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• Definitions of "greed"
• Causes of greed
• The influence of selfish goals on a person’s life
• Ways to fight greed

In the modern world, the desire for excessive wealth and prosperity is considered the norm. Many people already have a poor idea of ​​what greed is, how people treated it in the past, and what its role is in the modern world.

Is greed a character trait?

Life in the material world dictates its own rules. It is extremely difficult to imagine people who are able to completely give up money, comfort, pleasures and other “benefits of civilization.” But this is not necessary! Unless, of course, you practice strict asceticism or live in a secluded monastery, ashram, or monastery.

Hand on heart, it is worth admitting that truly modest individuals, devoid of acquisitive tendencies, are extremely rare in the 21st century, especially in megacities. But greed, greed, acquisitiveness, hoarding are quite common character traits of modern people.

Greedy people will suffer from “Plyushkin syndrome” or plunge into shopaholism. The former can hardly part with even things that are completely unsuitable for use, while the latter love to spend money on unnecessary purchases. Sound familiar? We invite you to talk about what greed is and how this character trait can affect the quality of life of any of us.

Meaning of the word greedy

Examples of the use of the word greedy in literature.

Some of these buyers become so greedy that their extortions consume most of the manufacturer's profits, so that the question arises: is it profitable to continue doing business with them?
It would be very unreasonable to invest nobility, benevolence and other good qualities into such an unworthy shell, and nature provided him with a soul quite consistent with his appearance, that is, low, selfish and greedy.

Here a greedy reddish light shone in the eyes of the Duke of Brabant.

And where will we get as much as we need for the greedy wives of the viziers, pashas, ​​and even for their numerous relatives?

Now he cast greedy glances across the Strait of Messina at the Carthaginian possessions in Sicily.

It was worth tearing them out of the greedy embrace of the crawlers in order to destroy them here, now.

There the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth continued to build its intrigues, and behind it the Habsburg Germans crowded in, greedily looking to the East.

The eyes of the guy with the knife blazed greedily, he licked his lips and looked at Victor memorably.

Claudia Karlstadt, the instrument of seduction with which the honorable Chaffee was destined for destruction, was a tall, slender blonde, still quite fresh, since she was barely twenty-six years old, and distinguished by that callousness and cruelty which are characteristic only of the most greedy and frivolous creatures. .

And all because the conquistadors, greedy for gold, criminally hiding behind the cross, managed to draw the curtain before anyone had time to properly understand what they found on the other side of the globe.

The negotiations were conducted in Valissari near Narva, and Kotoshikhin avidly observed the habits of the Swedish commissars: how Gustav Bjelke eats, how Count Bengt Horn drinks wine, and how beautifully they throw Brabant lace from their cuffs so as not to stain them when writing protocols.

She put all these treasures on sheaves of flax, which, if necessary, she would set on fire - let everything perish in the flames, so as not to fall to the greedy Octavian.

But a terrible moving slurry crawled from below, crawled, and there was no end to it - the exhausted, tormented and humiliated Earth itself was squeezing out billions of billions of black, shaking, greedy spiders from its insides.

What if Curley is wounded, lying in a dirty shack somewhere, if not already buried in a common grave, that is, stripped by greedy mortus and thrown into a dirty, hastily dug ditch?

Looking from above into the greedily sparkling pewter eyes and the diligently mincing paws, he suddenly remembered the silent dialogue with the stream.

Source: Maxim Moshkov library

Is greed a gift or a punishment?

The word “greed” has many interesting synonyms. You can find the archaic “love of money” or the more modern ones – “greed”, “stinginess”, “greed”, “acquisitiveness”.

From a psychological point of view, greed is an irrepressible desire to accumulate and increase material values, “seasoned” with the fear of losing what a person already possesses.

This character trait could be called completely neutral if it manifested itself as frugality, thrift, and the ability to save money. However, greed, unfortunately, knows no limits and can push a person obsessed with stinginess to act rashly. In pursuit of ever new profits or other benefits of our world, an individual is capable of committing dishonest acts and even illegal acts! And this is already serious.

Even if a person does not commit a crime, greed is a catalyst for such manifestations of character as anger, quarrelsomeness, timidity (we are talking about the fear of losing one’s property).

Greed (Greedy)

Greed (Greed) as a personality quality is a tendency to an insatiable, immoderate desire to possess some benefits.

A greedy man hid gold under a tree in the garden. Every week he dug up his treasure and spent hours admiring it. Soon the gold was stolen. When the owner did not find the gold, he began to scream loudly. Neighbors came running. When they found out what was the matter, someone asked: “Did you manage to use at least part of your gold?” “No, I was just looking at him,” answered the unfortunate man. “Well, then nothing is lost,” they answered him, “you might as well come every week and look at the hole in the ground.”

A person can only conditionally be called sincere, honest, insecure or greedy. A person, metaphorically speaking, is a bouquet of manifested qualities of the soul. There are other qualities in him little by little, but the unique flavor of individuality arises from the unique combination of qualities exhibited. However, there is one exception, which is called "Greed". If a person is greedy, then his other qualities can be neglected. In front of the gigantic dimensions of greed, all other qualities can hardly be examined under a microscope. On the grave of a hungry person, you can, without pretense, write an epitaph with the words of M. Lermontov: “I knew only the power of the Duma. One, but fiery passion: She lived in me like a worm, Gnawing my soul and burning it.”

An all-consuming desire, a manic passion for the possession of material wealth, perverts the soul and darkens the mind. The unbridled desire for unbridled hoarding destroys faith in the morality and decency of people. The soul turns to stone. There is nothing evil on earth for someone who is hungry. There are only stupid conventions that interfere with his irresistible attraction. The only thing that is of genuine interest to him is the subject of his passion. One would like to put gold or money instead of the object of passion, but this is the most common manifestation of greed.

This must be kept in mind. Greed is not limited only to the material sphere of life. It can develop in any direction. The cause of greed is the boundless desire of the soul to be happy.

. If a person’s life concept of happiness is based on a strong desire for material happiness, then he also has material greed. But there is also spiritual greed, greed for listening, greed for knowledge, greed for truth, and many others. “Blessed are those who hunger for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” says the Gospel of Matthew. This can also be understood this way: only spiritual greed is justified. It's a different matter when it comes to material greed.

The burning, indomitable lust for possession, uncontrolled by consciousness, is isolated from the personality, becoming its only life goal, turning it into a slave who does not even think about freedom from his passion. This is the essence of material greed.

Not every person can fall into the web of greed. Only a passionate, selfless, reckless, detached person capable of forgetting about himself can become her favorite.

Greed, like all qualities, has its opposite - extravagance or wastefulness. On the scale of Greed - Extravagance, personality traits that are intermediate in relation to them are comfortably located: stinginess, greed, thrift, prudence and generosity. The difference between them is the intensity of passions and style in relation to getting and spending money. For example, greed is the desire to increase the “currency” of one’s balance of goods. Stinginess is a “death grip” on what you have. No expenses. You can't beg for snow in winter - it's about stinginess. The biggest misfortune for stinginess is a decrease in balance sheet currency. Greed is a versatile nature - in arithmetic it loves adding and multiplying what you have and hates subtracting and dividing what you have. In other words, he strives to receive more and give less.

A prominent representative of greed is the moneylender Gobsek, the hero of O. Balzac. Gobsek is already nearly eighty years old. He rents two poor rooms in one of the gloomy, damp houses in Paris. He eats bread and coffee with milk, wears shabby clothes, and in his pantry there are mountains of food rotting, heaps of gold and silver are piled up, which he does not trust to the bank. The hungry Gobsek explains his philosophy of life with the words: “Of all earthly blessings,” said Gobsek, “there is only one that is reliable enough for a person to pursue it. Is this gold. My gaze is like the gaze of the Lord. I read in hearts; nothing is hidden from me, nothing is denied to the one who tightens and unties the money bag. I am rich enough to buy the conscience of those who manage ministers, from clerical servants to their mistresses. Isn't this power? I can, having the most beautiful women, enjoy their most tender caresses. Isn’t this pleasure?” Please note that greed does not need direct possession; it only needs the consciousness that it can have what it wants at any moment.

To confirm this statement, let's listen to A.S. Pushkin. The Baron, in his monologue, reveals the essence of greed so well that we reproduce it in its entirety: “Just as a young rake waits for a date with some crafty libertine or fool deceived by him, so I waited all day for minutes when I would go down to my secret basement, to the faithful chests. Happy day! Today I can pour a handful of accumulated gold into the sixth chest (the chest is still incomplete). Not much, it seems, but little by little the treasures are growing. I read somewhere that the king once ordered his soldiers to demolish the earth, handful by handful, into a heap, and the proud hill rose up - and the king could look from above with joy at the valley covered with white tents, and at the sea where the ships were running. So, bringing my usual tribute here to the basement, one poor handful at a time, I raised my hill - and from its height I can look at everything that is under my control. What is beyond my control? As a certain demon, I can now rule the world; As soon as I want, palaces will be erected; Nymphs will flock to my magnificent gardens in a playful crowd; and the muses will bring me their tribute, and free genius will enslave me, and virtue and sleepless labor will humbly await my reward. I will whistle, and bloody villainy will obediently, timidly crawl towards me, and will lick my hand, and look into my eyes, reading the sign of my will in them. Everything obeys me, but I obey nothing; I am above all desires; I am calm; I know my power: this consciousness is enough for me...” Here greed, as the general of all other qualities, brings vanity to the “carpet”.

In the basements of the baron and in the poor rooms of the moneylender, greed buried the hunted stupidity, recklessness, despair, love and compassion of other people in gold and bills. Greed perceives his suppliers as actors giving a theatrical performance for him, and himself as the inexorable inevitability of fate. At the same time, greed itself hates heirs and does not want to think that someone will become the owner of his treasures.

Greed is secretive, cautious, irritable and suspicious. What kind of self-control and caution one must have in order to, like Gobsek, refuse one’s own gold coin that fell out of one’s pocket and was kindly picked up by a neighbor. For everyone he is a beggar, so secrecy is paramount.

In Christianity, greed is considered one of the seven deadly sins, because it stimulates malice, anger, envy, and this leads to unpredictable consequences. A greedy soul is the beginning of all troubles. It provokes fear of loss and vents anger at possible competitors and pretenders to wealth. Greed can rightly be identified with the object of desire: a person is a bill of exchange, a person is gold, a person is money. Greed is a man with a cash register instead of a soul. An anecdote on topic. The girl is angry: “I don’t want to live with such a greedy beast like you. Here's your wedding ring! - “Where is the box?”

Greed is a vice, a disease that can begin in childhood. Listen to the tragic and instructive story from Treasure Island about the boy Bobby, who loved... yes, he loved money: “Bobby was a good boy from birth. Bobby had a hobby - he loved money. Loved and saved. All children, like children, live without worries, but Bobka doesn’t eat, Yes, he doesn’t eat or drink - he puts it in the piggy bank.” And so on until old age. What then? Then: The old man loved money very much, he lived from hand to mouth, he saved and saved. He was called to God to answer. There is money left, but grandfather is gone.

Before falling into the abyss of greed, a person would need to remember the words of Christ: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Petr Kovalev 2013 Other articles by the author: https://www.podskazki.info/karta-statej/

Are greed and greed synonymous?

How would you answer the question “What is greed?” You would most likely use the term "greedy".

In fact, these two words are synonyms, but their meanings are somewhat different. We most often use the word “greedy” when we talk about wealth and material values. But “greedy” has a broader meaning. Compare: greedy for knowledge, for attention, affection (love), but greedy for money (for money).

Linguists argue that the word “greedy” has a neutral connotation, while its synonym “greedy” has an openly negative connotation.

Greedy people: the reasons for this phenomenon

If we talk about this very briefly, then greed arises due to the substitution of life values. Modern man, being in the grip of mass culture, which is based on the theory of consumption, begins to seriously think that money and happiness are one and the same thing.

Greed can also manifest itself due to an overdeveloped ego. A stingy person asserts himself not through his own outstanding achievements or noble deeds, but through acquisitiveness and hoarding.

It’s not for nothing that Sigmund Freud argued that the causes of all our problems should be sought in childhood! Greed is no exception. Let's say that the child's parents were extremely busy with their own careers or personal lives. They did not have the time (energy, opportunity) to take care of the child and instead the child received expensive gifts as the equivalent of love. It is clear that this attitude will “work” in adult life! Such a person can measure any manifestations of feelings and emotions by material resources.

You will be interested to know how to attract luck and money.

Causes of greed

The meaning of greed must be considered in close connection with the concept of egoism, that is, thinking that forms behavior that is determined by the priority of one’s interests and is aimed at achieving one’s own benefit.

All people are selfish. But it has a different meaning for each person in relation to other ideas. One person openly shows his selfishness and does not pay attention to the interests of others. For another person, selfishness becomes such an insignificant factor that it is replaced by altruism - selfless concern for others. See selflessness.

Selfishness is aimed at taking care of oneself while ignoring the interests of others. This self-care is manifested in the desire to earn good money, eat deliciously, dress beautifully, live in a comfortable home, travel, and be in a relationship with a worthy partner.

Under normal conditions, such selfishness and its manifestations are the norm. But if there are disturbances in the perception of the surrounding world caused by underdeveloped personality, human selfishness begins to manifest itself in greed.

Personal development means that a person is complete and self-sufficient. He understands that for comfort he needs a specific set of factors:

• good and interesting work;
• a certain amount of material assets (apartment, car, dacha);
• financial stability;
• happy family, healthy parents, children and spouse;
• a hobby that allows you to develop.

A self-sufficient person strives to achieve these adequate goals; he does not need excesses, because he understands that they do not make sense for a normal life. This is an indicator of the absence of greed.

But if a person’s holistic perception of life is impaired, the person feels dissatisfaction and inferiority. The reasons for the development of such a situation may be upbringing, life failures and traumatic situations, physical characteristics and complexes (nose shape, short stature, etc.).

A person looks for ways to make up for dissatisfaction and inferiority. Often, disturbances in the perception of life occur unconsciously, that is, the individual does not connect the desire to achieve heights at work with the problem of short stature. The desire for wealth may be a consequence of the unattainability of children's ideas about a fairy-tale life with a beloved princess in their kingdom. According to this scheme, a transformation of thinking occurs, which begins to focus on enrichment and profit.

Another aspect that influences the emergence of greed is competitiveness and competition. These principles are the basis of modern life. From birth, a child is taught that he should be better, faster and stronger in all areas. People have a stereotype that the desire to win and be better drives progress.

This mechanism of competition was developed by evolution, when a person was exposed to numerous dangers and was limited in food. It ensured the survival of the individual and his group.

In modern society, a person is not exposed to so many dangers; under normal conditions, he is not threatened with hunger, he is provided with medicine and other achievements of progress. But he is still instilled with a competitive mindset from birth. A person strives to be richer, to have more values ​​than his neighbor, to get ahead of him in the accumulation of material wealth. This is the nature of the phenomenon under consideration.

Greed, as already mentioned, is formed as a result of upbringing.

The desire for profit may be a consequence of syllogomania - a condition characterized by a pathological desire for hoarding, the senseless collection of things. Syllogomania arises due to a lack of material attention in childhood from parents, poverty, and psychological trauma, expressed in a feeling of uselessness to others. The individual seeks to compensate for such conditions by hoarding, which can develop into greed.

Greed is a mortal sin. Is it so?

As we know, in the Christian religion there are 7 main sins, called mortal sins. Greed in this “top” is in second place, after pride.

There is an opinion, including among spiritual thinkers, that the cause of greed is an unfulfilled need to feel safe. Suppose a person whom everyone behind his back calls Plyushkin or, even worse, Gobsek, simply does not feel confident in his material security. That is why he drags all sorts of rubbish from the trash heap into the house, skimps on spending money on basic things, and tries to earn money by hook or by crook.

Thus, it turns out that greed may be a sin, but a greedy person is more likely a victim of circumstances.

A greedy person: how to recognize him?

We figured out a little about what greed is and what are the reasons for the development of this property of nature. The next step is to conduct a “diagnosis” and find out who from your environment falls into the category of individuals obsessed with stinginess and acquisitiveness. Although, perhaps, you can recognize yourself by reading these points.

• A greedy person always saves on everything, and, first of all, on himself. New things are bought only when they are completely out of order. Treat yourself to something new or something nice? For a greedy person this is an unacceptable luxury.
• A cheapskate is not the easiest person to talk to. A greedy woman will always be dissatisfied with the income of her lover, while a man obsessed with greed will demand an account from his missus for every penny spent.
• Food is a fairly significant part of our budget, isn’t it? A stingy person always saves on food! He doesn’t buy what he really loves, chooses products that are about to expire, and “hunts” for discounts and promotional offers.
• Why pay if friends, relatives, colleagues are always nearby? This is roughly how a self-interested person argues. If there is an opportunity to save on services by turning to loved ones for help, such a person will always choose this option.
• Do you think greed will allow you to give generous gifts to loved ones and friends? Of course not! If a greedy type does something similar, he tries to reduce expenses to a minimum.
• The last item on our checklist is visiting. Greedy people do not like to receive guests, but they themselves come for a courtesy visit without warning. They know that when visiting, you can profit from something delicious!

The influence of selfish goals on a person’s life

A greedy person is not born that way. A mindset focused on profit is formed in him gradually. Selfishness can manifest itself under the influence of upbringing, copying parental behavior and experience. If the parents directed all their activities towards accumulating wealth, all conversations at home concerned the topic of profit and profit, and this happened in the presence of the child, he will copy and adopt this behavior and thinking.

The formation of this personality trait is greatly influenced by the rules and regulations of the social group in which the child, and later the adult, is located. If a person lives in a group whose main value is the desire for wealth and profit, the child will consider this attitude to be the norm. Having matured, an individual may find himself in different conditions, but his thinking and life guidelines will remain the same. He will be greedy.

The desire for profit gives rise to many other negative personal manifestations:

1. Greed is an immoderate desire for possession or consumption, which is generated by competition, the spirit of rivalry with others. Rivalry can be conscious or unconscious. Avarice and greed are closely related to each other.
2. Envy is a feeling and the behavior it generates, which manifests itself in the desire to take possession of something that one does not have, that belongs to another.
3. Self-interest is the focus of thinking and behavior on money, wealth, personal gain. This personality characteristic can manifest itself openly, or it can be veiled by good intentions.
4. Unprincipled. A person renounces his beliefs and neglects moral standards to gain profit.
5. Fears and phobias. The individual is afraid of missing out on profits, and even greater fears arise when wealth appears. A money lover is afraid of losing his valuables.

Greed transforms feelings of compassion and pity. Many selfish people have completely “killed” their ability to have compassion and pity. For most money-grubbers, this feeling manifests itself selectively. It is completely absent from people who stand in the way of getting rich and achieving their goals.

But such a person will emphasize his nobility in matters that do not affect his aspirations for enrichment. Self-interest manifests itself here, the individual does things that are potentially profitable.

People who strive for profit are rarely happy. Even if they become wealthy, rich and influential. The human essence is aimed at living in society, that is, next to other people. Such coexistence implies exchange, a person needs to share, give something to others. This is where the happiness of love and your significance lies.

A greedy individual cannot share, give and give without self-interest. This contradicts his worldview. And when a person does not share with others, his main vital function, which was embedded in the subconscious by evolution, does not work. Such a person experiences discomfort and cannot be happy.

The main danger of greed is that it encourages you to commit actions that are unacceptable in society. Selfishness, greed and the desire for profit blur the line between one’s own and someone else’s, leveling out the concept of the values ​​and interests of others. This kind of thinking pushes people to commit crimes; the individual becomes envious and unprincipled.

Thinking aimed at making money by any means does not promise a successful result. Money-grubbers do not always become rich and prosperous. Often, an excessive desire for profit begins to manifest itself clearly and becomes the cause of problems in achieving enrichment goals. Even if a self-interested person has achieved financial prosperity, his personal life does not work out. Greedy people cannot boast of mutual love, sincere relationships or happiness. Such individuals find themselves alone, without family and friends.

How to deal with greed?

To fight something, you need to know its source. Greed is born from a person’s lack of confidence in himself and his importance. An illusion is created, as if without a fortune, this or that person will not have weight in society, without which it is impossible to achieve recognition.

In fact, the significance of a figure depends not on external factors, but on the personality as a whole. And here we are not talking about banal good nature. If it’s interesting to communicate with a person and spend time, then “rich scenery” is the last thing that will bother others. As soon as the uncertainty about your importance disappears, the need to create expensive surroundings for yourself will disappear.

To do this, it is enough to focus on spiritual resources: develop versatility, read interesting literature, look for new interests and hobbies, find zest in even the simplest little things - in a word, become interesting to yourself without financial resources.

The main thing to remember is that money is an auxiliary attribute to achieving intangible goals. In addition, the main weapon against greed is generosity, which includes not only finances, but also a person’s time and energy. The ability to share is the greatest wealth of the human soul, and this is one of the important points in the thinking of rich people.

conclusions

An unhealthy attitude towards money in the form of stinginess, excessive prudence and greed is a psychological illness widespread throughout the world.

This is the same addiction, only from money. Before condemning such people, you should remember that this is not a quality of the soul, but an acquired problem that can be overcome if desired. If treatment for this addiction is not started in time, advanced cases will lead to disastrous results.

First of all, the health and nervous system will be greatly affected, irreversible processes will begin to activate, as a result of which a person will no longer be able to return to a healthy state of mind and body.

By working on your weaknesses, you can get rid of any shortcomings. And knowing your hidden talents, you can enhance their self-realization. Do you want to learn how to build your natal chart to see your hidden potential and purpose, know your weak and strong points and upgrade them to avoid many problems? Watch our free master class, where we will tell you how to create your own individual horoscope and learn how to fulfill your desires using a special technique.

Ways to fight greed

Greed is a dynamic character trait, a feature of thinking. The desire for profit can increase or decrease. This phenomenon is reversible and, if desired, a person can get rid of it.

A common problem in the fight against greed is a person’s reluctance to understand that he has a problem, as well as the lack of intentions to change himself for the better. If the desire to become better is present, you can achieve results quite quickly.

It is necessary to restructure thinking in accordance with a different scale of values. Through conversations and clear examples, it is worth showing that wealth and material wealth are not the main thing in life. There is no point in constantly chasing values; there are more pleasant things to do in life.

Push a greedy person to take actions during which he will help others. Such actions will help to clearly demonstrate the pleasure a person feels when helping others. It is worth developing creative hobbies in an individual and expanding one’s horizons.

An important aspect of the fight against greed is identifying the reasons for the development of thinking focused on obtaining material wealth. This is a very difficult task. If a person has a complex, you need to fight it. If there were problematic moments in childhood, it is worth resolving them with the help of psychotherapeutic techniques. It is also important to show the prospects of greed - loneliness, isolation, fears.