Quark explains why greed is good

*Calls Ferengi too aggressive and intrusive* *Literally forces viewpoints on a species via genetic modification without consent*

womrhole aliens saying that greed is aggressive, but the ferengi are pretty much the only faction that's managed to completely avoid war with itself and others

Quark's the man. He can see the darkness hiding in Humans, the duality of Klingon honour and successfully talk down beings so powerful they're worshipped as gods.

People who've gotten the all-mighty wormhole aliens to do what they want: Benjamin Sisko, commander of DS9, captain of the Defiant, war hero, and all around badass. Quark, bar owner.

"I am Quark.  And I'm here to ask you a question.  Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? 'No', says the man on Earth--it belongs to the poor. 'No', says the man on Bajor--it belongs to the Prophets. 'No', says the drone of the Borg--it belongs to the COLLECTIVE. I...rejected those answers."

Quark is correct. Zephram Cochrane wouldn't have made that first warp flight if not motivated by greed.

"We disagree with who you are as a person, so we're going to rewrite your brain!"

"Profits vs Prophets" The House of Quark's WIN!!!!

I really adore what DS9 did with the Ferengi, Quark in particular. Sure he could be an asshole, but most of his negative traits were just a result of his cultural background; him trying to be a "good Ferengi." And even then, there were lines he just couldn't cross. For a one-note species that was basically the least subtle metaphor in the whole franchise, DS9 really took the time to give them nuance, and even in some cases let Quark make some valid points in defense of the Ferengi or Ferengi values, such as this scene or the one where he out-logic'd a Vulcan about the "bargain" for peace. The Ferengi were sill mostly presented in a negative light, but DS9 had the balls to make one a main character and show some of the positives. IMO, that lines up a lot better with Trek's whole "learning and accepting of other aliens" thing. You really wouldn't see that kind of attempt at being even-handed today, even outside of Trek.

"People would sit around and do nothing, they wouldn't even bathe" A sobering comment to hear when you're down a rabbit hole.

Fun fact for any of you who have played Bioshock: Armin Shimerman, the actor who plays Quark, also did the voice for Andrew Ryan.

Quark. This character is one of the most badass characters in DS9. Because he is so savvy with his words, that he can make things that we traditionally view as bad, and makes them good. He's the only man who can lecture a Vulcan about what is and isn't logical. He's the only man who can win a duel with a Klingon using nothing but words. He is awesome not by being a great warrior like Martok, nor by being a diplomat like Picard, and most certainly not by being a humanitarian either. He's awesome because he is simply great at being a Ferengi. And he's proud of it.

Quark is hands down the best character in Star Trek and should have his own show.

Greed is not a bad thing in moderation. it drives us to do better. Obsessive greed on the other hand leads us to burning our bridges and death. Every living creature is greedy. the lion values his 1 meal over the entire life of a gazelle. the grub values his his meal over that of the giant trees it burrows through. trees possibly hundreds of years old, reduced to a dust filled series of tunnels by hungry grubs. whales eat hundreds of krill in a single meal. it values the satiation of it's hunger over that of hundreds upon hundreds of living creatures. Greed is a consequence of life. it is why things get better. without it, we'd be sitting in a pile of our own shit thinking "This is fine, Im okay with this."

That was rather adversarial of them.

Very fine line between healthy ambition and destructive greed. Good ambition coupled with responsibility and empathy to fellow people has very positive results for everyone. Greed on the other hand can be destructive to everyone, including the greedy individual himself.

A good point. In a sense, greed is simply the desire to improve your current situation. We technically could function as hunter/gatherers, but most humans decided that kind of lifestyle wasn't good enough for them.

Calling Sisko “the Sisko” sounded silly enough, but “the Zek” is ridiculous.

Moderation in everything is healthy.

This guy was the true protagonist and hero of the series. And we never even knew.