Quotes About Greed

Money is the most universal incitement of human misery.—Gibbon's Decline and Fall.

What's worrying is that those in the 1 percent, in attempting to claim for themselves an unjust proportion of the benefits of this system, may be willing to destroy the system itself to hold on to what they have. This

el capitalismo al estilo americano— está modelando de maneras poco afortunadas nuestra identidad individual y como nación. Lo que aflora es un conflicto con nuestros valores más elevados: la codicia, el egoísmo, la abyección moral, la disposición a explotar a otros y la deshonestidad que la Gran Recesión puso de manifiesto en el sector financiero se evidencian hoy en todos lados, no solo en Estados Unidos.

Economists have a name for these activities: they call them rent seeking, getting income not as a reward to creating wealth but by grabbing a larger share of the wealth that would otherwise have been produced without their effort. (We'll give a fuller definition of the concept of rent seeking

To put it baldly, there are two ways to become wealthy: to create wealth or to take wealth away from others.

The wealth given to the elites and to the bankers seemed to arise out of their ability and willingness to take advantage of others. One

there are two ways to become wealthy: to create wealth or to take wealth away from others.

Trump doesn't have a plan to help the country; he has a plan to continue the robbery of the majority by those at the top.

Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.   —HONORÉ DE BALZAC

Actions rooted in greed, hatred, or ignorance bring unpleasant results.

As soon as there was profit, there were people who wanted to make it, more than they wanted to make anything else.

She reminded him of (...) all the shivering, stupefying misery in a world that never yet had provided enough heat and food and justice for all but an ingenious and unscrupulous handful. What a lousy earth!

Bribery is against the law, and you know it. But it's not against the law to make a profit, is it? So it can't be against the law for me to bribe someone in order to make a fair profit, can it? No, of course not!

You're antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited, degraded, humiliated or deceived. Misery depresses you. Ignorance depresses you. Persecution depresses you. Violence depresses you. Slums depress you. Greed depresses you. Crime depresses you. Corruption depresses you. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if you're a manic-depressive!

When I look up, I see people cashing in. I don't see heaven or saints or angels. I see people cashing in on every decent impulse and every human tragedy.

The syndicate makes the profit. And everybody has a share.

Who does she think she's kidding? As if I don't know why she's sucking up to me— Because I've got something she'd like to get her hands on. At least, she thinks I've got him.

To the destroyers, Earth is not a person. They will want more until there is no more to steal.

In a world long before this one, there was enough for everyone, Until somebody got out of line.

The dilemma is, in the United States, each penniless citizen believes that, with luck, he might become a millionaire; and so doesn't want to put restraints on robber barons-he might become one one day!

The dilemma is, in the United States, each penniless citizen believes that, with luck, he might become a millionaire; and so doesn't want to put restraints on "robber barons"—he might become one, one day!

The truth is that life is hard and dangerous; that he who seeks his own happiness does not find it; that he who is weak must suffer; that he who demands love will be disappointed; that he who is greedy will not be fed; that he who seeks peace will find strife; that truth is only for the brave; that joy is only for him who does not fear to be alone; that life is only for the one who is not afraid to die.

Greedy people ask, ask, ask, and rarely ever appreciate what they have already received. I do not believe that God will release us into the fullness of all that He has planned for us until we become thankful for what we have already been given.

Miss Manners fails to understand why philanthropists would turn from the needy to the greedy, but she is not in the business of laundering rudeness to make it seem acceptable.