“It
is not so much because of need that gold has become an object of desire
among men, as because of the power it gives most people to indulge in
sensual pleasure. There are three things which produce love of material
wealth: self-indulgence, self-esteem and lack of faith. Lack of faith
is more dangerous than the other two.
The self-indulgent person loves wealth because it enables
him to live comfortably; the person full of self-esteem loves it because
through it he can gain the esteem of others; the person who lacks faith
loves it because, fearful of starvation, old age, disease, or exile, he
can save it and hoard it. He puts his trust in wealth rather than in
God, the Creator who provides for all creation, down to the least of
living things.
There are four kinds of men who hoard wealth: the three
already mentioned and the treasurer or bursar. Clearly, it is only the
last who conserves it for a good purpose–namely, so as always to have
the means of supplying each person’s basic needs.”
+ St. Maximos the Confessor, Four Hundred Texts on Love 3.16-19, The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 2)
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