Quotable Quotes: About Greed
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009Greed 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?
Your comments—priceless
Don’t miss a post, subscribe via RSS or EMAIL
Image credit: sxc.hu