Topic : Greed

If you’ve ever heard someone vow, “If I were rich, I’d give away most of my money,” don’t bank on it. The stats show that people with higher incomes give away a smaller percentage of their wealth.

Ron Blue, Storm Shelter, Thomas Nelson Publ., quoted in New Man, March/April 1995, p. 16

A notorious miser was called on by the chairman of the community charity. “Sir,” said the fund-raiser, “our records show that despite your wealth, you’ve never once given to our drive.”

“Do your records show that I have an elderly mother who was left penniless when my father died? fumed the tightwad. “Do your records show that I have a disabled brother who is unable to work? Do your records show I have a widowed sister with small children who can barely make ends meet?”

“No, sir,” replied the embarrassed volunteer. “Our records don’t show those things.”

“Well, I don’t give to any of them, so why should I give anything to you?”

Landon Parvin in Leaders, quoted in Readers Digest, May 1996, pp. 67-68.

What are you willing to do for $10,000,000? Two-thirds of Americans polled would agree to at least one, some to several of the following:

• Would abandon their entire family (25%)
• Would abandon their church (25%)
• Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)
• Would give up their American citizenship (16%)
• Would leave their spouses (16%)
• Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)
• Would kill a stranger (7%)
• Would put their children up for adoption (3%)

James Patterson and Peter Kim, The Day America Told the Truth, 1991

• Greed is “the logical result of the belief that there is no life after death. We grab what we can while we can however we can and then hold on to it hard.”

Sir Fred Catherwood, Evangelicals Now, September, 1994

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. He wanted more of everything. One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown.

Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared. He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes he was dead.

Afterwards, his servants dug a grave. It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide. The title of Tolstoy's story was: How Much Land Does a Man Need?

Bits and Pieces, November, 1991

• Charles Swindoll, Living Above the Level of Mediocrity, pp.150ff

Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ringtailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can’t get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.

Source unknown

In his lifetime Lord Ripon of England (1852-1923) killed 556,813 head of game. Even assuming he’d shot for six days a week during every season from the time he was 15, it would have meant killing an average of 67 creatures every day. Among his records: A stopwatch clocked him as he shot 28 pheasant in 60 seconds. He also brought down 575 grouse in one day, killed 52 partridge with 50 shots and nailed 115 pheasant in 10 minutes. During off-season he practiced on bumblebees and butterflies. He seemed obsessed with a compulsion to kill, even when the carcasses were wasted. Each season Ripon himself used 30,000 cases of bullets and a ton of shot. His manners on the field were notoriously despotic. He always insisted on the best positions, often fudged on boundary lines and was not above putting a few pellets in the legs of his sluggish hired help. Every year he printed a score card which totaled all the game he’d downed and mailed it to all his acquaintances. On the day of his death he downed 53 grouse.

Source unknown

She owns a string of hotels. She owns the Empire State Building. She is a billionaire. Yet, in September 1989 Leona Mindy Rosenthal Helmsley was convicted of 33 counts of tax evasion, for which she faces the possibility of being sent to prison for 100 years. According to Time magazine, she emerged as a penny-pinching tyrant who tried to stiff just about everybody. No amount of money was too small to fight over. After the sudden death of her only son at age 40 in 1982, she sued and won the lion’s share of his estate, $149,000, leaving his four children with $432 each and his widow with $2,171.

Source unknown