---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Callous greed grows pious very fast."
description: "\"Callous greed grows pious very fast.\" — Lillian Hellman"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg"
---

#  Callous greed grows pious very fast.

![“Callous greed grows pious very fast.” quote by Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg)

> “Callous greed grows pious very fast.”

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Greed can masquerade as piety, growing rapidly when cloaked in righteousness.

**In simple terms:** Greed pretends to be good.

Key Takeaway

Beware of selfish motives hidden behind moral language.

Themes

morality greed hypocrisy power

Mood

critical reflective

Type

literary philosophical

When to use this quote

- political discourse
- business ethics
- personal relationships

Key Concepts

Moral psychology social critique

Questions to Reflect On

- When have you seen kindness used to hide self‑interest?
- How does power enable hidden greed?

A Different Perspective

Not all greed is obvious.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Callous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/callous/) [Callous Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/callous-greed-1682160/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Greed Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed-grows-1682161/) [Grows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows/) [Grows Pious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grows-pious-1682162/) [Pious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pious/) [Pious Fast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pious-fast-1682163/)

## Related quotes

> [Me seeing how thick my callous is on my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/me-seeing-how-thick-my-callous-is-on-my-hand/)

[Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/)

> [Humans call animals 'dumb'... after they robbed their entire own precious world. They are intelligent beings in their own right, and thoroughly self-sufficient... if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-popescu/humans-call-animals-dumb-after-they-robbed-their-entire-own-precious/)

[Adela Popescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-popescu/)

> [“A tearless heart is a callous heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-george/a-tearless-heart-is-a-callous-heart/)

[Jim George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-george/)

> [How many students ... were rendered callous to ideas, and how many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/how-many-students-were-rendered-callous-to-ideas-and-how-many-lost/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [I suggest we depict penguins as callous and unfeeling creatures who insist on bringing up their children in what is little more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/i-suggest-we-depict-penguins-as-callous-and-unfeeling-creatures-who/)

[Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/)

> [One of the fundamental reasons why so many doctors become cynical and disillusioned is precisely because, when the abstract idealism has worn thin, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/one-of-the-fundamental-reasons-why-so-many-doctors-become-cynical-and/)

[John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/)

> [In my blood there is no Jewish blood. In their callous rage, all anti-Semites must hate me now as a Jew. For that reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-my-blood-there-is-no-jewish-blood-in-their-callous-rage-all-anti/)

[Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/)

> [Is it because you are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that you listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/is-it-because-you-are-sunk-in-the-cruelty-of-superstition-or-feel-no/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [“I have found that happiness is a defiant act of bravery in spite of a callous world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/i-have-found-that-happiness-is-a-defiant-act-of-bravery-in-spite-of-a/)

[Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/)

> [Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/evolution-is-as-well-as-smarter-than-we-are-infinitely-more-callous/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

> [Among sportsmen are the noble, the diligent and the caring, as there are the callous, the cheats and the criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/among-sportsmen-are-the-noble-the-diligent-and-the-caring-as-there/)

[Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/)

> [There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/there-exists-in-this-country-sadly-a-callous-corrupt-and-corrupting/)

[Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/)

> [And the point is, is it possible for the mind to be totally free from suffering and yet not become indifferent, callous, irresponsible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/and-the-point-is-is-it-possible-for-the-mind-to-be-totally-free-from/)

[Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/)

> [Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's callous enjoinder 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste'? This White House is a serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-tyrrell/remember-chief-of-staff-rahm-emanuel-s-callous-enjoinder-you-never/)

[Bob Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-tyrrell/)

> [ \[On being deaf:\] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-the-necessity-of-keeping-in/)

[Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/)

## More by Lillian Hellman

> [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Failure in the theater is more dramatic and uglier than any other form of writing. It costs so much, you feel so guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-dramatic-and-uglier-than-any-other/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [A man should be jailed for telling lies to the young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/a-man-should-be-jailed-for-telling-lies-to-the-young/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [I don't think many writers like their best-known piece of work, particularly when it was written a long time ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/i-don-t-think-many-writers-like-their-best-known-piece-of-work/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [I live in a room and I go to work and I play a game called getting through the day while you wait for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/i-live-in-a-room-and-i-go-to-work-and-i-play-a-game-called-getting/)

[LILLIAN HELLMAN](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [There are people who eat the earth and eat all the people on it like in the Bible with the locusts. And other people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/there-are-people-who-eat-the-earth-and-eat-all-the-people-on-it-like/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Nothing you write, if you hope to be good, will ever come out as you first hoped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/nothing-you-write-if-you-hope-to-be-good-will-ever-come-out-as-you/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Decision by democratic majority vote is a fine form of government, but it's a stinking way to create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/decision-by-democratic-majority-vote-is-a-fine-form-of-government-but/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Haven't you lived in the South long enough to know that nothing is ever anybody's fault?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/haven-t-you-lived-in-the-south-long-enough-to-know-that-nothing-is/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [We will not think noble because we are not noble. We will not live in beautiful harmony because there is no such thing in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/we-will-not-think-noble-because-we-are-not-noble-we-will-not-live-in/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [It was an unspoken pleasure, that having come together so many years, ruined so much and repaired a little, we had endured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/it-was-an-unspoken-pleasure-that-having-come-together-so-many-years/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Intellectuals can tell themselves anything, sell themselves any bill of goods, which is why they were so often patsies for the ruling classes in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/intellectuals-can-tell-themselves-anything-sell-themselves-any-bill/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Courtesy is breeding. Breeding is an excellent thing. Always remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/courtesy-is-breeding-breeding-is-an-excellent-thing-always-remember/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [You lose your manners when you're poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/you-lose-your-manners-when-you-re-poor/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

> [Fashions in sin change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/fashions-in-sin-change/)

[Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

[Explore all 106 Lillian Hellman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/)

## More Callous quotes

> [Me seeing how thick my callous is on my hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-country/me-seeing-how-thick-my-callous-is-on-my-hand/)

[Michael Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-country/)

> [Remember chief of staff Rahm Emanuel's callous enjoinder 'you never want a serious crisis to go to waste'? This White House is a serious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-tyrrell/remember-chief-of-staff-rahm-emanuel-s-callous-enjoinder-you-never/)

[Bob Tyrrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-tyrrell/)

> [And the point is, is it possible for the mind to be totally free from suffering and yet not become indifferent, callous, irresponsible, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/and-the-point-is-is-it-possible-for-the-mind-to-be-totally-free-from/)

[Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/)

> [There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people through vicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-lapierre/there-exists-in-this-country-sadly-a-callous-corrupt-and-corrupting/)

[Wayne LaPierre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-lapierre/)

> [Among sportsmen are the noble, the diligent and the caring, as there are the callous, the cheats and the criminals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harsha-bhogle/among-sportsmen-are-the-noble-the-diligent-and-the-caring-as-there/)

[Harsha Bhogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harsha-bhogle/)

> [Evolution is, as well as smarter than we are, infinitely more callous and cruel, and also capricious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/evolution-is-as-well-as-smarter-than-we-are-infinitely-more-callous/)

[Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/)

> [“I have found that happiness is a defiant act of bravery in spite of a callous world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-newman/i-have-found-that-happiness-is-a-defiant-act-of-bravery-in-spite-of-a/)

[Liz Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-newman/)

> [Is it because you are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that you listen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/is-it-because-you-are-sunk-in-the-cruelty-of-superstition-or-feel-no/)

[Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/)

> [In my blood there is no Jewish blood. In their callous rage, all anti-Semites must hate me now as a Jew. For that reason…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yevgeny-yevtushenko/in-my-blood-there-is-no-jewish-blood-in-their-callous-rage-all-anti/)

[Yevgeny Yevtushenko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yevgeny-yevtushenko/)

> [One of the fundamental reasons why so many doctors become cynical and disillusioned is precisely because, when the abstract idealism has worn thin, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/one-of-the-fundamental-reasons-why-so-many-doctors-become-cynical-and/)

[John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/)

> [I suggest we depict penguins as callous and unfeeling creatures who insist on bringing up their children in what is little more than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/i-suggest-we-depict-penguins-as-callous-and-unfeeling-creatures-who/)

[Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/)

> [How many students ... were rendered callous to ideas, and how many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/how-many-students-were-rendered-callous-to-ideas-and-how-many-lost/)

[John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/)

> [“A tearless heart is a callous heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-george/a-tearless-heart-is-a-callous-heart/)

[Jim George](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-george/)

> [Humans call animals 'dumb'... after they robbed their entire own precious world. They are intelligent beings in their own right, and thoroughly self-sufficient... if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adela-popescu/humans-call-animals-dumb-after-they-robbed-their-entire-own-precious/)

[Adela Popescu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adela-popescu/)

> [ \[On being deaf:\] We can never get beyond the necessity of keeping in full view the worst and the best that can be made… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-martineau/on-being-deaf-we-can-never-get-beyond-the-necessity-of-keeping-in/)

[Harriet Martineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-martineau/)

[Browse all 112 Callous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/callous/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Callous greed grows pious very fast.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Lillian Hellman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Callous"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8a8/lillian-hellman-4752_callous_callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast-1759_1759749.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Callous greed grows pious very fast.” — Lillian Hellman",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Lillian Hellman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Callous greed grows pious very fast.",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/callous-greed-grows-pious-very-fast/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
