Mark Twain wrote: “There is no such thing as material covetousness. All covetousness is spiritual. …Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment.” What is Creator’s perspective?

In a general sense, all striving is spiritual or an offshoot of spiritual impulses in the same way that you in your origin, as an extension of our very consciousness, you are divine. Even when you are acting in a way that is not optimal, or even in a misguided or corrupted fashion, there is still a spiritual basis and purpose, not only for your existence but for your continued series of lifetimes and what that requires of you in responding to your existence and making your way as best you can, especially under difficult circumstances of the physical plane. But the way most people see the issue of covetousness is in favoring something of material value, for the most part, or something that is a reward of the flesh, or a reward for the ego in order to win praise not necessarily earned, or some special advantage that will bring a benefit of some kind that is certainly self-directed in a way not balanced by the bigger picture any longer, because it is putting the self ahead of others, inevitably, and that is always a karmic error. The extent of the imbalance will bring about a counterforce, a reckoning, and a comeuppance, eventually, that will bring the problem back home to the originator as a burden on them. So Twain's quote can mistakenly be interpreted to mean that something like covetousness could be lofty because it is from the spirit of the person. The true sense of how he meant it was that it is a very deep impulse and very meaningful because it reflects the spiritual state of being of the person when covetousness is on display in their behavior, and that is not necessarily good or bad as a kind of random choice but will be a misalignment, and then the degree to which that is true will depend on many other factors and variables in the equation. So overall, the quote is meant to convey that the issue of covetousness is a spiritual dilemma, not simply a matter of dollars and cents, as with how wealthy or financially shaky a person might be, as a factor or a driving force in their behavior.