Hello there, i need to write an essay fitting the following statement into comparing characters from "Hmalet" and the "Great Gatsby"

Question

"one of the chief vices of humanity is the worship of materialism and power over spirituality"

The only problem is, i don't know what the quote is really saying. I htink it's contrdicting itself. Can someone offer their opinion on what they think this quote means?

Why are we here? What is our purpose in life? What is our relationship to nature, to mankind? The answers lie in the area of spirituality.

A great mistake many make is to try to find answers to those questions by seeking power, and wealth, and finding that the answers elude them.

I'll add my two cents to BobPursley's excellent answer.

The quote is stating that a main problem that people face is they think materialism (buying stuff) and power (over other people) is more important than spirituality. The author believes that spirituality (belief in religion, philosophy, literature, people, etc.) is more important than materialism and power.

Both the "Great Gatsby" and "Hamlet" show how materialism and power were more important to the main characters than spirituality. And that led to their downfalls.