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Methinks God has punish'd the Avaritious as he often punishes sinners, in their own way, in the very sin itself: the thirst of gain was their crime, that thirst continued became their punishment and ruin. — Alexander Pope · 1720
I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken a stronger hold on the affections of men, and where a profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property. — Alexis de Tocqueville · 1835
A desire for wealth is the source of all progress. Civilization comes from what men call greed. Let your mercenary tendencies be combined with honesty and they cannot take you astray. — Anthony Trollope · 1864
Wealth is like sea-water; the more we have, the thirstier we become, and the same is true of fame. — Arthur Schopenhauer · 1851
Avarice and happiness never saw each other, how then should they become acquainted. — Benjamin Franklin · 1734
David Hume1 quote
Avarice, the spur of industry, is so obstinate a passion, and works its way through so many real dangers and difficulties, that it is not likely to be scared by an imaginary danger, which is so small, that it scarcely admits of calculation. — David Hume · 1741
Lesson number one: don't underestimate the other guy's greed! — Frank Lopez · 1983
Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind. — Gordon Gekko · 1987
Greed is all right... Greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself. — Ivan F. Boesky · 1986
Virgil1 quote
To what do you not drive human hearts, cursed craving for gold! — Virgil · 19 BC
Voltaire1 quote
People have declaimed against luxury for two thousand years, in verse and in prose, and people have always delighted in it. — Voltaire · 1764
Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. — Warren Buffett · 2008
The natural man has only two primal passions, to get and beget. — William Osler · 1904