and future.
some lucky people are able to get high returns or gain financial freedom because there are very less opportunity like bitcoin in early stage, people who invested early were lucky to gain high returns.