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Dictionary:

greed

  (grēd) pronunciation
n.

An excessive desire to acquire or possess more than what one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth: “Many . . . attach to competition the stigma of selfish greed” (Henry Fawcett).

[Back-formation from GREEDY.]


 
 
Thesaurus: greed

noun

    Excessive desire for more than one needs or deserves: acquisitiveness, avarice, avariciousness, avidity, covetousness, cupidity, graspingness. Informal grabbiness. See desire, give/take/reciprocity.

 
Antonyms: greed

n

Definition: overwhelming desire for more
Antonyms: benevolence, generosity, temperance


 

Quotes:

"Men hate the individual whom they call avaricious only because nothing can be gained from him." - Voltaire

"The point is that you can't be too greedy." - Donald Trump

"It is of the nobility of man's soul that he is insatiable: for he hath a benefactor so prone to give, that he delighteth in us for asking. Do not your inclinations tell you that the WORLD is yours? Do you not covet all? Do you not long to have it; to enjoy it; to overcome it? To what end do men gather riches, but to multiply more? Do they not like Pyrrhus the King of Epire, add house to house and lands to lands, that they may get it all?" - Thomas Traherne

"He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise." - Henry David Thoreau

"Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires. All wars are undertaken for the acquisition of wealth; and the reason why we have to acquire wealth is the body, because we are slaves in its service." - Socrates

"Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself are much condemned to have an itching palm." - William Shakespeare

See more famous quotes about Greed

 
Wikipedia: greed


Greed is the selfish desire for or pursuit of money, wealth, food, or other possessions, especially when this denies the same goods to others. It is generally considered a vice, and is one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism. (People who do not view unconstrained acquisitiveness as a vice will generally use a word other than greed, which has strong negative connotations.)

Some desire to increase one's wealth is nearly universal and acceptable in any culture, but this simple want is not considered greed. Greed is the extreme form of this desire, especially where one desires things simply for the sake of owning them. Greed may entail acquiring material possessions at the expense of another person's welfare (for example, a father buying himself a new car rather than fix the roof of his family's home) or otherwise reflect flawed priorities.

Coveting another person's goods is usually called envy, a word commonly confused with jealousy. The two words denote opposite forms of greed. We may envy and wish to have the possessions or qualities of another, but we jealously guard the possessions or qualities we believe we have and refuse to share these with others. Greed for food or drink, combined with excessive indulgence in them, is called gluttony. Excessive greed for and indulgence in sex is called lust, although this term no longer carries as negative connotations as it once did.

Greed is sometimes represented by the frog.

A woodcut by Ugo da Carpi, is entitled "Hercules Chasing Avarice from the Temple of the Muses." [1]. Thomas Aquinas metaphorically described the sin of Avarice as "Mammon being carried up from Hell by a wolf, coming to inflame the human heart with Greed".

Proponents of laissez-faire capitalism sometimes argue that greed should not be considered a negative trait and should instead be embraced, as they claim that greed is a profoundly benevolent force in human affairs, as well as a necessary foundation for the capitalist system. Critics have argued this definition confuses greed with self-interest, which can be benign.

Greed vs. Happiness

Buddhists believe greed is based on incorrectly connecting material wealth with happiness. This is caused by a view that exaggerates the positive aspects of an object; that is, acquiring material objects has less impact than we imagine on our feelings of happiness. This view has been correlated by studies in the field of happiness economics, which confirm that beyond the provision of a basic level of material comfort, more wealth does not create greater happiness.

Greed and Idolatry

Greed is a form of idolatry, according to the Bible (Colossians 3:5). While some have had difficulty understanding this connection, the most common explanation is that the greedy person values money or possessions more than God. This may also be connected with worship of the golden calf.

See also


External links


 
Translations: Translations for: Greed

Dansk (Danish)
n. - grådighed, begærlighed

Nederlands (Dutch)
gulzigheid, hebzucht

Français (French)
n. - avidité, gourmandise

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gier, Habsucht, Freßgier

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - απληστία, πλεονεξία, λαιμαργία

Italiano (Italian)
cupidigia, avidità

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ganância (f), voracidade (f)

Русский (Russian)
жадность, алчность, прожорливость

Español (Spanish)
n. - glotonería, avidez, gula, avaricia, codicia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - glupskhet, penningbegär

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
贪欲, 贪婪

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 貪欲, 貪婪

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 탐욕, 폭식

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 貪欲, 強欲

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) جشع, طمع‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אהבת בצע, תאווה, נטייה לצבירת רכוש‬


 
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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2008 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Quotes About. Copyright © 2005 QuotationsBook.com. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Greed" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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