“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
Growing Dominion, Part 94
“He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live” (Prov. 15:27).
The point of greed is to benefit your own house, but it frequently does not work out that way. The intended consequences of grasping for the main chance and the actual consequences of doing so are often very different. A man who is greedy does not know where the brakes are, and does not know how to pass by an opportunity. This kind of greed leads to shortcuts, shoddy workmanship and materials, dishonesty, stupid debt, and the gathering of bribes. The man who does this can have a real appearance of profit for a short time—but he is importing trouble into his own house, and he is doing it with his own hands.
The contrast here is one of love and hate. In other words, the contrast is not between those who take the bribe and those who moralistically don’t, but rather between those who love it (greedy) and those who hate it.