Zoroaster — "Form no covetous desire, so that the demon of greediness may not deceive thee, a…"
Form no covetous desire, so that the demon of greediness may not deceive thee, and the treasure of the world may not be tasteless to thee.
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More from Zoroaster
"Between these two, the demons have not chosen aright, for delusion came upon them as they consulted, so that they chose the worst thought."
"Taking the first footstep with a good thought, the second with a good word, and the third with a good deed. I entered paradise."
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About Zoroaster (c. 1500-1000 BCE (debated))
Iranian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of cosmic dualism between good (Ahura Mazda) and evil (Angra Mainyu). Closely associated with The Buddha (near-contemporary Eastern moral-cosmological revolutionary). For an intellectual contrast, see Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher of 'beyond good and evil' — Nietzsche appropriated Zarathustra's name for Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883) precisely to invert the original's moral cosmology — the historical Zoroaster founded the good-versus-evil framework Nietzsche's character announces the end of.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Don't let grasping desires take hold of you. When you constantly crave more wealth, possessions, or status, that hunger itself becomes a trap that distorts your judgment and steals your satisfaction. Paradoxically, the more greedily you chase the world's riches, the less you actually enjoy them, because nothing ever feels like enough. Contentment comes from restraining desire, not feeding it, so ordinary blessings regain their flavor.
Relevance to Zoroaster
Zoroaster founded a faith built on the moral battle between Asha (truth, order) and Druj (the lie, chaos), with greediness personified as the demon Az who devours and never satisfies. As a prophet-reformer challenging a priestly caste focused on ritual wealth and cattle-raiding, he taught that inner purity and good thought mattered more than material gain, making this warning central to his ethical system rather than incidental advice.
The era
In the late second or early first millennium BCE on the Iranian plateau, tribal society revolved around herds, plunder raids, and warrior chieftains who measured honor by seized cattle and gold. Older polytheistic priests sanctified these raids through sacrifice. Zoroaster emerged during this turbulent transition from pastoral raiding to settled agriculture, preaching a radical ethical monotheism that reframed virtue as honest labor and inner discipline rather than conquest, making anti-greed teaching revolutionary.
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