Word of the Day

Cupidity cu·pid·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ky-pd-t)n.
Excessive desire, especially for wealth; covetousness or avarice.
[Middle English cupidite, from Old French, from Latin cupidits, from cupidus, desiring, from cupere, to desire.]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=10&q=cupidity

And reflection from St. Antoninus:
http://www.stantoninus.net/anto3.htm
"The object of gain is that by its means man may provide for himself and others according to their state. The object of providing for himself and others is that they may be able to live virtuously. The object of virtuous life is the attainment of everlasting glory."
St. Antoninus' Summa Theologica (I. 1,3,ii)

"If the object of trade is principally cupidity, which is the root of all evils, then certainly trade itself is evil. But that trade (as natural and necessary for the needs of human life) is, according to Aristotle, in itself praiseworthy, which serves some good purpose, i.e. supplying the needs of human life. If therefore the trader seeks a moderate profit for the purpose of providing for himself and family according to the becoming fortunes or their state of life, or to enable him to aid the poor more generously, or even goes into commerce for the sake of the common good (lest, for example, the State should be without what its life requires), and consequently seeks a profit not as an ultimate end but merely as a wage of labor, he cannot in this case be condemned."