Human Greed.
109. Human Greed: Avarice is a subject that really needs to be addressed in the books of God. Greed is one of the seven cardinal sins, or better known as the seven deadly sins found in the bible, and is responsible for untold human misery and suffering at the hands of those men and women, who hold greed as their way of life. To many of these people avarice is their god, forming the basis of their religion, that allows them to take from others, what they feel it is their God given right to have, regardless of whom their nature of inordinate desire for more may harm, or what damage they may do to human society. How many wars has this uncontrolled urge in some individuals spawned in the world, how much hardship and death has it left in it’s wake. And, in reality for what: 
Baha’i Faith: “The commanders of armies glory in having killed ten thousand men, not for food, nay, rather, for military control, territorial greed, fame and possession of the dust of the earth. They kill for national aggrandizement, notwithstanding this terrestrial globe is but a dark world of grossest matter. It is a world of sorrow and grief, a world of disappointment and unhappiness, a world of death. For after all, the earth is but the everlasting graveyard, the vast, universal cemetery of all mankind. Yet men fight to possess this graveyard, waging war and battle, killing each other. What ignorance!” “The earth spacious enough for all, there is room for plenty if we just learn to work together in peace! But, instead many of these world leaders in power still choose antagonism as their main source of communication.” “Therefore, it is evident that warfare, cruelty and bloodshed in the kingdom of man are caused by human greed, hatred and selfishness.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 120 and 396)
So important is the gravity of this one cardinal sin that, research shows, that this subject is talked about, and warned against, in all of God’s world religions on this earth.
BAHA’I FAITH: “There are two sides to man. One is divine, the other worldly; one is luminous, the other dark; one is angelic, the other diabolic. In all sensuous conditions man is equal to the animals, for all animal characteristics exist in him. Likewise, divine and satanic qualities are contained in man; knowledge and ignorance; guidance and error; truth and falsehood; generosity and avarice (greed); valor and timidity; inclination towards God and tendency towards Satan. Chastity and purity, corruption and vileness, economy and avidity, good and evil — all are contained in man.” “If the soul identifies itself with the material world it remains dark, for in the natural world there is corruption, aggression, struggles for existence, greed, darkness, transgression and vice. If the soul remains in this station and moves along these paths it will be the recipient of this darkness; but if it becomes the recipient of the graces of the world of mind, its darkness will be transformed into light, its tyranny into justice, its ignorance into wisdom, its aggression into loving kindness; until it reach the apex. Then there will not remain any struggle for existence. Man will become free from egotism; he will be released from the material world; he will become the personification of justice and virtue, for a sanctified soul illumines humanity and is an honor to mankind,”
(Bahá’í Faith, Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 406 and Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 120)
CHRISTIANITY: 1 Timothy 3:2 “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;” 3:3 “Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre (shameful gain); but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;” 1 Timothy 3:8 “Likewise must the deacons be grave, not double tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 3:9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.” Ephesians 4:17 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,” 4:18 “Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:” 4:19 “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Luke 12:34 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” So, if your treasure is spiritual and in heaven, there your heart and thoughts will be also, otherwise your heart is attached to this world, and you are nothing more than an animal that talks and collects perishable wealth from this world, being controlled by the want and desire for more earthly stuff from this graveyard of vanity and dirt discontented, disgruntled, malcontent. And yes, there are always exceptions to the rule, as there are humans of all kinds of merit. 
Judaism: Proverbs 15:27 “He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live.” Proverbs 18:11 “The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit.” Proverbs 18:12 “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty.” Psalms 49:5 “Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?” Psalms 49:6 “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;” Psalms 49:7 “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:” Isaiah 56:11 “Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.” Job 31:24 “If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence;” Job 31:25 “If I rejoice because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much;” Job 31:26 “If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness;” Job 31:27 “And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand:” Job 31:28 “This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” Sirach 31:12 “If thou sit at a bountiful table, be not greedy upon it.” Tobias 5:18 “Be not greedy to add money to money:” (Deuterocanonical Apocrypha)
BABI RELIGION: “Avarice (greed) which is the national passion,” in Persia in those days “Without mercy, moderation, or shame, they employed any means, however base and lawless, to extort from the innocent the benefits they themselves coveted. Forsaking every principle of justice and decency,”
(The Babi and Baha’i Religions p. 161 and Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 642)
ISLAM: “Avoid greedy and covetous persons!”
(Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)
Islam: “Beware, my son, that avarice and greed may not drive you towards destruction and damnation.”
(Islam, Ali b. Abi Taalib, Letters from Nahjul Balaagh)
Islam: 14. “To whom I made (life) smooth and comfortable! Yet is he greedy — that I should add (yet more) — By no means! For to Our Signs he has been refractory! Soon will I visit him with a mount of calamities!”
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 74)
Islam: 7. “We will indeed make smooth for him the path to Bliss. But he who is a greedy miser and thinks himself self-sufficient. And gives the lie to the Best — We will indeed make smooth for him the Path to Misery; Nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong (into the Pit).
(The Qur’an (Yusuf Ali tr), Surah 74)
ZOROASTRIANISM: 5. May Sraosha (Obedience) conquer disobedience within this house, and may peace triumph over discord here, and generous giving over avarice (greed), reverence over contempt, speech with truthful words over lying utterance. May the Righteous Order gain the victory over the Demon of the Lie.
(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta – Yasna 60)
Zoroastrianism: 33. “They do not keep in mind the working of Time and the transientness of the body, They ever go wandering about on the way of desire, (wantonness, selfishness) They are tossed in doubt by evil Passion,
(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)
Zoroastrianism: “Kept away greed……from the creation of Ohrmazd; (Ahura Mazda, God)
(Zoroaster, The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)
HINDUISM: “Free thy heart from sin and greed.”
(Hindu, Mababharata (R. Dutt, abridged tr))
Hinduism: 2. “The good and the pleasant approach man: the wise goes round about them and distinguishes them. Yea, the wise prefers the good to the pleasant, but the fool chooses the pleasant through greed and avarice.”
(Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Katha-Upanishad)
Hinduism: “Inward thirst fondness, passion, covetousness, unkindness, love, hatred, deceit, jealousy, vain restlessness, fickleness, unstableness, emulation, greed, patronizing of friends, family pride, aversion to disagreeable objects, devotion to agreeable objects, whispering, prodigality, these are the results of the quality of passion rages. By these he is filled, by these he is overcome, and therefore this elemental Self assumes manifold forms, yes, manifold forms.’
(Hindu, Upanishads vol. 2, Maitrayana-Brahmaya-Upanishad)
Hinduism: “Destroy the greedy Pani, for a wolf is he.”
(Hindu, Vedas, Rig Veda – Book 6)
BUDDHISM: “Greed is a root of unwholesome karma; Anger is a root of unwholesome karma; Delusion is a root of unwholesome karma. [The state of greed, as well as that of anger, is always accompanied by delusion; and delusion, ignorance, is the primary root of all evil.] Therefore, I say, these demeritorious actions are of three kinds: either due to greed, or due to anger, or due to delusion.”
((The Eightfold Path), Buddha, the Word (The Eightfold Path))
Buddhism: 18. “Unrestrained men are evil. Don’t let greed and wrong doing subject you to lasting suffering.” 20. “How could a man full of desires and greed be a man of religion?
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards))
Buddhism: 15. “Let us live in joy, free from greed among the greedy.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))
Buddhism: 18. “Know this, human, that the unrestrained are in a bad way. Do not let greed and wrong-doing bring you long suffering.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))
Buddhism: 26. “The one I call holy is tolerant with the intolerant, peaceful with the violent, and free from greed among the greedy.”
(Buddhist, Dhammapada – Sayings of the Buddha 2 (tr. J. Richards))
Buddhism: “The ignorant and simple-minded, their minds burning with the fires of greed, anger and folly, finding delight in a world of multitudinous forms, their thoughts obsessed with ideas of birth, growth and destruction, not well understanding what is meant by existent and non-existent, and being impressed by the erroneous discriminations and speculations since beginningless time, fall into the habit of grasping this and that and thereby becoming attached to them.” (Buddha, Lankavatara Sutra)
SABEANISM: “The mana rejoiceth in its treasure And in the glory of Life Which resteth on it. I have acknowledged Thee (O) Elect Righteous One, For Thou settest my soul free From transitory things.” (Sabeanism, Ginza Rba- chapter 93)
BABI RELIGION: “The stream of gold flows on and on for the benefit of the greedy officials; but these officials need the cooperation of many partners to catch their innumerable dupes in their nets. This is, without doubt, the best organized industry in Persia. If one half of the city derives its living from the Mosque, the other half is likewise keenly interested in the great concourse of pilgrims. The merchants, the restaurant and hotel keepers, even the young women who find among the visitors an abundant supply of ‘husbands for a day’! “All these people were naturally allied against a missionary whose teachings were threatening their livelihood. To denounce these abuses in any other city was tolerable but it was quite improper to denounce them where everyone of every class was thriving upon them.”
The Bab: (Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 255)
BAHA’I FAITH: “Why, then, exhibit such greed in amassing the treasures of the earth, when your days are numbered and your chance is well-nigh lost? Will ye not, then, O heedless ones, shake off your slumber?” “Incline your ears to the counsels which this Servant giveth you for the sake of God. He, verily, asketh no recompense from you and is resigned to what God hath ordained for Him, and is entirely submissive to God‘s Will.”
“The days of your life are far spent, O people, and your end is fast approaching. Put away, therefore, the things ye have devised and to which ye cleave, and take firm hold on the precepts of God, that haply ye may attain that which He hath purposed for you, and be of them that pursue a right course. Delight not yourselves in the things of the world and its vain ornaments, neither set your hopes on them. Let your reliance be on the remembrance of God, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. He will, erelong, bring to naught all the things ye possess. Let Him be your fear, and forget not His covenant with you, and be not of them that are shut out as by a veil from Him.”
(Bahá’í Faith, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 127)
Baha’i Faith: “If the soul identifies itself with the material world it remains dark, for in the natural world there is corruption, aggression, struggles for existence, greed, darkness, transgression and vice.” “If the soul remains in this station and moves along these paths it will be the recipient of this darkness; but if it becomes the recipient of the graces of the world of mind, its darkness will be transformed into light, its tyranny into justice, its ignorance into wisdom, its aggression into loving kindness; until it reach the apex.”
(Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 120)