Eget semper qui avarus est.
(St. Jerome)

He who is greedy is always in need.
He who is a miser is always in want.
The avaricious one is never satisfied.
He who wants always wants more.

(pron = EH-ghet SEHM-per kwee ah-WAH-roos ehst)

Comment: Depending on how we translate this, perhaps no commentary is needed! I
think of a miser as someone who always refuses to spend money on anything, and
so, by that fact, actually has a stockpile of gold hidden away somewhere. Even
if that is true, there is something about the miser that is terribly
impoverished. Perhaps it is psychological malfunction or some sort of
post-traumatic distress, but something does not allow him/her to use resources
toward the benefit of life—his/hers or anyone else’s. So, the miser comes off
as greedy, stingy, anti-social—clearly in need (even if not of money).

But I think the fourth version of the translation makes it most clear, even if
it is not the best sounding translation. The avaricious man/woman wants. And
because he/she wants, he/she is always wanting. Want has become his/her
paradigm for living. He/she becomes a kind of human black hole that sucks
everything into it never to be seen again—no gratitude, no compassion, no
return of deeds, no generosity. Only more want.

Little lines like this make me stop cold in my tracks. How often do I stop to
offer my gratitude to others who have enriched my life?