Greed Is Overcome Only by Giving Up Everything

This is a dreadful and clear enough example of this tyranny. Once the mind is taken prisoner by it, it lets the mind keep no rule of honesty and be satisfied with no increase of its gains. For we must seek to put an end to this madness not by riches but by stripping ourselves of them. Indeed, Judas had received the bag set apart for distribution to the poor and entrusted to his care for this purpose, so that he might at least have his fill of money and set a limit to his avarice. Yet his plentiful supply only broke out into a still greedier incitement of desire, so that he was ready no longer just to rob the bag secretly but actually to sell the Lord himself. For the madness of this avarice is not satisfied with any amount of riches.