The story of greed

This is a story I heard from a monk who talked about human greed.

One day, a kind-hearted man passed by a beggar who said to him, "Give me one hundred dollars." Out of compassion, the man dug into his pocket only to realise thatt he had only eighty dollars. Hence he handed all the amount to the beggar. Instead of showing gratitude by saying 'Thank You', the beggar said, "Remember you still owe me twenty dollars."

The moral of the story is that human greed cannot be satisfied. Because of greed, some people will go all out to get more and more money some of which is not needed at all. According to Buddhism such people who will reborn as ghosts when they pass away. Even the Chinese has the phrase 'Tan Xin Gui' (Greedy Ghost) to refer to a person who is very greedy.