"Money won't make you happy" is someone's naive, illogical reversal of the underlying, relevant truth: Lack of money will make you fucking miserable.
Sure, just because luck of money will make you fucking miserable doesn't mean that the abundance of money will solve all your problems and make you happy. However, that is largely irrelevant because most people don't even have that "problem". Someone could hear that silly adage thousands of times throughout his life, and never find out first-hand whether it is true. Proverbs and adages should have broad applicability.
The saying "money won't buy you happiness" (and its various other versions) has a purpose: it expresses a kind of exasperated defeatism over not having money and trying to be content anyway. It's a version of the human behavior which is exposed in that true piece of wisdom known as the Sour Grapes Fable. The fox cannot reach the grapes, so they are declared sour (i..e If I did reach those grapes, it wouldn't make me happy, because they are sour! We just have to identify the struggle for grapes with money. Most of the time this "cannot buy happiness" adage is not only heard by those who will never experience first-hand whether it is true, but also uttered by those in the same boat.
There is a universal truth in it and it is that there exists a human predicament of not being satisified with what one has. It's not always possessions. Someone who has lots of possessions might be dissatisfied with something else in their life, and not necessarily the quantity of stuff. Perhaps he or she seeks to be more learned or skilled in something, or to have a different personality. Or to make some mark in the world other than being remembered as someone who had lots of stuff. I can tell you that if you have more money you will be happier in a sense, but you will still strive to achieve some other satisfactions.
Sure, just because luck of money will make you fucking miserable doesn't mean that the abundance of money will solve all your problems and make you happy. However, that is largely irrelevant because most people don't even have that "problem". Someone could hear that silly adage thousands of times throughout his life, and never find out first-hand whether it is true. Proverbs and adages should have broad applicability.
The saying "money won't buy you happiness" (and its various other versions) has a purpose: it expresses a kind of exasperated defeatism over not having money and trying to be content anyway. It's a version of the human behavior which is exposed in that true piece of wisdom known as the Sour Grapes Fable. The fox cannot reach the grapes, so they are declared sour (i..e If I did reach those grapes, it wouldn't make me happy, because they are sour! We just have to identify the struggle for grapes with money. Most of the time this "cannot buy happiness" adage is not only heard by those who will never experience first-hand whether it is true, but also uttered by those in the same boat.
There is a universal truth in it and it is that there exists a human predicament of not being satisified with what one has. It's not always possessions. Someone who has lots of possessions might be dissatisfied with something else in their life, and not necessarily the quantity of stuff. Perhaps he or she seeks to be more learned or skilled in something, or to have a different personality. Or to make some mark in the world other than being remembered as someone who had lots of stuff. I can tell you that if you have more money you will be happier in a sense, but you will still strive to achieve some other satisfactions.