Quotable Quotes: About Greed
by Miki SaxonGreed is certainly in the news these days, from stories about it to tirades against it, so it seemed like a good time to offer up a few you may not have seen recently.
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” –Erich Fromm (Hello John Thain and friends, I think Erich is talking to you.)
“It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, aquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.” –John Steinbeck (This is so true it makes you want to weep.)
“To make a business decision, you don’t need much philosophy; all you need is greed, and maybe a little knowledge of how the game works.” –Bill Watterson (After listening to all the rationalizations and excuses for what’s happened this is the first thing that makes sense.
Finally, to round this out I’m adding something I said during a conversation. I can’t remember having read it, but I doubt it’s really original.
“Greed is the driving force in the pursuit of many things besides money.” Me
What about you? Any thoughts on greed—your own or someone else’s?
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February 22nd, 2009 at 10:00 am
I think it tends to make you make the wrong decisions. I know when people try to appeal to the greed in me, they tend to be selling a bunch of crap, so I tune them out rather quickly.
February 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Hi Donna, that just proves that you don’t have a real greed streak. I have the same reaction, except maybe when it comes to ice cream.
Thanks for stopping by!
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Mmm, ice cream…
But that’s not greed, that’s gluttony. Different sin entirely!
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Trust me, Donna, it’s greed.
Greed = wanting it all. Gluttony = eating it all.
February 22nd, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Many people get the wrong idea about greed. If someone makes good money; they often think it is done out of selfish or greedy decisions. That’s not always true. Sometimes its just many hours and hard work. Unfortunately, my many hours and hard work have not given me the funds to even think about greed. Tony at http://www.upwardedge.com
February 22nd, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Hi Tony, hopefully people aren’t really equating financial success with greed. It’s not so much making a lot of money, a la Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, as it is about grabbing it to the detriment of others.
I sincerely hope that your hard work pays off in the long run.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Why you wanna cash-block a brother like that?
Greed is good.
:)
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 pm
If greed is good then it’s always sunny in the Pacific Northwest, DC has no lobbyists and Mark Jabo isn’t funny:)