"Well, yes," said the man, now a bit hesitant because of the genie's less-than-enthusiastic tone. "Of course, with money I suppose I could buy power. Which do you think I should ask for, Genie?"
"How about world peace or personal humility or an end to famine or maybe an end to greed," suggested the genie, emphasizing the last phrase. "Or perhaps the gift of discernment or knowledge or spiritual enlightenment or even simple happiness."
"But with money or power I could buy or command all those," objected the man.
"Yeah, sure," said the genie.
"Well, just give me power and I'll show you that I can have everything else, too."
"You shall have what you ask," said the genie resignedly. "Whether you shall have what you imagine you must learn for yourself, and you will soon find out."
"Well, I certainly hope to have it all. Don't you ever hope, Genie?"
"Yes," said the genie. "I hope that someday my lamp will fall into the hands of a wise man."
And so the man was given power over everything on earth, over every government, every event, every activity of every soul. As a result, his name was soon pronounced with hatred and contempt by everyone, and in a few months he was assassinated by his most trusted followers.
Several One Way Conversations