--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: From top to bottom of the ladder, greed…" description: "\"From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/emile-durkheim-7413_abandoned_from-top-to-bottom-of-the-ladder-greed-i_1127805.jpg" --- # From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without… ![“From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned.” quote by Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/emile-durkheim-7413_abandoned_from-top-to-bottom-of-the-ladder-greed-i_1127805.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/emile-durkheim-7413_abandoned_from-top-to-bottom-of-the-ladder-greed-i_1127805.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fb/emile-durkheim-7413_abandoned_from-top-to-bottom-of-the-ladder-greed-i_1127805.jpg) > “From top to bottom of the ladder, greed is aroused without knowing where to find ultimate foothold. Nothing can calm it, since its goal is far beyond all it can attain. Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned.” [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greed arises without a clear goal, leading to abandonment of reality for imagined dreams. **In simple terms:** Greed lacks direction, causing escapism. Key Takeaway Seek grounded goals to counteract greed. Themes psychology philosophy economics greed Mood critical analytical Type sociological philosophical When to use this quote - personal finance - career planning - mental health counseling - creative pursuits Key Concepts nihilism aspiration reality denial Questions to Reflect On - What realistic goals can replace endless fantasies? - How does society balance ambition and contentment? A Different Perspective Greed can sometimes drive innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abandoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abandoned/) [Bottom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bottom/) [Calm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calm/) [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Goal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goal/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Greed Aroused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed-aroused-3083287/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-reality/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Ladder Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ladder-greed-3083286/) [Ladders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ladders/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Abandoned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-abandoned-884266/) [Reality Valueless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-valueless-884267/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate/) [Valueless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/valueless/) [Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wall/) ## Related quotes > [Reality seems valueless by comparison with the dreams of fevered imaginations; reality is therefore abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/reality-seems-valueless-by-comparison-with-the-dreams-of-fevered/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [ This account of him \[Thomas More\] developed as I wrote: what first attracted me was a person who could not be accused of any… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bolt/this-account-of-him-thomas-more-developed-as-i-wrote-what-first/) [Robert Bolt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bolt/) > [Theory is splendid but until put into practice, it is valueless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cash-penney/theory-is-splendid-but-until-put-into-practice-it-is-valueless/) [James Cash Penney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cash-penney/) > [Discipline can only be obtained when all the officers are imbued with the sense of their awful obligation to their men and to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-s-patton/discipline-can-only-be-obtained-when-all-the-officers-are-imbued-with/) [George S. Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [“Valueless life makes all options possible”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-nyarangi-akoya/valueless-life-makes-all-options-possible/) [JOEL NYARANGI AKOYA](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-nyarangi-akoya/) > [There is no right way to live. You preclude a lot of life by trying to conform to that kind of ideal or stereotype.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-ross/there-is-no-right-way-to-live-you-preclude-a-lot-of-life-by-trying-to/) [Gary Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-ross/) > [One joins the movement in a valueless world, Choosing it, till both hurler and the hurled, One moves as well, always toward, toward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thom-gunn/one-joins-the-movement-in-a-valueless-world-choosing-it-till-both/) [Thom Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thom-gunn/) > [I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey. I believe that whenever a human being, of even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-believe-that-our-heavenly-father-invented-man-because-he-was/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Life being very short, and the quiet hours of it few, we ought to waste none of them in reading valueless books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/life-being-very-short-and-the-quiet-hours-of-it-few-we-ought-to-waste/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“A life without an objective is much like a ship at sea with no port in mind. It drifts with the waves or storms,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-life-without-an-objective-is-much-like-a-ship-at-sea-with-no-port/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sound opinions are valueless. What matters is who holds them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-kraus/sound-opinions-are-valueless-what-matters-is-who-holds-them/) [Karl Kraus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-kraus/) > [Nature has no reverence towards life. Nature treats life as though it were the most valueless thing in the world… Nature does not act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-schrodinger/nature-has-no-reverence-towards-life-nature-treats-life-as-though-it/) [Erwin Schrodinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-schrodinger/) > [“A woman who holds her head up too high, is trying to breathe from her own pollution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/a-woman-who-holds-her-head-up-too-high-is-trying-to-breathe-from-her/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Blind adoration, in the age of action, is perfectly valueless, is often embarrassing and, equally, often painful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/blind-adoration-in-the-age-of-action-is-perfectly-valueless-is-often/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Since history has no properly scientific value, its only purpose is educative. And if historians neglect to educate the public, if they fail to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-m-trevelyan/since-history-has-no-properly-scientific-value-its-only-purpose-is/) [G. M. Trevelyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-m-trevelyan/) ## More by Emile Durkheim > [Man seeks to learn, and man kills himself because of the loss of cohesion in his religious society; he does not kill himself because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/man-seeks-to-learn-and-man-kills-himself-because-of-the-loss-of/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [Irrespective of any external, regulatory force, our capacity for feeling is in itself an insatiable and bottomless abyss.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-durkheim/irrespective-of-any-external-regulatory-force-our-capacity-for/) [Emile Durkheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-durkheim/) > [Man's characteristic privilege is that the bond he accepts is not physical but moral; that is, social. 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