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all their time in learning philosophy. In this way, in olden days,
the philosophers studied before their death to direct and attract
themselves and others to the knowledge of their Creator, and they labored
greatly to set all people on the path toward virtue. They organized
money that they carried in order to gain what they needed to
live by buying and paying for it, for people do not always
give [freely]. The greed of people who are
fearful of the expense corrupts law and nature. (see note) For according
to reason and nature everyone one should be able to take what
they need to live, and for this reason money was established
to sustain each one in what he needed to live and in his life when
he was on the road. But they [the greedy people] loved their flesh
and their skin much more than they needed to, and retained
possession of goods that they didn't need for their daily life,
leaving those goods to rot even while seeing that many poor people
had great need of them. Money was not invented
for this reason, except to have what one needs to live
until death takes everything, doing as one should by God's pleasure. So