Greed Quote by Margaret Heffernan
““In treating people as less important than things, work becomes both demoralised and demoralising and we become blind to the moral content of our decisions...Money and wilfful blindness make us act in ways incompatible wiht what believe our ethics to be, and often even with our own self-interest...the problem with money isn't fundamentally about greed, although it can be comforting to think so. The problem with money is that we live in societies in which mutual support and co-operation is essential, but money erodes the relationships we need to lead productive, fulfilling and genuinely happy lives. When money becomes the dominant behavior, it doesn't cooperate with, or amplify, our relationships; it disengages us from them.””
About This Quote
Source Book: Dare to Lead, Brené Brown, 2018
Prioritising profit over people demoralises work and blinds us to ethical consequences, undermining cooperation and happiness.
In simple terms: Money first erodes relationships and ethics.
Key Takeaway
Balance profit with people.
Themes
ethics
workplace culture
money
cooperation
Mood
reflective
concerned
Type
advisory
philosophical
When to use this quote
- leadership decisions
- budget planning
- team building
- personal finance
- community projects
Key Concepts
human value
moral blindness
social capital
Questions to Reflect On
- How can you embed ethical checks in financial decisions?
- What practices nurture cooperation over competition?
A Different Perspective
Money alone cannot sustain meaningful relationships.
![“Where there are kashays (anger-pride-deceit-greed), there is worldly life. As long as anger-pride-deceit-greed exist; one is a sansaari [living a worldly life] regardless of whether one is an ascetic or a family man. And where anger-pride-deceit-greed are absent, one is regarded as being asansaari…” quote by Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/7ec/dada-bhagwan-31_anger_where-there-are-kashays-anger-pride-dece_5756.jpg)
