Thursday, October 16, 2008

Greed!!...Where does it ends

There is a story about a wealthy farmer who was once offered all the land he could walk
on in a day, provided he came back by sundown to the point where he started. To get a
new start, early the next morning the farmer started covering ground quickly because he
wanted to get as much land as he could. Even though he was tired, he kept going all
afternoon because he didn't want to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to gain more
wealth.

Late in the afternoon he realized the condition he had to fulfil to get the land was to get
back to the starting point by sundown. His greed had gotten him far enough. He started
his return journey, keeping an eye on how close he was to sundown. The closer it got to
sundown, the faster he ran. He was exhausted, out of breath and pushed himself beyond
the point of endurance. He collapsed upon reaching the starting point and died. He did
make it before sundown. He was buried and all the land he needed was a small plot.
There is a lot of truth in this story and a lesson to be learned. Whether the farmer was
wealthy or not, any greedy person would have ended the same way.