Definition of «greed»

Greed, or avarice, is an inordinate or insatiable longing for unneeded excess, especially for excess wealth, status, power, or food.

As a secular psychological concept, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs. The degree of inordinance is related to the inability to control the reformulation of "wants" once desired "needs" are eliminated. Erich Fromm described greed as "a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.

" It is typically used to criticize those who seek excessive material wealth, although it may apply to the need to feel more excessively moral, social, or otherwise better than someone else.

The purpose for greed, and any actions associated with it, is possibly to deprive others of potential means (perhaps, of basic survival and comfort) or future opportunities accordingly, or to obstruct them therefrom, thus insidious and tyrannical or otherwise having a negative connotation. Alternately, the purpose could be defense or counteraction from such dangerous, potential negotiation in matters of questionable agreeability. A consequence of greedy activity may be an inability to sustain any of the costs or burdens associated with that which has been or is being accumulated, leading to a backfire or destruction, whether of self or more generally. So, the level of "inordinance" of greed pertains to the amount of vanity, malice or burden associated with it. (Wikipedia)

Greed (film)

Greed is a 1924 American silent film, written and directed by Erich von Stroheim and based on the 1899 Frank Norris novel McTeague. It stars Gibson Gowland as Dr. John McTeague, ZaSu Pitts as Trina Sieppe, his wife, and Jean Hersholt as McTeague's friend and eventual enemy Marcus Schouler. The film tells the story of McTeague, a San Francisco dentist, who marries his best friend Schouler's girlfriend Trina. Shortly after their engagement, Trina wins a lottery prize of $5,000, at that time a substantial sum. Schouler jealously informs the authorities that McTeague had been practicing dentistry without a license, and McTeague and Trina become impoverished. While living in squalor, McTeague becomes a violent alcoholic and Trina becomes greedily obsessed with her winnings, refusing to spend any of them, despite how poor she and her husband have become. Eventually McTeague murders Trina for the money and flees to Death Valley. Schouler catches up with him there for a final confrontation.

Greed was one of the few films of its time to be shot entirely on location, with Stroheim shooting approximately 85 hours of footage before editing. Two months alone were spent shooting in Death Valley for the film's final sequence, and many of the cast and crew became ill. Stroheim used sophisticated filming techniques such as deep-focus cinematography and montage editing. He considered Greed to be a Greek tragedy, in which environment and heredity controlled the characters' fates and reduced them to primitive bête humaines (human beasts).

During editing on Greed, the production company merged into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, putting Irving Thalberg in charge of the film's post-production. Thalberg had fired Stroheim a few years earlier at Universal Pictures. Originally almost eight hours long, Greed was edited against Stroheim's wishes to about two-and-a-half hours. Only twelve people saw the full-length 42-reel version, now lost; some of them called it the greatest film ever made. Stroheim later called Greed his most fully realized work and was hurt both professionally and personally by the studio's re-editing of it.

The uncut version has been called the "holy grail" for film archivists, amid repeated false claims of the discovery of the missing footage. In 1999 Turner Entertainment created a four-hour version of Greed that used existing stills of cut scenes to reconstruct the film. Greed was a critical and financial failure upon its initial release, but by the 1950s it began to be regarded as one of the greatest films ever made; filmmakers and scholars have noted its influence on subsequent films. (Wikipedia)

Greed (song)

"Greed" is a song by the band Godsmack. It served as the third and final single from their second album, Awake, released in 2001. (Wikipedia)

Greed (game show)

Greed is an American television game show that was first broadcast on Fox in November 4, 1999 and last broadcast on July 14, 2000 with the total of 44 episodes in one season. Chuck Woolery was the show's host, with Mark Thompson serving as a primary announcer. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $2 million ($4 million on five Super Greed episodes). The program's catchline is "The Richest Most Dangerous Game In America". (Wikipedia)

Greed (Swans album)

Greed is the third studio album by American experimental rock band Swans. It was released in 1986, through record label K.422. Greed marks the slow turning point for Swans away from the harsh, brutal noise rock of prior releases, and is also the first Swans album to contain contributions from Jarboe. (Wikipedia)

Greed (UK game show)

Greed (stylised as Gr££d) is a British television quiz show based on the American version of the same title. The series, which was very short-lived in the UK, offered a £1,000,000 top prize; it was hosted by Jerry Springer. (Wikipedia)

Greed (Jelinek novel)

Greed (German: Gier) is a 2000 novel by the Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek. It was the first novel of hers to be translated into English after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature, and also the first book of hers to be translated into English in seven years. The English translation was published by Seven Stories Press in 2008. While much of her work is rooted in the Austrian literary tradition, she has also been known to take a feminist stand on the dealings of the Communist Party of Austria. (Wikipedia)

Greed (disambiguation)

Greed is an excessive desire to possess wealth or goods with the intention to keep it for one's self.

Greed may also refer to: (Wikipedia)

Greed (Ambitious Lovers album)

Greed is the second album by Ambitious Lovers, released in 1988 through Virgin Records. (Wikipedia)

Sentences with «greed» (usage examples):

  • We have enough in this world to satisfy everybody's need, but everybody's greed» - shared his view Ronnie and many guests supported his initiative by giving generous donations. (coinsbank.com)
  • Yet Anderson never once lets on that he's making a message movie, and his main focus is on the clash between the twin churches of greed and piousness. (combustiblecelluloid.com)
  • There was a lot of greed, but in my opinion, few expected bailouts, but took them when they were offered. (alephblog.com)
  • (see more)
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