Story on selfishness and greed

A wealthy farmer was once offered all the land he could walk on in a day provided he returned by sunset to the point at which he started. To get a head start, early the next morning, the farmer started covering ground quickly because he wanted to get as much land as he could. Even though he was tired, he kept going all afternoon because he didn't want to lose this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain more wealth.

Late in the afternoon, he remembered that the condition he had to fulfil to get the land was to get back to the starting point by sundown. His greed had gotten him far from the starting point. He started his return journey, keeping an eye on how close he was to sunset. The closer it got to sunset, the faster he ran. He was exhausted and out of breath, and he pushed himself beyond the point of endurance. He collapsed upon reaching the starting point and died. He did make it before sunset. He was buried and all the land he need was a small plot.

Whether the farmer was wealthy or not, any greedy person would have ended the same way.