David Hume - Lord Byron - Ben Jonson - Honore de Balzac - Aristotle -
Avarice, the spur of industry, is so obstinate a passion, and works its way through so many real dangers and difficulties, that it is not likely to be scared by an imaginary danger, which is so small that it scarcely admits of calculation. David Hume, Essays: Moral and Political, 1741-2
So for a good old-gentlemanly vice,
I think I must take up with avarice. Lord Byron, Don Juan
What a rare punishment
Is avarice to itself! Ben Jonson, Volpone 1606
For avarice begins where poverty ends. Honoré de Balzac, Lost Illusions
The avarice of mankind is insatiable. Aristotle