It’s just never enough

Why do the rich need so much money?

For the same reason that farmers need fertiliser.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

• To remain rich. If they didn’t have so much money, they would not be “rich”, at least not in the usual definition of the word.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada

• Human nature seems to be to want more than we have, though that’s a stronger impulse in some than in others. At least, observing the bizarre acquisitiveness of the “filthy rich”, the rest of us occasionally become guiltily aware of our own greed, and are prompted towards modest philanthropy.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia

• Because they are poor in spirit.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya

• To pay for their tax minimisation strategists.
Rhys Winterburn, Perth, Western Australia

• To make large piles to block out misery.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US

• The rich, of course, want to stay richer than the poor of which there are so many, but also aspire to be as rich as the fewer multi-billionaires who currently snub them.
Bryan Smith, Sweaburg, Ontario, Canada

• To ensure that the poor remain always with us. It wouldn’t do to spread it around more, would it?
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

• I think the question is, why do the rich want so much money?
Lorna Kaino, Fremantle, Western Australia

When you lose it, you’ll know

What meaning do matters of the heart have?

Matters of the heart are the heart of the matter.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia

• That we’re all poets, or could be.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada

• You’ll know when you lose your heart to someone.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany

• I’d like to help you out but am at a loss to do so since, as Blaise Pascal has said, “Love has reasons which reason cannot understand”.
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

• It means: watch your cholesterol.
Marilyn Hamilton, Perth, Western Australia

Now that’s what I call boring

The most boring title for a novel?

The Vicar, his lost sermon and the bicycle pump.
Harvey Mitchell, Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia

• Drill holes.
James Saunders, Brunswick, Victoria, Australia

Beetles know a lot better

Why is it easier to pull a load uphill than to push it?

• This hypothesis gets no traction in the world of dung beetles.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

• Because there is more friction against motion if you push rather than pull.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia

• It is always easier to put something behind us than to confront it face-on.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US

• It is only easy to pull a load uphill if someone else is also pushing.
John Anderson, Pukekohe, New Zealand

Any answers?

Is it possible to reason with fanatics?
Reiner Jaakson, Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Will there ever be a time without construction sites?
Burkhard Friedrich, Berlin, Germany

Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com