Greedy tip

Among the seven deadly sins that mankind is afflicted of, I would say "greed" is perhaps the most common. Maybe because of my profession, I have managed to notice more instances of greed .

Well I am associated with business journalism, mostly covering personal finance -- Stocks and Mutual Funds -- for over two years. Even in that my domain was mostly about writing features on stocks (Jan 2009- Dec 2010). And everytime I would mention about this, most often people would ask me for a quick tip to make a quick money.

My response was the same then and now, investing is not a fun game. It is not easy money. You will have to do some work to make money. Its like an activity, you can enjoy it only if you like working hard. And I would always offer them tips on how to study the market and understand stocks. Was even ready to help them learn everything that I know.

Alas! Not many people would agree that its not easy money, and then most will actually stop asking or saying anything. Sometimes I get the feeling, they think I have no clue about my job.

In a way, it was sad to see how everyone wanted the easy money. It seemed they had forgotten the proverb: "Give a man a fish and he will not be hungry for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll never go hungry".

Everyone wants a fish and doesn't care about tomorrow.

In school I had read a story. I am sure you must have read it too. Don't remember the exact text but it goes like:

Once upon a time there was a man. He was poor as compared to some of his relatives but he had everything in his life, a nice house, decent work, good family and was able to meet all his commitments. Then one day he made a statement that if given a chance he will make a lot of money and even the devil cannot take away from him. 

The devil heard and decided to take the challenge. 

The guy started making money and grew rich. Then one day, he was given an offer that he can have as much land as he can run and cover. The man started running, and though he was tired, he thought if he could run a little more, he will have that extra land as well. In the end he dies, ran too more than he should have and the only land that he actually got was the space in which he was buried. 

Now what I don't get why don't people ever understand the lesson.