Man’s merit lieth in service and virtue and not in the pageantry of wealth and riches. Take heed that your words be purged from idle fancies and worldly desires and your deeds be cleansed from craftiness and suspicion. Dissipate not the wealth of your precious lives in the pursuit of evil and corrupt affection, nor let your endeavors be spent in promoting your personal interest… Guard against idleness and sloth, and cling unto that which profiteth mankind, whether young or old, whether high or low. [Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets].

We measure success in our modern business community by profits, returns on investments, capital growth and similar objectives. Being successful means that we have accumulated significantly more material wealth than the average person.

We tolerate eccentricity in business – as measured by our peers – only when wealth has been accumulated. Otherwise, we require conformity. Thus, material success also becomes a source of perceived freedom from self-imposed constraints, adopted with our short-term perception of existence.

Without wealth, the nearsighted fortune seeker feels obligated to conform to the behavior of those surrounding him. He creates his own chains, then hopes to make enough money to be able to remove them.