Konstantinos Konstantinidis – Amphiktyon
Whoever places profit
at the summit of his thoughts,
first harms himself
and makes his life troubled.
He becomes difficult in dealings,
harsh in every action;
for when money is deified,
humanity is stolen away.
Greed is a great evil,
yet profiteering is even worse;
in the marketplace some steal shamelessly,
even from the poor who live in deprivation.
Their minds are fixed
on how they may always take;
beyond profit, before their eyes,
they never see anything else.
Neither leisure nor idleness,
neither rest nor health;
they count only money,
and sacrifice their whole lives.
Like gluttons, they wish
to consume everything;
they hunger for money,
without measure and without fear.
And if one day they lose it,
they remain deeply miserable;
everything seems futile to them,
and they lose their joy.
Profit has set a trap for them;
beyond money, “I know nothing.”
They create and accumulate,
but when illness strikes, they understand too late.
Self-interest moves everything;
corrupt and perjured politicians
wrong the many for the benefit of the few,
to reap material gain at the expense of farmers and laborers.
If self-interest did not exist,
few would do evil;
yet often the individual interest
comes before the national one.
Only a few, the chosen ones,
place the common good first;
and build hospitals, schools, and ships
for the benefit of the Nation.
Most shameful is profiteering;
it is insolence at the expense of the many.
The greedy man is a slave to profit,
and by his nature has no true friend.
The greatest evil is avarice;
it has neither end nor full stop.
Until the end of his life
he counts money with obsession.
Thus he commits the greatest sin,
and his own life becomes the greatest victim.
He loses the poetry of his homeland,
for he measures everything with money.
He sees all things
through the hole of a penny,
like another Shylock without conscience.
Whatever he does, he does to fill his pockets;
he does not circulate money, but hoards it.
Whoever is greedy
often becomes a liar as well.
One hand washes the other,
and cooperation brings great profit.
The mafia applied this first,
and thus organized crime flourishes;
the gangs run ahead,
while the police follow behind.
Like vultures, political parties seize,
contract debts never meant to be repaid;
they never return them,
but through the law they pardon and dominate.
Those who misuse public money
and think it their own are deceived.
The sun sees everything;
sooner or later they shall fall into the nets of justice.
To give is a noble act;
to seize brings disgrace and shame.
For once you learn to take by force,
it becomes difficult to stop.
And one day, without realizing it,
you may end up on a criminal path.
But when to your homeland
you offer a great gift,
your soul delights and rejoices,
and earns society’s gratitude.
It regards you as a national benefactor,
honoring and blessing your name.
No one, while remaining just,
has become rich overnight;
one gathers wealth with thrift,
another squanders inherited riches.
Yet no one has hated wealth itself;
dishonest gain grants only fleeting pleasure,
and afterward fills a person
with sorrows and responsibilities.
Common mortals,
the “free lunch hero” has not yet been born;
you force prices upward
and acquire wealth with obsession;
thus justice and injustice mingle within society.
And time is money,
yet whoever wastes it solely for money
commits a pity-worthy mistake.
From all this you reap unhappiness,
the bitter fruit of injustice.
No one readily approaches
the person who needs help;
all fear he may ask for something,
and so they avoid him and leave him aside.
Even the State itself
has often abandoned him.
Greedy seems the race of barbarians—
Westerners, Easterners, and others alike.
If someday you find yourself in need,
then you will understand;
with loans, supervision, and memoranda,
they will easily humble and condemn you.
Avarice is a heavy passion
that imprisons the soul.
But whoever learns to give—
only that person truly prospers.
(1 June 2026)
Amphiktyon – Lieutenant General (ret.) Konstantinos Konstantinidis
Author – Member of the Society of Greek Writers
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