Four things does a reckless man gain who covets his neighbor's wife - demerit, an uncomfortable bed, thirdly, punishment, and lastly, hell. The Dhammapada
From covetousness anger proceeds; from covetousness lust is born; from covetousness come delusion and perdition. Covetousness is the cause of sin. The Hitopadesa
Though we take from a covetous man all his treasure, he has yet one jewel left; you cannot bereave him of his covetousness. John Milton
True it is that covetousness is rich, modesty starves. Phaedrus
He that visits the sick in hopes of a legacy, but is never so friendly in all other cases, I look upon him as being no better than a raven that watches a weak sheep only to peck out its eyes. Seneca
Covetousness is both the beginning and the end of the devil's alphabet - the first vice in corrupt nature that moves, and the last which dies. Robert South