What drives people to chase more than they need?
Greed isn’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes, it’s hidden in our habits, our choices, even our relationships. You might be here because you’ve seen how greed can strain trust, cloud values, or damage connections. Or maybe you’ve felt it within yourself—wanting more, even when enough should be enough.
Quotes about greed help you pause. They hold up a mirror. They remind us what really matters.
What Greed Quotes Teach About Human Behavior
Quotes give language to the things we often feel but don’t say. They simplify complex emotions. They offer perspective. They make you stop and think.
When you read a quote that hits hard, it can reset your mindset. It can shift your focus from more to enough. From taking to giving.
Without that pause, it’s easy to stay stuck in the cycle. Wanting. Grasping. Comparing. Over time, greed—left unchecked—can lead to resentment, loneliness, and burnout.
But regularly reflecting on quotes helps you return to balance. They keep your values front and center. They don’t just teach. They remind.
Try Innertune for Free Try Innertune for FreePowerful Greed Quotes That Reveal Human Nature
- “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” – Erich Fromm
- “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “There is no calamity greater than lavish desires.” – Lao Tzu
- “Greed is not a financial issue. It’s a heart issue.” – Andy Stanley
- “The world says: ‘You have needs—satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Don’t hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more.’ This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky
- “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” – Gordon Gekko (Wall Street, written by Oliver Stone and Stanley Weiser)
- “Greed has taken the whole universe, and nobody is worried about their soul.” – Little Richard
- “When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.” – Shirley Chisholm
- “The lust for power, for dominating others, inflames the worst passions of man.” – Baruch Spinoza
- “Nothing satisfies greed, but everything feeds it.” – Publilius Syrus
- “There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.” – Oscar Wilde
- “We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours.” – Dag Hammarskjöld
- “The love of money is the root of all evil.” – 1 Timothy 6:10 (Bible)
- “The more you have, the more you are occupied. The less you have, the more free you are.” – Mother Teresa
- “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” – Seneca
- “He who is greedy is always in want.” – Horace
- “If your desires are not great, a little will seem much to you; for small appetite makes poverty equivalent to wealth.” – Democritus
- “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” – Socrates
- “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.” – William Pitt the Elder
Quotes About Greed and Selfishness to Reflect On
- “Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.” – Oscar Wilde
- “Selfishness is the root and source of all natural evil.” – William E. Gladstone
- “The more one has, the more one wants.” – French Proverb
- “Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race.” – William E. Gladstone
- “Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves.” – Stephen Kendrick
- “A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor’s.” – Richard Whately
- “Covetousness swells with acquisition, and eats not bread, but men.” – William Blake
- “The greedy search for wealth causes more suffering than any two sins one can name.” – Edward Counsel
- “Selfishness comes from poverty in the heart, from the belief that love is not abundant.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
- “Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
- “Greed is a fat demon with a small mouth and whatever you feed it is never enough.” – Janwillem van de Wetering
- “A selfish man is a thief.” – José Martí
- “Selfishness is one of the qualities apt to inspire love.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne
- “He who does not think much of himself is much less likely to be selfish.” – C.S. Lewis
- “Selfishness is not self-love, but an absence of it.” – Henry Cloud
- “The world is not ruined by the wickedness of the wicked, but by the weakness of the good.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
- “The love of money grows as the money itself grows.” – Juvenal
- “The habit of being uniformly considerate toward others will bring increased happiness to you.” – Grenville Kleiser
- “There is no vice which mankind carries to such wild extremes as that of avarice.” – Jonathan Swift
- “It is not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It is necessary.” – Mandy Hale
Greed Quotes for Relationships and Inner Peace
- “The desire for gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “The things you own end up owning you.” – Chuck Palahniuk
- “A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.” – Joseph Addison
- “Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” – Erich Fromm
- “Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” – Proverbs 14:30 (Bible)
- “The pursuit of possessions is never-ending and leads only to dissatisfaction.” – Richard Foster
- “Inner peace doesn’t come from getting what we want, but from remembering who we are.” – Marianne Williamson
- “True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice.” – Sadhu Vaswani
- “Greed is the destroyer of love, the enemy of contentment.” – Sri Chinmoy
- “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa
- “Nothing brings peace faster than letting go of the need to be right.” – Wayne Dyer
- “Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.” – Khalil Gibran
- “To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach
- “My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants.” – J. Brotherton
- “Avarice blinds our eyes; we can’t see the sufficiency in simplicity.” – Thomas Aquinas
- “Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.” – Simone Weil
- “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.” – James Allen
- “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
- “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” – Coco Chanel
Karma and Greed Quotes That Speak the Truth
- “As she has planted, so does she harvest; such is the field of karma.” – Sri Guru Granth Sahib
- “How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.” – Wayne Dyer
- “Just try to make the world a better place for your having been in it.” – Jimmy Carter
- “Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate.” – Charlie Chaplin
- “Karma is not punishment or reward. It is a neutral sequence of acts, consequences, and lessons.” – Sadhguru
- “Men often mistake killing and revenge for justice. They seldom have the stomach for true justice.” – Robert Jordan
- “Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without in himself.” – Henry Ward Beecher
- “Karma moves in two directions. If we act virtuously, the seed we plant will result in happiness. If we act non-virtuously, suffering results.” – Sakyong Mipham
- “Avarice is insatiable, and is always pushing on for more.” – Cicero
- “Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.” – Edwin Hubbel Chapin
- “If you dig one ditch, you better dig two. Cause the trap you set just may be for you.” – Lyfe Jennings
- “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21 (Bible)
- “People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become.” – Oscar Wilde
- “You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.” – Buddha
- “Karma, when properly understood, is just the mechanics through which consciousness manifests.” – Deepak Chopra
- “Greed brings grief. Giving brings grace.” – Unknown
- “The greedy man is incontent with a hundred, and a thousand cannot satisfy him.” – George Swinnock
- “With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, your values become your destiny.” – Mahatma Gandhi
- “The meaning of karma is in the intention. The intention behind action is what matters.” – Bhagavad Gita
Reflecting on Greed and What It Reveals About You
How often do you stop and ask yourself why you want more?
Think about the last time you felt like what you had wasn’t enough. Was it about money, recognition, approval, or something else?
Did that feeling bring peace or did it leave you unsettled?
Quotes about greed help interrupt that cycle. They ask you to pause. They push you to look deeper. They remind you to question whether the pursuit is helping or hurting.
When you reflect on these quotes regularly, you build awareness. You recognize the signs before they spiral. You return to what matters — honesty, gratitude, connection.
That’s when quotes become more than words. They become a tool for living with intention.
Moving Forward with Wisdom from Greed Quotes
Greed clouds the mind. Reflection clears it.
You’ve seen how simple quotes can spark clarity. They help you notice where desire has taken over and where you can choose a different path.
Use these quotes often. Write them down. Keep them visible. When the urge to want more creeps in, return to them. Let them keep you grounded in what really matters.
