The line below that I think that is important is “It is how you will choose to live after you have cashed in on the pearl you hope to find. You may use your newfound riches to acquire things letting your ego run wild.”
It’s worth noting this was written over two thousand years ago. Human avarice refers to an excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain.
It describes an insatiable greed for riches, a miserly urge to accumulate and hoard wealth. It can also represent an intense desire for money and possessions. Sadly, many people believe that wealth can fill the void left by the fear of not being or having enough.
Expanding the idea of what inspires us beyond basic needs and our definition of comfort often depends on our age and stage in life. More importantly, it’s about what defines us—how we see ourselves, measure our worth, and who we aspire to become. Leading us to wonder where basic human nature and empathy begin and ends. Even when we see animals in the wild willing to share with others in their community and provide care and nurture their young. Watching the motherly instincts everything from birds to even elephants show an instinctive sense of caring. Why exploring the use of conjunctions in the way we address others can serve to make us to see others and situations differently.
I think it’s about learning to communicate with people in a way they can appreciate and understand. 
To be universal in our actions and thinking, we need to demonstrate traits others would want to emulate or mirror. Conjunctions, metaphors, similes, etc., show us how to use language in order to view things that might seem right or wrong, but under different circumstances, the opposite might hold true.
We are all guilty of seeing facts in a way that may not reflect reality and instead serve only a particular point of view. This becomes our reference point for defining terms that align with our current thinking and often shape the way we choose to live.
We all see the lottery numbers every week and think, “If only I could win, my life would be perfect.” But perfect for what? Would it change how we act or make us more self-centered or worse? Would we just accumulate more possessions we don’t need, or would we dedicate ourselves to meaningful causes that reflect our best efforts to help others, improve the environment, and make a difference? To become the change, we seek.
All through this effort that tries to reflect the works and meaning of Lieh Tzu’s contribution has been to open our eyes to something better. To continually make improvements of ourselves so that we can be the best expression of why we are here and who we are yet to become. That is all the riches we will ever need.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Eight – Explaining Conjunctions
126. Aspiring to great riches
Yen Hui came to Lieh Tzu explaining that his greatest desire was to be rich. That he wanted to inquire about the way of the Tao to become rich and thus worry free. Yen Hui went on to ask:
“What if I found a pearl? Then why should I need the Way?”
Lieh Tzu thought long and hard for the proper explanation so that he could temper Yen Hui’s desire to find comfort in things outside himself through becoming rich and after a short while responded:
“Remember Chieh and Chou who gave weight to nothing but their own interests and therefore neglected the Way; that is why they perished. How fortunate it is that I have a chance to tell you in time.”
Lieh Tzu continued:
“Men yet devoid of honor living for food and nothing else are no better than chickens and dogs. They lock their horns fighting for food, and the victor makes the rules, and as such are no better than the wild beasts and birds. If you are as lazy as a chicken or dog, or as savage as a wild beast or bird, you cannot expect other men to respect you. If others do not respect you, danger and disgrace will befall you.”
Yen Hui did not understand. What could another person’s respect have to do with his situation once he was rich? Why should he care? Lieh Tzu explained: 
“It is how you may choose to live after you have cashed in on the pearl you hope to find. You will use your newfound riches to acquire things letting your ego run wild.
That is why I compare who you hope to become to chickens and dogs. In what way would your actions be different? Hoping to gain the respect of others whose judgment is as clouded as yours is sure to become sheer folly.
If you want to learn about the Way and follow the Tao, you must first learn that the path will remain foreign until you search only for the riches that its understanding brings you.” 7/31/95
Number one hundred twenty-six of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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