Sublime
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In the early empire, a greedy person was commonly referred to as being “the first to take the fresh-bought pepper from the camel’s back.”37 The poet Persius wrote: The greedy merchants led by lucre, run To the parched Indies, and the rising sun; From thence hot Pepper, and rich Drugs they bear, Bart’ring for Spices, their Italian ware.
William J. Bernstein • A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World
the chamber of commerce growth mentality had won the war over those who wanted to preserve the tradition of the ancient city. Nothing had stopped the greed.
Michael McGarrity • Serpent Gate (Kevin Kerney Novels Series)
By the eighteenth century, a new ideology was taking form, especially in Britain, that “greed is good” (to use a recent summary formulation), because greed spurs a society’s efforts and inventiveness. By giving vent to greed, the logic goes, societies can best harness the insatiable ambitions, great energies and ingenuity of their citizens. While
... See moreJeffrey D. Sachs • The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions
Unwilling to wait for the resources God will provide, we resort to credit, stretching beyond our means in an attempt to create immediate outcomes. Our temptation to control often results in slavery to the unintended consequences of our fear-driven decisions.
Jon Tyson • The Burden Is Light: Liberating Your Life from the Tyranny of Performance and Success
A king once invited merchants from all over the region to attend a big crafts fair, assuring each that he would purchase whatever did not sell. One blacksmith of limited intelligence brought an iron image of Saturn to this fair, and since no one purchased it, the kings officers procured it and delivered it to his majesty. That night in a dream, the
... See moreBusiness, in one of its dimensions, is battle. Competive capitalism inevitably places individuals, companies, and corporations in conflict with each other. It is a harsh and bruising system, unkind and unforgiving to the weak and the timid, but it is also, as Kennedy said, the most durable system we know for the creation of wealth and material
... See moreThe Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World: 10th Anniversary Edition
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In the nineteenth century a particularly rich inhumation cemetery was partially excavated just east of the village of Sarre in the Isle of Thanet, in east Kent. The Wantsum Channel, which separated Thanet from the mainland until the end of the Middle Ages was, in Bede’s day, traversable on foot in just two places.39 Sarre (from the Brythonic word
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