What is the difference between greed and stinginess: the difference between stingy and greedy

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Pathologically thrifty people, in their desire to get as much as possible and give as little as possible, sometimes reach the point of absurdity, therefore, as the famous proverb says, the stingy have to pay double. This character trait is frowned upon and often confused with greed. But these concepts have some differences.

Traits of stinginess

Stinginess is not synonymous with such a positive character quality as frugality. If a thrifty individual is able to manage funds wisely, as well as control income and expenses, then a stingy person (miser) does not want to spend money at all, neither on himself nor on others.

A real miser experiences true pleasure from accumulating material wealth. Such a person experiences satisfaction only from the possession of these resources. When they are spent, great disappointment sets in. It doesn’t matter whether money is spent on primary needs or “wasted.” A pathological miser will regret the loss, and will not experience any joy from a new thing or purchased service.

Main differences between the concepts

When they say about a person that he is stingy, selfish or greedy, they basically mean the same thing. An image of a person immediately appears who is trying to gain control of as much wealth as possible and remain their sole administrator.

What is the difference between greed and stinginess:

• The miser and the self-seeker strive to accumulate funds. But, if for the first, accumulation and retention are an end in itself, then the second wants to own cash to feed his own egoism.
• A stingy person often denies himself anything: he wears things out to holes, even if he has money to update his wardrobe. A greedy person does not like to deny himself anything, so he is able to spend a large amount of material money, but only for personal needs.
• Both the miser and the greedy do not like to give things away, but if the stingy one simply seeks to preserve his own savings, then in the case of aggressive greed, the person will also want to take someone else’s.

A greedy person is a self-seeking person who does not want to give what is his, but wants to take what is someone else’s. And a stingy person is a miser who accumulates his own wealth, but basically does not lay claim to the benefits of others. Both of the considered character qualities are negative and if they are detected in the personality structure, it is necessary to work long and diligently on oneself.

Definition in the dictionary

In the dictionary we see two interpretations of the word “self-interest”.

• The first of them - modern - is the thirst for profit.
• The second meaning of “self-interest” is outdated - profit, income, benefit.

That is, before the word did not have a negative connotation, it was neutral, reflecting only one side of the business relationship. Now it refers to characterizing the qualities of individual people and not at all from the good side.

The conflictologist's dictionary gives a more detailed understanding of what self-interest is. This is a person’s passion for acquisition, the constant desire to make money, greed for wealth, for money, greed for big profits.

What is frugality?

What is frugality? When considering the difference between stinginess, greed and frugality, it is worth first understanding how these points differ and why for many years all of these were considered synonymous and had negative connotations.

Thrift is a skill acquired in social circles that implies responsible consumption of goods and services, as well as natural resources. As a result, money and natural resources are consumed measuredly and in the quantities that a given person really needs.

Please note that each person has individual needs, and therefore there simply cannot be a single formula for life and expenses.

At the same time, in our society there is an overabundance of goods and services, and there are also a lot of things whose value is prohibitively inflated. In order for everything to remain in its place, the rich to get rich, and the poor to obediently work for the benefit of the rich, false concepts are artificially introduced that make people uncontrollably desire something new as soon as they achieve something.

People are also taught that a happy life is synonymous with a wasteful life, so that stinginess and frugality are common nouns, and wastefulness and living one day at a time is the dream of millions.

A shining example of frugality

Let's give an example of frugality in the context of everyday life:

• A person takes a shower instead of a bath to save natural resources, as well as his budget. Moreover, if he is frozen on a frosty street, then he will probably be ready to run himself a hot bath to prevent a cold;
• In a store, when choosing kefir, a person chooses a product with a low price, but with conditions: short-term shelf life, freshness of kefir, and packaging in tetra-pack or glass (since he is careful with nature and refuses plastic, even if it is cheaper) ;
• Buys exactly as much clothing as is required to wear. The closet of such a person is not bursting with an overabundance of clothes, since there is no need for this. And even if there is an item in the closet that a person realizes that he does not want to wear (a fashion has passed, he no longer likes it, the size has changed), then instead of a trash can, the item will go for sale or to charity.

A thrifty person respects his money, does not throw it away, but also does not put it at the top of the pyramid.

In offices, thrifty people are the first to abandon paper documentation in favor of digital technologies, as this saves both monetary and environmental resources. At the same time, consumption remains reasonable, and if necessary, a person can easily bear the necessary additional costs, for example, for printing the necessary documentation upon request.

One of the brightest representatives of frugality is Steve Jobs. He spent most of his life wearing the same jeans and turtlenecks, believing that his thrifty attitude towards clothes, time and money freed up space for the discovery of new heights. His home was large, but modestly furnished, exclusively as required for the family.

Signs of a stingy person

There is no clear definition of stinginess. This quality can begin to develop in childhood and continue its further active development in adulthood.

At first, a child may be thrifty, avoiding spending his own resources and sharing them with others. Subsequently, he acquires a desire to accumulate, becomes self-interested, and looks at everything from the position of obtaining possible profit. Have you read what greed is?

One of the hallmarks of a stingy person is his deliberate deprivation of material goods: he can walk in rags, eat scraps, and store gold and jewelry in closets that he does not want to share with anyone. It is important that such a person does not use them himself. He can be called a miser, over whom material values ​​have prevailed; they guide his entire life. Stingy people can be very wealthy, but often this is not noticeable. Their wealth does not benefit them or others.

Acquisitiveness

Stinginess is often associated with stupidity, because such people do not understand the full extent of their situation. The tactics they have chosen are a road to nowhere. They are rich in fact, but poor in soul. They often remain single for the rest of their lives because they have not realized that the principle “the more you give, the more you gain” is always relevant. These people are selfish people who think only about themselves. A stingy person rarely finds happiness, and his wealth often becomes a burden to him or eventually turns into decay.

Causes of Greed

They lie in personality flaws. An excessive desire to get rich can occur for the following reasons:

1. Feelings of inferiority. Disturbances in the harmonious development of personality, as a consequence of mental trauma in childhood, can provoke a desire to compensate for the negative with money.
2. The desire for unhealthy competition. Here the stereotype of thinking “to be richer, smarter and better than everyone else” has formed.
3. Excessive love for work. If a person is a workaholic, then gluttony for work can turn into a painful desire to earn all the money in the world.
4. The desire to possess something or someone. For this reason, a person can show greed constantly or for some time until he takes possession of the object of desire.

How to become generous?

What can be called generosity? This is when you can spend something without sparing your strength, time, without regretting it in the future, never remembering it to this person and trying not to remember it even within yourself. A selfless person gives preference to being well-fed when he himself is hungry.

First of all, you need to remember all the names of the Almighty and realize how Generous and Rich, Caring and Merciful he is; look at nature, how generously He has given us with it, take an example from Him and completely rely on Him. “... Allah grants sustenance, without counting, to whomever He wishes” (the meaning of verse 212 of Surah Al-Baqarah); “There is not a single living creature on earth that the Lord has not provided with food...” (the meaning of verse 6 of Surah Hud).

Do not forget that the owner of everything on Earth is the Almighty, not people. Therefore, when sharing something with others, we are not giving our property, but the property of the Almighty, which He gave us for temporary use. One of the hadiths says: “Truly, you are given support and food due to the fact that among you there are weak people (without relatives, material wealth or health) people” (Imam Ahmad).

Next, you need to know that you first need to take care of your position, so as not to find yourself begging from others. Then worry about relatives, and only then about friends and acquaintances. “The servants of the Merciful are those who do not waste (so as not to be asked) and do not skimp, but spend moderately” (the meaning of verse 67 of Surah Al-Furqan). One of the hadiths says: “Truly, the keys to worldly possessions are located next to the Arsh, and the Almighty sends them to His servants as they spend. To the extent that you are generous to your family, Allah ﷻ sends you the keys to worldly inheritance .

It is also important to remember that wealth is material and there is spiritual. Sometimes it is much more important to share intangible things: a smile, a hug, kindness, attention, forgiveness, honesty in relationships with others, praise at the right time, words of comfort and guidance when needed, help in starting a family, help in finding a job, learning something. , and simply the willingness to spend time with another person are all types of generosity that do not require material wealth. Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever has property, let him give alms (saadaka) from his property. If he is not there, let him give knowledge. If there is no knowledge and property, but there is strength (physical capabilities), let him help by force . Abdullah ibn Mubarak said: “The generosity of the soul, expressed in giving up other people’s property, is more valuable than the generosity expressed in donating one’s own property.”

Sufism will help cleanse the heart of vices. How much he ennobles the hearts of people can be seen in one illustrative story.

They say that a certain king said to his vizier: “Scholars are better in condition and hearts than Sufis.” But the vizier objected and then added: “We will test them in two cases.” He sent one man with several thousand dirhams to the madrasah and ordered to tell the scientists: “The king ordered me to give these dirhams to the most worthy and perfect of you. So who is he? One of them said: “It’s me!”, and the other objected: “He deceived, I’m the most worthy!” So each of them began to dispute that he was the best. Then the messenger said: “I cannot determine the most worthy of you,” and did not give this money to anyone. He returned and told about what happened. Then the vizier sent these funds to the abode of the Sufis, who did exactly the opposite of what the scientists did. Each of them said: “He is better than me! He is more worthy than me! The vizier gave the sword to the messenger and told him: “Go to the abode of the Sufis and tell them: “The king ordered me to cut off the head of your leader. Who is this? One of them said, “I’m in charge,” and the other said, “No, I am.” Everyone responded the same way, giving preference to the lives of others and sacrificing themselves to preserve the life of their comrade. The messenger, unable to determine which of them was the leader, returned back and told about what had happened. Then he was sent with a sword to the scientists, who did the opposite of what the Sufis did. This argument of the vizier turned out to be more powerful than the king’s argument.

The consequences of human greed

Let's divide all the possible consequences into two groups based on the “for whom” criterion. These groups are: consequences for the greedy; consequences for others. Some will be probable, depending on many factors. There will also be those who, in 9 out of 10 cases, overtake any greedy person or people who somehow interact or come into contact with him.

Here is a group of consequences that petty people who are greedy can and even often face:

• suffers from psychosomatics . Constant worries about hoarding, collecting, preserving, saving and similar things and actions can actually negatively affect your physical condition. Psychosomatics itself is about this, explaining the influence of feelings and emotions, experiences on a person’s general health;
• pathological refusal to satisfy one's own needs . Often people who are greedy deliberately deprive themselves of joys in order to gain satisfaction from saving, from the fact that they did not spend something on what they needed. Depriving yourself of joy can be expressed in refusing to buy new things, refusing to go on vacation abroad, and more. A particular extreme case should be considered unjustified savings on food products, when, for example, a person deprives himself of a good piece of cheese for 300 rubles, choosing as an alternative a cheese product for 70 rubles, which does not contain milk, only its substitutes and harmful oils. Greedy people also save on their own leisure time;
• unwillingness to help . The close circle (family, friends) suffers from this in situations that require the financial or material participation of the greedy. The consequence may be loneliness of the latter.

Speaking about such a direction as psychosomatics, it should be noted that everything in its case is tied to the following feelings: envy (greedy people envy the rich); anger (in situations of inability to accumulate and similar); irritation (subject to requests from others, subject to the need to give, and so on).

People around you may encounter:

• with the inability of the person they care about to give something , even reciprocally. A simple example is relationships. Let the man be greedy and the woman generous. The first will give the second cheap flowers, sometimes he will insist that gifts are not needed at all. A woman will give a man watches, perfume, clothes or something else. Will she be pleased? Hardly. The situation may be mirrored. And this is just an example in relationships. This can be found quite often in friendship, and in work relationships, that is, business connections, and not only in them;
• with the need to accept that a person is unlikely to help with anything other than words . Yes, making friends or getting close to someone just because they may need material or financial support is bad, but that’s not the situation we’re talking about. We are talking about already established relationships (friendships, love, business), in which one party (the greedy one) will never support the other financially. Even in case of emergency. And if it does, you will have to face reproaches, reproaches, and reminders in the future.

Why are men greedy?

The foundation of behavior is laid in childhood. A man copies his father, grandfather, older brother, uncle, fully or partially adopting their negative and positive qualities. Also, a little boy remembers his father’s attitude towards his mother, and in the future he will use the same model of behavior. If the father deprived the mother of something, then the future man will do the same, since such behavior for him is the norm, instilled in childhood.

Stinginess and greed, which manifest themselves in older age, are caused by the following reasons:

• Lack of money in the family. A man who has been accustomed since childhood to saving on everything, constantly listening to reproaches from his parents about his wastefulness, is predisposed to stinginess. Moreover, it is not at all necessary that a little boy will subsequently grow into a greedy man. Psychology notes that a person, having become successful and achieved certain material benefits, can be generous, but at the same time economical.
• Material well-being in the family. Boys, spoiled from childhood by rich parents and knowing that the “best piece” will certainly be given to them, are also predisposed to stinginess. In relationships with the opposite sex, such greedy men will be selfish. They will not spend money on their beloved, and they will not save on their own hobbies and desires.
• Greed of father and mother. Stingy parents instill greed in the future man from childhood. Here, stinginess will manifest itself sooner or later, even if the young man was not previously greedy.

How can you replace the word not greedy?

Synonyms for "not greedy"

Manifestation of greed

It is known that greedy people are more likely to achieve their goals. They climb the career ladder faster and become rich faster, unlike those who are content with little.

Why are rich people greedy? They have something to lose, which cannot be said about the poor. All people have stinginess to one degree or another, but in some it is more pronounced. For someone who is aggressive and greedy, everything is always not enough; he strives to have a lot of money, attention, and various things. Often this behavior is accompanied by envy. Having learned that someone has achieved their goals, the stingy person will definitely want to get twice as much for themselves.

This manifestation can be both good and bad. Greed helps to increase self-esteem and become self-confident. But you need to be able to control your aspirations, otherwise there is a risk of falling into the trap of your own greed.

Greedy people always have a fear of losing what they already have. Even if they don't need something, they will guard it and want to increase it. A greedy person will put his money in a piggy bank, without spending a penny on himself and without lending it to anyone, he will store various necessary and unnecessary things in his garage, he will deny himself the joys of life, just so as not to waste what he has accumulated. They say about such people: “You can’t ask for snow in winter.”

Greed is useful if it does not harm others and the person himself:

1. Thanks to this character trait, you can achieve incredible heights in life, become rich, and take advantage of what you have accumulated in any situation.
2. Greed gives people pleasure, be it excitement in games and the desire to win as much money as possible, buying another property or something else.
3. This trait is a form of selfishness, and moderately selfish people are always successful in achieving their goals.

In addition to the benefits, there is also harm in greed:

1. Such people have no sense of proportion. In pursuit of wealth, a greedy person does not see or hear his loved ones, does not pay attention to their problems, and often commits rash acts.
2. Often insatiable people, even if they are rich, are afraid to spend an extra penny on themselves and their family members, thereby harming not only themselves, but also their relatives.
3. Excessive manifestation of this character trait leads to the fact that a person risks losing everything and being left alone.

Stingy man. Differences between stinginess and greed

Examples of stinginess

Stinginess can manifest itself not only in terms of material goods, but also in leisure and entertainment (a person can have his own fleet of cars, but refuse to go to the movies); obtaining new information; the opportunity to give one’s own time, energy, care and attention to loved ones (can’t squeeze out a warm word) - these are examples of the stinginess of the soul .
Stale as a cracker is about stinginess.

A striking example of emotional stinginess , as well as attention to loved ones, is the Snow Queen (both a fairy-tale character and a real, emotionally cold woman).

By the way, female frigidity and male impotence are often a manifestation of stinginess at the bodily level.

There must be a lot of good people - this is about greed.

Obesity is the accumulation of material things at the bodily level, such an unusual manifestation of greed.

Thus, greed is the desire to get as much as possible, and stinginess is to spend as little as possible .

Psychological reasons for stinginess

Behind stinginess there is always a wounded and frightened “I”. This is a deep wound in the very center of a person’s personality , which produces numerous fears and disbelief in unconditional Love. Lack of contact with one's inner “I” forces a person to look for love outside, and not in his own Soul .

One of the most important markers of the presence of Harmony in a person’s Soul is a sense of security in the surrounding world. An internally harmonized person always feels safe. Just like the baby leaning against the chest of the Madonna in the painting by Leonardo Da Vinci.

A stingy person seeks security in material goods: they are the source of life and happiness for him, not Love.

What does stinginess lead to?

The miser, as we know, pays twice. This is one of the proverbs about stinginess, of which the Russian people have come up in large numbers.

A good example for this saying from modern life is the terrible fire in the Winter Cherry shopping center in Kemerovo in March 2022. The business owner spared money for a high-quality fire safety system (a manifestation of stinginess), and top managers simply wanted to receive big bonuses and squeeze out as much profit as possible by saving on everything (this is already greed). And what is the result: the managers were sentenced to long terms of stay in a penal colony, and the owner lost most of his business and suffered huge losses. 60 people died, mostly young children, and another 79 people were injured.

The result of stinginess is when, having spared money for a technician to fix a washing machine or refrigerator, you go to fix them yourself, without understanding this process at all, and then buy new household items.

“I wanted the best - it turned out as always” (V. Chernomyrdin). This is also about stinginess.

As a result of stinginess, you can very easily and simply lose your physical and psychological health : “Well, I’m a fool to pay these psychologists and doctors. Now I’ll read a book myself on how to maintain a relationship with my wife and everything will be fine again.”

Or like this: “I’ll read on the Internet what antipyretics and antibiotics I need to buy at the pharmacy and I’ll cure myself, why pay and waste time in clinics.” And what do we get as a result:

• premature stupid death of 30-year-old healthy foreheads from a banal flu;
• an increase in the number of cancer diseases due to the neglect of many diseases that lead to cancer.
• not to mention the current coronavirus pandemic: given the possibility of free vaccination, in the 1.5 years since the beginning of the epidemic in Moscow, no more than 48% of residents have insured their lives . “Avos,” well-known to Russian people .

The departure of a wife to a less wealthy, but more harmoniously developed man is also a completely natural result of male stinginess.

A stingy person is his own director in all cases of life, even in those areas where he is a complete layman.

“Money can buy everything! Even Love and Health” - such words are very often spoken by the stingy, and not by the greedy and thrifty. For a stingy person, money becomes an object of idolatry, crowding out happy relationships from his world, replacing them with a surrogate - dependent, manipulative, toxic .

What should a woman do if she has come across a stingy man?

very difficult for her to live under the same roof with such a man . If she has not yet managed to get into the same boat with a stingy man, having created a family relationship, then it is worth thinking 1000 times about whether she will bear such a heavy cross as a stingy husband . Maybe it makes sense to spend more time and find a more harmonious man?

When deciding to continue a relationship with a stingy man, you must take into account the fact that it is the man who is attracted to the woman, and not vice versa . Like attracts like.

If a woman is attracted to a stingy man, what then happens in her Soul? Does Love live in it or is there a black hole of resentment and guilt?

According to the law of conservation of energy, a stingy man cannot be attracted to a harmonious woman. This is contrary to nature.

The decision on the possibility of living together with a stingy husband often depends on what figure a man’s stinginess begins with : if with 100 thousand dollars, you can probably arrange a live training for yourself called “Life with a Stingy Man,” if with 1000 rubles, that’s a big question Is this a game of candles?

Greed

According to the dictionary of Ozhegov and Shvedov, the word “greedy” has two meanings:

1. Selfish, greedy.
2. Desiring something with great passion and expressing this desire.

Thus, we also observe two shades of this word. In the first case, it is judgmental. And in the second case, it is important what exactly a person wants. If he strives not for money, but for knowledge, then he deserves not censure, but praise.

So, for example, A.S. Griboyedov in “Woe from Wit” talks about a mind “hungry for knowledge”, about arousing the passion for creative and beautiful arts. However, today the words “greedy” and “greed” are used less and less often in speech. More often they say “greed” and “greedy”.

The origins of greed, self-interest, greed

To better understand what self-interest, greed and avarice are, let's consider how they appeared. The origins of all these traits go back to ancient times, when primitive people constantly felt a lack of food and other resources necessary for life. Therefore, there is an opinion that, to a certain extent, elements of greed can be present in a person at the genetic level.

Over the centuries, with the advent of money, the nature of greed has changed somewhat. She concentrated on money, for which you can get whatever your heart desires. And greed is already becoming closer to self-interest and greed - in terms of the thirst for profit.

Table

What does greed lead to?

A striking example is the holding of “Black Fridays” in supermarkets. Hoarding is manifested to the highest degree here. Such events are held under the motto “get more and cheaper.” People turn into a herd of maddened animals, galloping over the heads of others to grab any product, as long as it is cheap. The exploitation of greedy buyers benefits the owners of greed on a different scale, who produce goods. Receiving benefits stimulates the development of this vice in all factors of the production chain of modern consumer society.

More about greed

This is a personal trait that simultaneously contains both the desire to receive more new benefits and the reluctance to share accumulated wealth. In a figurative sense, greed can mean passion, an unbearable desire, for example, as in the expressions “greed for life”, “greedily absorb.”

However, greed is not only a character trait, but also a feeling. That is, an emotional component that is objective in nature. As a rule, all people experience a similar feeling, some less often, some more often. But not everyone can admit this.

Like other emotions, the feeling of greed is difficult to describe, but it is important to note that it is often accompanied by emotional distress. It is also accompanied by a number of vegetative manifestations, such as strong heartbeat, increased breathing, muscle tension, and increased blood pressure. When such a feeling is repeated frequently, a person's health may suffer.

Avarice and greed - what's the difference?

The first negative quality in a person can be described as the desire to constantly receive new wealth. In the past, this was referred to as “love of money.” The attention of a greedy person is drawn to the process of increasing money or material wealth. Figuratively speaking, it is directed outward. Greed is a character quality that characterizes a person’s reluctance to part with what he has. He may not strive to get anything else at all. All his aspirations are aimed at retaining what is available. It doesn't matter if he needs it. The main thing for a greedy person is not to give it to someone else.

Ways to get rid of stinginess

You can only get an answer to the question of how to get rid of stinginess through experience. In each specific case, it is necessary to look at the characteristics of the person, the desire to fight the addiction, and the circumstances.

The main recommendation comes from the opposite - if a person wants to keep all his savings, he needs to learn to part with them painlessly. It is necessary to become generous, but not wasteful, to get rid of dependence on material values.

Relatives can also help get rid of shortcomings; male stinginess can be treated with female wisdom. Many wives become real gurus, turning greedy men into generous men.

A stingy person harms himself first of all. If at first it seems that he is building financial well-being, then later he will realize that he is destroying his own soul.

But it may be too late, so it is important for close people to support such a person, not to scold, but to jointly look for ways to solve the problem, to show by example that generosity is good.

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Manifestations of greed

They can be varied, but have common characteristic features. A greedy person behaves something like this:

• parting with money causes him a feeling of regret;
• he has developed excessive pettiness, especially in receiving money;
• the desire to stockpile turns into a thirst for hoarding;
• he feels sorry for money even for necessary business or helping loved ones;
• there is no desire to part with accumulated wealth at all;
• strives for enrichment at any cost;
• if he is in a “profitable” position, then bribery has been elevated to a cult.

Where does greed come from? Types of Greed

Psychologists have found that greed has its origins in early childhood. The more parents limit their child, the higher the likelihood of developing a tight-fisted character. For example, you do not listen to your child’s wishes or constantly force him to endure. The child absorbs this pattern of behavior and will copy it in the future.

There are two types of greed: healthy and unhealthy. Healthy greed refers to reasonable savings caused by a person’s modest income. The second type is unhealthy or hypertrophied greed. A person infected with the spiritual virus of greed is unhappy and looks comical from the outside. It’s funny to look at a wealthy individual who is constantly looking for benefits and is afraid to spend an extra penny.

What did Pushkin and Gogol think about this?

All of these human characteristics are very aptly described by A.S. Pushkin in “The Miserly Knight”. The protagonist's ultimate pleasure lies in his "lucky day" when he can put a handful of gold coins into the "sixth chest, not yet full." But his desires are not satisfied with this, he is not satiated with them. As long as he lives in the world, the stingy knight cannot get rid of the desire to accumulate more and more gold, filling his chests with it.

N.V. Gogol in “Dead Souls” brought out such vivid characters as the utter miser Plyushkin and the greedy money-lover Chichikov. The writers demonstrated how the desire to live richly from a normal human desire can turn into a very obsessive, overvalued idea, become a kind of mania that replaces human reason with blind passion.

What is a disease called when a person feels nothing?

We met on an online forum for people with so-called alexithymia - this is a kind of emotional color blindness that deprives a person of

the ability to distinguish and express a variety of sensory and emotional nuances. Of those who suffer from this disorder, about half are autistic.

Interesting materials:

Where is the Suzuki Vitara made? Where are Whirlpool appliances made? Where are MANN filters made? Where are goodyear tires made? Where were the T 34 produced? Where is Ford Transit made? Where is Jeep made? Where is Mazda CX 5 produced for Russia? Where is Mobil motor oil produced? Where is the Nissan Terrano made?

What to do?

However, greed is not a fatal disease; it can be resisted. Realizing that greed does not make life easier is the first step towards “recovery.” An important aspect is also self-awareness, introspection of one’s own “I”. This is a necessity for personal development, increasing one's self-esteem in areas not related to owning and accumulating wealth.

You need to focus on your own life, your abilities. Avoid comparing yourself to others. Observe people who are undoubtedly greedy and analyze their behavior. Switch your attention to any good moments in your life, to the people who are nearby. Give them a little attention and get self-satisfaction from it.

Why do people become greedy?

It’s not for nothing that proverbs about greed and stupidity go hand in hand. After all, these two traits are very similar to each other, and are often intertwined in one person. Often it is stupidity and low moral values ​​that become the basis for the birth of the first spark of greed.

It’s just that such people don’t see anything beautiful around them. It was not explained to them that there are things much more important than money, clothes or food. Their inner world is very stingy and small, which is a big problem both for themselves and for those around them.

And if such a person is not helped, everything will only get worse. Greed will eat him up from the inside, and then there will be no turning back. After all, he simply does not want to listen to others, considering them wrong. It’s not for nothing that the sages said: “Greed deprives one of reason,” and this is one of the main truths that proverbs about greed and stupidity teach us.

Stinginess is reprehensible [↑]

Stinginess - daikanut

- is a quality worthy of reproach in most of its manifestations. King Shlomo said about stinginess: “Do not eat the bread of an ill-wisher and do not covet his dishes, [...] “Eat and drink!” - he will tell you, but his heart is not with you" (

Mishley 23; 6-7

).

These are the characteristics of a miser: he hoards money and does not give alms, and does not spare the poor. And when he conducts his business with another, he counts every penny and will not give up anything. He does not feed or clothe, and will not give anyone any benefit from himself. And he does not trust in the One who gives him money, and he is hated by everyone. He does not try to fulfill the commandments and does not acquire a mentor and friend for himself, and therefore remains empty in the sense of the Teaching and Commandments.

If he is stingy in body, this is very bad: he does not show kindness - chesed - to people. But the worst thing is if he is stingy with his wisdom or his books, because he loses nothing by doing so. For wisdom is like fire, which loses nothing if a candle or other fire is lit from it. And it is said about him: “Whoever withholds bread the people curse” ( Mishlei 11:26

). And about the generous it is said: “But a blessing is on the forehead of the breadwinner” (ibid.). The simple meaning of this verse is about bread and alms, and the moral (

mashal

) is inferred about wisdom.

Being greedy is terrible. Why?

In our capitalist era, it is difficult to find a person who is not prone to greed. Especially when success is equated with material wealth. Of course, the desire to have enough money for a decent standard of living is normal.

But being greedy is terrible. "Why?" – the reader will ask. Yes, because this quality of character does not allow a person to be happy: it squeezes the soul, like a boa constrictor, and prevents one from breathing freely.

Let's take a closer look at how greed limits a person:

• Constant savings on yourself. A stingy person counts every penny; he cannot relax and at least sometimes not think about how much he spent.
• Greed gives rise to envy. Such a person always notices wealthier people. He does not feel sincere joy for his friend - in his heart he envies him.
• Self-interest. A greedy person comes from personal gain: he is incapable of doing good deeds just like that, without expecting anything in return.

To sum up, we can say that being greedy is terrible, since a stingy person does not bring happiness to himself or to other people.

Self-interest: emphasis, detailed characteristics, synonyms

Self-interest is the desire to obtain benefits for oneself personally, even if this may cause damage to any person or group of people or organization.

Because of this negative quality, a large number of conflicts arise - from family to political. When they say that a person is selfish, it means that he craves wealth, money, and at the same time puts his material interests higher than everything else.

Now let’s talk about the emphasis in the word “self-interest.” The fact is that very often it is pronounced incorrectly. The stress in “self-interest” is on the second syllable, not the first.

Synonyms for the words are: greed, avarice, commercialism, covetousness, love of money. They help to better understand what self-interest is. Therefore, let’s look at the concepts of greed and greed in more detail to understand how they are related to each other, to self-interest, and what is their difference.