A Capital Vice
Covetousness (Avarice)
St. Thomas treats it at II-II, q. 118. See also every passage on the topic page.
What It Is
Each line is one thing said. Authors named first use those words. Those after “in nearly the same words” say the same thing differently; point at a name to see their words.
| “immoderate love of possessing” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 1In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 416; Merkelbach I, n. 503; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 305; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Marc n. 362; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On avarice, n. 2; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| What riches are: “All those external things that are subject to the uses of human life are comprised under the term” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 2, ad 2In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 503; Noldin n. 337; McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| The measure is the end they serve: “in so far as they are necessary for him to live in keeping with his condition of life” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 1In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 337; Marc n. 362; Prümmer n. 416; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE |
| In the affection, not the abundance: “The disorder of this vice does not consist in the actual abundance of things, but in the immoderation of affection” | Marc n. 362 |
| In rich and poor alike: “The vice of avarice can be found equally in the poor man and in the rich man” | Noldin n. 337In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 416; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE |
| In the old especially: “old people seek more greedily the aid of external things” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 1, ad 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 416; McHugh-Callan n. 2429 |
| A sin of the spirit: “the covetous man takes pleasure in the consideration of himself as a possessor of riches” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 6 |
| Yet about a bodily thing: “by reason of its object it is a mean between purely spiritual sins” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 6, ad 1In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| St. Bonaventure, in Bontempi: “this is the concupiscence of the eyes” | Bontempi On avarice, n. 12 |
| Why it is capital: “riches give great promise of self-sufficiency” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 7In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| “The root of all evils”: “there is no evil that does not at some time arise from covetousness” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 2, ad 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II; Merkelbach II, n. 886; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Bontempi On avarice, n. 5; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE |
| First in the order of execution: “Avarice is the first vice in the order of execution” | Marc n. 362In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
What It Is Not
| Desiring riches as a means: “It is natural to man to desire external things as means to an end: wherefore this desire is devoid of sin” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 1, ad 1 |
| Saving for need: “it is lawful from consideration of necessity” | Bontempi On avarice, n. 6In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2424 |
| Economy, thrift and frugality: “Liberality, then, is not inconsistent with prudence about temporal affairs, that is, with economy which adapts expenditures to income” | McHugh-Callan n. 2424 |
| Buying at a fair price: “this Commandment is by no means transgressed by those who desire to purchase or have actually purchased, at a fair price, from a neighbor, the goods which he has for sale” | Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth Commandments |
| The wide sense, not the special vice: “all immoderate desire for having anything whatever” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 2In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 4 |
| Pleasures and honors bought with money: “the desire for such things is not properly called covetousness, in so far as it is a special vice” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 2, ad 2 |
| Seizing great things: “tyrants who take great things by violence, are said to be, not illiberal, but unjust” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8, ad 5 |
The Opposed Virtue
| “covetousness is opposed to liberality, which moderates these affections” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 616; Merkelbach II, n. 886; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 305; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 472; Bontempi On avarice, n. 1; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| As a second kind of covetousness: “a man obtains money beyond his due, by stealing or retaining another's property. This is opposed to justice” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; Merkelbach I, n. 503; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Or by accident only: “per accidens it can be opposed to justice and charity” | Marc n. 363In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 306; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Bontempi On avarice, n. 9 |
| The other extreme: “Hence it is evident that prodigality is opposed to covetousness” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 1In nearly the same words: Prümmer II, n. 616; Merkelbach II, n. 887; Wouters n. 308; McHugh-Callan n. 2427; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On prodigality, n. 1 |
| How the two differ: “the covetous man exceeds by loving them more than he ought, while the prodigal is deficient” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 887; McHugh-Callan n. 2427; Vermeersch n. 471; Marc n. 363 |
| Both in one man: “he is prodigal and covetous in different respects” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 1, ad 1In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 887; McHugh-Callan n. 2429 |
| The lesser of the two: “Prodigality considered in itself is a less grievous sin than covetousness” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 3In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 887; McHugh-Callan n. 2429; Marc n. 363; Bontempi On prodigality, n. 1 |
| Giving all for Christ: “those who give all their possessions with the intention of following Christ, and banish from their minds all solicitude for temporal things, are not prodigal but perfectly liberal” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 119, a. 2, ad 3 |
See Justice, and what the capital vices feed.
Its Gravity
| Against justice: “it is opposed to justice, and thus it is a mortal sin in respect of its genus” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; Merkelbach II, n. 886; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| And it binds to restore: “there arises an obligation of restitution on account of justice injured” | Prümmer n. 417In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 30 |
| Against liberality alone: “then covetousness is a venial sin” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; Merkelbach II, n. 886; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 306; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On avarice, n. 9; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Why: “because it is only an excess in love of a thing indifferent and licit according to itself” | Merkelbach II, n. 886In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Noldin n. 337; Marc n. 363 |
| Yet mortal when: “if the love of riches becomes so great as to be preferred to charity” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; Merkelbach II, n. 886; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Noldin n. 337; Bontempi On avarice, n. 10; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| For example: “to commit perjury, not to hear Mass on a feast day, not to assist the poor who are in grave or extreme necessity” | Prümmer n. 417In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Noldin n. 337; Bontempi On avarice, n. 12 |
| Or when riches are made the last end: “or constitutes his ultimate end in riches” | Merkelbach I, n. 503In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 5; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IX |
| “A serving of idols”: “Covetousness is compared to idolatry on account of a certain likeness that it bears to it” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 5, ad 4In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 417; Bontempi On avarice, n. 5; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE |
| Yet not idolatry: “Hence it does not follow that covetousness is as grievous a sin as idolatry” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 5, ad 4 |
| Not the gravest of sins: “we must assert that covetousness is not simply the most grievous of sins” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 886; McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| But the basest: “the sin of covetousness, whereby the human appetite is subjected even to external things, has in a way a greater deformity” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 5In nearly the same words: Merkelbach II, n. 886; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Prümmer n. 417 |
| Hard to cure: “incurability of this kind is an indication not of the sin being more grievous, but of its being somewhat more dangerous” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 5, ad 3In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 419; Merkelbach II, n. 887; McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| Why so few see it in themselves: “it creeps in secretly under the pretext of prudent care concerning the future, so that few avaricious men recognize their avarice” | Prümmer n. 419In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
Its Kinds
| In getting and in keeping: “by wishing to acquire or keep them immoderately” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 1In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 337; Bontempi On avarice, n. 2; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| Greed in getting: “if riches are acquired with excessive solicitude, so that a man thinks of and desires almost nothing else except temporal gain to be made” | Prümmer n. 416In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 337 |
| Meanness in keeping: “if riches are retained with excessive parsimony, so that a man deprives himself and his own of things necessary according to the fittingness of his state” | Prümmer n. 416In nearly the same words: Noldin n. 337; McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| Stinginess: “a man may be said to be illiberal or covetous through a defect in giving” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8, ad 4In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| Sponging: “a willingness to live at the expense of others” | McHugh-Callan n. 2426 |
| Miserliness: “the most disgusting form of avarice is seen in those who cannot bear to part with their possessions either for their own sake or for the sake of others, and find their happiness in mere possession” | McHugh-Callan n. 2426In nearly the same words: Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE |
| Gain by shameful means: “through making money by disgraceful means” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8, ad 4 |
| Gain by unjust means: “in making money by unjust means” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8, ad 4In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 13 |
| Species, not daughters: “The vices mentioned by Aristotle are species rather than daughters of illiberality or covetousness” | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8, ad 4In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 3 |
| St. Bonaventure, in Bontempi: “three branches arise from this stock: namely, the Inordinate appetite for having, Inordinate acquisition, and inordinate possession” | Bontempi On avarice, n. 12 |
The Daughters of Covetousness
The headings are St. Thomas's.
| Excess in keeping | |
|---|---|
| insensibility to mercy | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 307; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On avarice, n. 15; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Excess in getting: in the desire | |
| restlessness | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8; Prümmer n. 418In nearly the same words: Merkelbach I, n. 504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 307; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On avarice, n. 12; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Excess in getting: in the deed | |
| violence | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8; Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; Wouters n. 307; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471In nearly the same words: McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Bontempi On avarice, n. 10 |
| falsehood | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 307; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Vermeersch n. 471; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| perjury | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8; Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; McHugh-Callan n. 2426In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 5 |
| fraud | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8; Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 307; McHugh-Callan n. 2426; Vermeersch n. 471In nearly the same words: Bontempi On avarice, n. 10 |
| treachery | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8; McHugh-Callan n. 2426In nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 418; Merkelbach I, n. 504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters n. 307; Marc n. 363; Vermeersch n. 471; Bontempi On avarice, n. 10 |
| Others also named | |
| perfidy | Marc n. 363; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Isidore's nine, which St. Thomas reduces to St. Gregory's seven: lying, fraud, theft, perjury, greed of filthy lucre, false witnessing, violence, inhumanity, rapacity | St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 8 |
| Twelve, after St. Bonaventure, among them: Usury, Rapine, Robbery, Unjust Tallies, The fraud of traders, The deception of Advocates, The acceptance of gifts, Simony in the promotion of relatives | Bontempi On avarice, n. 3 |
| Also: “The sins of false prudence are caused chiefly by avarice” | McHugh-Callan n. 1686 |
The Remedies
The fuller lists are the manuals'. Where an author has no list, the entries are what that author says in passing, gathered from wherever it is said.
The headings are Merkelbach's, who sets prayer before both: “Besides prayer, there is customarily proposed a twofold kind of remedy: one internal, in the mind; another external, in work” (Pastoral, Q. II). Under the works he adds sayings of Scripture to call to mind. The others list theirs without this division.
| “besides prayer” | Marc n. 363In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| In the mind | |
|---|---|
| “the loftiness of heavenly things and the vanity of earthly things” | Marc n. 363; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIIn nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 419; Wouters n. 308 |
| “Consider that you are destined for higher things and therefore that the heart of man is not satisfied by riches” | Wouters n. 308In nearly the same words: Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IX |
| “the example of Christ the Lord” | Marc n. 363; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIIn nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 419; Wouters n. 308; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IX |
| “the baseness, unhappiness, and dangers of this vice” | Marc n. 363In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II; Bontempi On avarice, n. 35; St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IX; Deshon Guide, ch. LII |
| “death, which will despoil us of all earthly things” | Marc n. 363; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. IIIn nearly the same words: Prümmer n. 419; Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICE; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| “confidence in God” | Bontempi On avarice, n. 36In nearly the same words: Deshon Guide, ch. LIV |
| In work | |
| “Works of liberality and charity, for example the giving of alms, donations” | Prümmer n. 419In nearly the same words: Wouters n. 308; Marc n. 363; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II; Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth Commandments; St. Thomas II-II, q. 32, a. 1, ad 4 |
| “Since the best method of correcting a vice is by exercising the opposite virtue, avarice will be cured by liberality.” | Spirago THE OPPOSITE OF LIBERALITY: AVARICEIn nearly the same words: St. Thomas II-II, q. 118, a. 3 |
| “visitation of the miserable” | Marc n. 363; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| “in the loss of goods, conformity to the divine will” | Marc n. 363In nearly the same words: Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II; Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth Commandments |
| “if riches abound, we set not our hearts upon them” | Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth CommandmentsIn nearly the same words: Deshon Guide, ch. LIV; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
| “we are directed to be content with our own condition, whether it be high or low” | Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth CommandmentsIn nearly the same words: Deshon Guide, ch. LII |
| “if we are generous with our own goods, we shall extinguish (in our own hearts) the desire of what belongs to another” | Roman Catechism The Ninth and Tenth Commandments |
| “to leave all things for Christ” | Bontempi On avarice, n. 34In nearly the same words: St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IX |
| In little things too: “keeping the heart detached, not only from what is valuable, but also from what is trifling” | St. Alphonsus True Spouse, ch. IXIn nearly the same words: Deshon Guide, ch. LII |
| From the Gospel: “Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth” | Prümmer n. 419; Merkelbach Pastoral, Q. II |
Where Each Author Treats It
| Among the capital sins | Prümmer nn. 416-419; Merkelbach I, nn. 503-504; Noldin n. 337; Wouters nn. 305-308; Marc nn. 362-363; Vermeersch nn. 471-472; Sabetti-Barrett n. 141 |
| Under liberality, against it by defect | St. Thomas II-II, qq. 118-119; Prümmer II, nn. 615-616; Merkelbach II, nn. 884-887; Wouters nn. 410-412; McHugh-Callan nn. 2424-2429; Bontempi On avarice |