money can't buy happiness theme
This old adage is illustrated. The idea is that no amount of money or other external things can guarantee a person's happiness.
Examples
In "Citizen Kane" (1941), we see how the exceedingly rich and powerful Mr. Kane dies miserable without friends while reminiscing on the last time, perhaps, that he was truly happy: when he was eight and had a sled named "Rosebud".
11 total · 4 choice · 5 major · 2 minor
| Story | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| movie: You Can't Take It with You (1938) | choice | Mr. Vanderhof spelled out his philosophy to Mr. Kirby: One should not waste one's time in the pursuit of wealth because "You Can't Take It with You" when you die. For some reason he also believed that you can take your friendships with you. |
| tz1959e1x05 | choice | It seemed the moral of the story was that success doesn't bring happiness - Martin was happier during his carefree youth. |
| tz1959e2x21 | choice | In the end, Jimbo ensured that Ace learned how Kitty's love is more valuable than all the money in the world. |
| tz1959e3x36 | choice | Agnes's guardian angel Harmon summed up their experience like this: "cash and contentment are not necessarily synonymous". |
| ahp2x29 | major | Towards the end, a point was made that Manny was not happy despite his financial success. |
| as1985e2x10 | major | Elma was exceptionally rich but obviously miserable because she kept loosing the pumpkin competition year after year. |
| tz1959e1x28 | major | Valentine got millions in cash and won more wherever he went but soon realized that this did not make him happy. |
| tz1959e1x33 | major | Mr. Bevis made a point about $10/week not being worth much next to the various things that made him happy. |
| tz1985e3x14 | major | Willy found this out first hand. |
| ahh2x25 | minor | Mrs. Snow quoted a version of this aphorism (i.e., "money isn't the answer to making people happy") in response to Lorna requesting she take action to unlock funds designated for Lorna early. |