As a human being, if you can't control your desires, then you will become a slave to your desires, and you will eventually be overwhelmed by your desires. If you indulge greed and take it by force, it can only make people spurn, and in the end it will outweigh the losses.

Confucius said, "Unrighteousness and wealth are like clouds to me." Confucius believed that "righteousness" is the foundation of a person's foothold in the world. Those who are morally noble will inevitably be respected by the world, while those who are of low moral character will be spurned by the world. At first glance, it seems that in Confucius's thought, "righteousness" and "profit" are relative, but in fact this is not the case. Profit is profit, wealth, objectively speaking, no one will hate to get benefits, and Confucius is no exception. He once said that if you can get rich, then it doesn't matter if you are a coachman. However, he also emphasized that no matter how much a person desires wealth, he must follow one principle - to obtain the right way.

It can be seen that "profit" and "righteousness" do not conflict with each other, the key is how we get benefits. If the interests that are in front of us are in line with "righteousness", then we should take them; If this interest does not correspond to the word "righteousness", then do not be tempted by it, but do not hesitate to stay away from it. There is an antique dealer specializing in the old mahogany furniture business, and in a remote mountain village, he accidentally found a very precious old mahogany cabinet. He was pleasantly surprised, but soon after, the antique dealer began to think about it. He chatted with the owner of the cabinet and then pretended to pull it on the cabinet inadvertently and carefully. Subsequently, the price of 500 yuan was ready to buy.

The mountain man had never seen so much money, and he looked at the antique dealer with straight hair. In the end, the mountain people finally agreed, and the antique dealer's "pounding" heart was stabilized.

But he immediately began to regret it again. It turned out that when he saw the mountain people agreeing so readily, he felt that he had suffered a loss. "You shouldn't have to pay 500 yuan at all, maybe 300 yuan is enough." However, you can't go back on it, so it's easy for the other party to see the flaws. So, the antique dealer did not give up and pondered carefully around the front and back of the house.

"What a coincidence, I found a dirty mahogany chair!" He said to his master, "This cabinet is so broken that it can't be repaired when you take it back, so you can only use it as firewood." ”

The mountain man muttered, "Otherwise, you don't want it." ”

The antique dealer waved his hand very generously: "How can you swallow back the words you say?" Well, you can just give me that chair too. ”

The people in the mountains were already a little ashamed, and when they heard him say this, of course they nodded gratefully and hurriedly.

The antique dealer smiled, "Then I'll come back tomorrow morning to get these firewoods." ”

Early the next morning, when the antique dealer came with a cart to load the cabinets and chairs, he saw a pile of firewood in front of the door, and the mountain man came out and said, "It is not easy for you to come all the way, and I have already chopped the firewood for you." ”

"And then?" Someone asked the antique dealer.

The antique dealer very calmly took out a piece of wood from the shelf. I made a "figure eight" with my right hand, and it turned out that in addition to the 500 yuan wood payment, I also paid 300 yuan for chopping wood. After a pause, the antique dealer said very seriously: "Actually, the 800 yuan should be counted as tuition, because from then on I know what it means to be too greedy." "When morality and interests conflict, it is the greatest test of a person's moral integrity. Regrettably, many of us are not so qualified in the face of such tests, and even worse, even completely abandon morality, which is really heartbreaking. The antique dealer in the case behaved in the face of "righteousness" and "profit" at first, which was obviously unqualified, but fortunately, he finally realized that he had lost his way and made a thorough cleansing of his heart that was blinded by interests.

For thousands of years, benevolence and righteousness have always been the fundamental criterion for distinguishing between good and evil, and benevolence and morality have always been the behavioral and living norms that Chinese people strive to follow. "Benevolence" and "righteousness" are mutually reinforcing, and if words and deeds conform to the word "righteousness", they can be called "benevolence"; Those who always have benevolence in their hearts will be able to embody "righteousness" in their words and deeds. In Confucius's view, even if he eats coarse grains and wild vegetables, drinks tasteless cold water, and uses his arms as a pillow, he can enjoy it, and the wealth obtained in an immoral way is like a floating cloud to him. This is the attitude of a gentleman towards life.

Throughout the ages, sages have also earnestly warned future generations that they can pay attention to things, but they can't linger on things, let alone be served. It is true that everyone has desires, and in fact desires themselves are not all bad, but once desires are excessive, they will become greedy, and people will become slaves of desires. To lock up desire is to lock up greed! Greed is the root of the scourge. Excessive greed and stinginess will only make people gradually lose trust, friendship, family affection, etc.; Too much materialism causes the soul to pervert, and there will never be happiness or tranquility in the spirit, which can only bring infinite troubles and pain to life.

It can be seen that everyone must know how to control their desires, be kind to wealth, and avoid stinginess and greed; They should also freely control external objects, use their money for the right way, and earn money with their talents and wisdom to help others achieve good deeds.

In fact, money is something outside the body, which is not brought with it in life or taken away in death. If you get the right way, you will be happy; If you use it rightly, money will help others to accomplish good things. If you become a miser, a little money can be regarded as life, and even forget righteousness for money, and do not hesitate to ruin your face and lose your life for a gain or loss, that is to be a servant of things, then "it is better to have no such thing".