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The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need but not for every man's greed.
--
Quoted by Pyarelal Nayyar in Mahatma Gandhi : The Last Phase (Volume 10), page 552 (1958)

 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma)

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Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.

 

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But the love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see. Original sin, the true original sin, is the blind destruction for the sake of greed of this natural paradise which lies all around us--if only we were worthy of it.

 

Edward Abbey

 

Epicurus, the great teacher of happiness, has correctly and finely divided human needs into three classes. First there are the natural and necessary needs which, if they are not satisfied, cause pain. Consequently, they are only victus et amictus [food and clothing] and are easy to satisfy. Then we have those that are natural yet not necessary, that is, the needs for sexual satisfaction. ... These needs are more difficult to satisfy. Finally, there are those that are neither natural nor necessary, the needs for luxury, extravagance, pomp, and splendour, which are without end and very difficult to satisfy.

 

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Greed is all right, by the way. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.

 

Ivan Boesky

 

What human motivation is responsible for getting the most wonderful things done? I would say greed. When I use the term greed, I do not mean cheating, stealing, fraud and other acts of dishonesty, I mean people seeking to get the most for themselves. One might be tempted to use “enlightened self interest” but I like greed better. Unfortunately, many people are naive enough to believe that it is compassion, concern, and "feeling another's pain" that's the superior human motivation. As such we fall easy prey to charlatans, quacks and hustlers.

 

Walter E. Williams