Tolstoy's Tale of Greed
StoryParable★★★★★Profit?” Leo Tolstoy tells of a landhungry man who went to a distant country where the headman of a tribe offered to give him for a thousand rubles all the land he could walk around in a day. The man was told to put his money down on a certain spot and then walk till sunset. When he returned to his money, all lands enclosed by the path of his steps were to be his. So the man started, hurrying as fast as possible and returning after great exertion to the point of departure. But the task had been too great for him, and he fell dead where he had begun. In the end six feet of ground was all he claimed, for the rest was of no use to him.
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Also attributed to: Leo Tolstoy
The point
A man is offered all the land he can walk around in a day, but dies from exhaustion, discovering that only six feet of ground is enough for anyone.