“You just think we live in a free country, Everett. We are at the mercy of greed and the selfish pursuit of wealth.”

“One of the great differences that set Jews apart from other cultural groups is that we see our wealth as a means to partner with God, as a way to bring God’s kingdom into this earth, a concept that we call tikkun olam – perfecting the world. We perfect the world by using our God- given wealth to further God’s realm on this planet. So what you see is that the Jewish people’s pursuit of wealth is often paired with the pursuit of charitable works, not only for selfish purposes.”

“As Jesus explained, the right things have to die so the right things can live—we die to selfishness, greed, power, accumulation, prestige, and self-preservation, giving life to community, generosity, compassion, mercy, brotherhood, kindness, and love. The gospel will die in the toxic soil of self.”

“We are today engaged in a war. It is an economic war over oursovereignty as human beings with inalienable rights to life, liberty, andthe pursuit of happiness. The “pursuit of happiness” means the rightto create wealth through our labor and to enjoy the fruits thereof.The battle now is over who has the moral, the ethical, and the legalright to the fruits of our labor. Are we to be free, or are we to beslaves? Just whose money is it anyway?”

“If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free. If our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed.”

“I think we are just insects, we live a bit and then die and that’s the lot. There’s no mercy in things. There’s not even a Great Beyond. There’s nothing.”