Leo Tolstoy: How Greed Can Kill You

Leo Tolstoy, the author of the famous book War and Peace, enjoyed the simple pleasures of life.

Although born into a very wealthy family, he adopted the life of a peasant — rejecting all of his wealth, success, and material possessions. Throughout most of his life, he had very little worth to his name.

Perhaps it was his book How Much Land Does A Man Need? that best reveals his thoughts on materialism and private ownership.

In the book, Tolstoy tells the story of a greedy man who was constantly seeking more and never satisfied with what he already had.

It was the man’s primary goal to own as much land as the eye could see. More land than anyone else, more land than necessary.

One night, the man decided to go out for a walk on his vast property. As time passed, the sun began to set and the evening began to turn cold.

After losing his sense of direction and finding himself lost, the man started to panic. He began frantically running through the woods, struggling to find his way in the dark.