TCR 498 - two disturbing loves

TCR 498 [2]

Man is prey to two loves,
that of dominating others
and that of possessing everyone's wealth.
These loves, if given free rein, 
race away without limit.
The hereditary evils a person acquires by birth
come chiefly from those two loves.
Adam's crime was simply wishing to become like God,
an evil ambition the serpent put into his mind,
as we are told.
So when he was cursed,
he was told that the earth
should bring forth thorns and thistles for him
(Genesis. 3:5, 18),
meaning all evil and falsity derived from it. 

All held in thrall by those loves
regard themselves alone
as the one person
in whom and for whom
all others exist.
They are without pity, fear of God,
or love for the neighbor,
so that they are unmerciful, savage and cruel,
their greed and longing to rob and steal
are worthy of hell,
and they are cunning and deceitful
in carrying out such crimes.
Not even the animals of the earth
have such innate wickedness,
for the only desire
which makes them kill and eat other animals
is to fill their bellies and to protect themselves.
A wicked man, therefore,
looked at from the point of view of those loves
is more savage, more fierce and worse than any animal.