Four Thoughts on Greed

Here are a few quotes on the topic of greed. 

Death and the Miser c. 1490 by BOSCH, Hieronymus


Greed violates the spirit of connectedness and community that is natural to human survival. It wipes out individual recognition of the needs and concerns of everyone, replacing this awareness with harmful self-centeredness. Healthy narcissism (the self-acceptance, self-worth, that is the cornerstone of self-love) is replaced by a pathological narcissism (wherein only the self matters) that justifies any action that enables the satisfying of desires. The will to sacrifice on behalf of another, always present when there is love, is annihilated by greed.

- from all about love: new visions by bell hooks


"I try to work with honesty and integrity. The greed is conquering too many of us. You wind up doing things just for the money. There is more to life than just making money; my life has to mean something"

- Raymond Moriyama, Japanese-Canadian architect


The same voice that will say no to the CEO will also say no to the new car and the larger hose that makes us scared to death of losing our income and thus render us powerless to speak out. Not that the soul is puritanical about our expenditures, but if the voice is embodying the soul's desires it will say no again and again to false seductions that lead us off on the path of fear and material aggrandizement.

- from The Heart Aroused: Poetry and the Preservation of the Soul in Corporate America by David Whyte


Some men hover around women creatives, making them hipper chicks and bigger stars, are spoken of derogatorily, but more often they are awarded titles like "mentor." In addition to the decent guys there are a gallery of dudes, who, for example, become producers solely to be around the business of women making music. They become bodyguards of women singers and rappers. They seek women creatives to publicize, and for whom to write songs. They are limousine drivers. Personal trainers. Gold diggers [...] But these men have access to spaces off-limits to Black women. And incidents of resentment, abuse, gaslighting, and hate masquerading as love rampant.

- from Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop by Danyel Smith

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