Greed and worldly desire

Meaning

Greed is desire that narrows the seeker’s attention to possession and worldly advantage. The introduction argues that unrestricted disclosure would let the godless pursue the secret alone and abandon ordinary diligence, producing disorder. Later the apostrophe to greed and impure craving denounces love of money and directs readers to Palingenius for the continuation. The English’s “craving” retains the appetitive force of Sucht without importing a modern diagnosis of addiction. The objection is not to every material benefit: elsewhere the work distinguishes good livelihood and neighbourly help from shameful misuse. The retained secrecy is the narrator’s response to this feared misuse, not a neutral proof that secrecy is always virtuous.