According to Aristotle, Politics, i, 9, whatever we desire as a final end, and not merely as a means, we desire without end or measure. Thus to desire wealth is to make a god of Mammon, as some do of pleasure (Matt. vi, 24: Phil. iii, 18), and consequently to stick at nothing that can safely procure it: it is to be the slave of money. Cf. St Paul's expressions, Rom. vi, 16-20, and the phrase in Thucydides i, 81, douleuein tê gê 'to be the slaves of one's land,' i.e., to be ready to make any unpatriotic sacrifice to save one's estates.

Of God and His Creatures: 3.127