Greed Without Money

For even one who has no money can be by no means free from the disease of greed, and the blessing of poverty can do him no good, because he has not been able to root out the sin of desire for gain. He delights in the advantages of poverty, not in the merit of the virtue, and is satisfied to bear the burden of necessity, though not without coldness of heart. For just as the word of the gospel declares of those who are not defiled in body that they are adulterers in heart, so it is possible that those who are in no way weighed down by money may be condemned with the greedy in disposition and intent. In their case it was the opportunity to possess that was lacking, not the will; and it is the will, rather than compulsion, that God always crowns. So we must use all diligence, so that the fruits of our labors are not lost to no purpose. For it is a wretched thing to have endured the effects of poverty and want, and yet to have lost their fruits through the fault of a shattered will. [a]