Han Yu, a celebrated Tang Dynasty writer, was a man of vast learning. At 24, he passed the imperial exams, and by 35, he was appointed as a professor at the Imperial Academy in Chang'an, lecturing the nation's top scholars.
In the decade that followed, Han Yu remained frustrated in his official career. Though he received promotions, he was soon demoted again, and at age 45, he was still sent back to the Imperial Academy to serve as a professor.
In this situation, he wrote an essay titled "Explanation of Advancement in Learning," using a dialogue between teacher and student to vent his frustration over possessing great talent yet remaining unrecognized and unrewarded.
Han Yu instructed his students, 'Achievement in learning comes from diligence and is ruined by idleness; success in conduct comes from careful thought and is undone by carelessness. Now the emperor selects the worthy and capable with fairness and impartiality, so one should only fear lacking true talent and learning, not worry about being unrecognized or unpromoted.'
The students burst into laughter. One stepped forward and said, "Master, you are deceiving us! Your knowledge is vast; in all our years studying under you, we have seen you ceaselessly reciting the Six Classics, tirelessly flipping through the works of the Hundred Schools, and delving into every kind of classic text. You learn greedily, seeking to master everything, never discarding anything, no matter how small—truly diligent. Yet you often find yourself in a dilemma, and we feel indignant on your behalf!"
Han Yu sighed and said, "Alas! I am a special case; my current situation is already fortunate enough." The idiom "Greed for More, Strive to Obtain" originally referred to striving to gain as much knowledge as possible in learning. Later, it came to describe insatiable greed.
Source: Han Yu (Tang Dynasty), *Explanation of Advanced Learning*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "贪多务得" came to describe how insatiable greed is.