"When it comes to overcoming being greedy, selfish, and overly indulgent, we all need a lot more help. . . .

"Our prosperity brings some real challenges because many are getting rich, more of us are waxing fat, and as a result of greed, selfishness, and overindulgence, we could lose the Spirit and literally kick ourselves out of the Church" (Joe J. Christensen, "Greed, Selfishness, and Overindulgence," Ensign, May 1999, 9).

"The more our hearts and minds are turned to assisting others less fortunate than we, the more we will avoid the spiritually cankering effects that result from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence. Our resources are a stewardship, not our possessions. I am confident that we will literally be called upon to make an accounting before God concerning how we have used them to bless lives and build the kingdom" (Joe J. Christensen, "Greed, Selfishness, and Overindulgence," Ensign, May 1999, 11).

"I wish every one of you might have some of the good things of life, but I hope your desire will not come of covetousness, which is an evil and gnawing disease.

"Let not selfishness canker your relationship. Let not covetousness destroy your happiness. Let not greed, for that which you do not need and cannot get with honesty and integrity, bring you down to ruin and despair" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 252).

"Of course, we need to earn a living. The Lord told Adam that in the sweat of his face should he eat his bread all the days of his life. It is important that we qualify ourselves to be self-reliant, particularly that every young man at the time of marriage be ready and able to assume the responsibilities of providing for his companion and for the children which may come to that home. . . . This is important. It is wholesome. It is right and proper.

"Of course, none of us ever has enough. At least that is what we think. No matter our circumstances, we want to improve them. This, too, is good if it is not carried to an extreme. I am satisfied that the Father of us all does not wish His children to walk in poverty. He wants the best for them. He wants them to have comforts and some of the good things of the earth. . . .

"It is when greed takes over, when we covet that which others have, that our affliction begins. And it can be a very sore and painful affliction" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 252).

"I want to warn you to be careful of how you measure success. One need only read the daily newspapers to know of case after case of the 'Yuppie Generation' whose driving greedy impulses have led to trouble, and serious and abysmal failure. Some of those who once drove about in the fanciest of cars and owned the fanciest of homes are now languishing in prison. They were, without question, men of tremendous capacity and ability. They had good minds, but their very brilliance led to their downfall" (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley [1997], 251).

"Learn to distinguish between needs and wants. Consumer appetites are man-made. Our competitive free enterprise system produces unlimited goods and services to stimulate our desire to want more convenience and luxuries. I do not criticize the system or the availability of these goods or services. I am only concerned about our people using sound judgment in their purchases. We must learn that sacrifice is a vital part of our eternal discipline" (N. Eldon Tanner, "Constancy Amid Change," Ensign, Nov. 1979, 81).

" 'Thou shalt not covet.' Is not covetousness—that dishonest, cankering evil—the root of most of the world's sorrows? For what a tawdry price men of avarice barter their lives! . . .

"Good men, well-intentioned men of great capacity, trade character for trinkets that turn to wax before their eyes and dreams that become only haunting nightmares" (Gordon B. Hinckley, "An Honest Man—God's Noblest Work," Ensign, May 1976, 62).

"If Latter-day Saints are specially susceptible to materialism, this may be because materialism is a corruption of a virtue in which Latter-day Saints take special pride. Materialism is a seductive distortion of self-reliance. The corruption occurs through carrying the virtue of 'providing for our own' to the point of excess concern with accumulating the treasures of the earth" (Dallin H. Oaks, Pure in Heart [1988], 85).

"The worst fear that I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greatest fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth" (Brigham Young, reported in James S. Brown, Life of a Pioneer [1900], 122-23).

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