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As someone who grew up with far less money than I have now, I can assure you money can buy happiness.

Yep. Same.

I don't think so.
How many of the rich are actually satisfied with their life? The rich and famous get all they want, but still lack something; they aren't happy.

Perhaps this little quote does not mean to have less, but just a warning that you're never going to be satisfied if you just make money.

Do they lack something?

What?

They can go and buy it. Whatever it is, they can buy it.

If it's no longer getting dopamine when buying something, that can be resolved with therapy.

A service they can buy.

Don't like the way they look? Surgeons, personal trainers, nutritionists, and personal chefs can change that.

All services they can buy.

Not having to worry about car repair, medical bills, uitlity bills, school supplies, or even just planning a vacation goes a long long way to being really happy.

Don't like their job? They're rich, so they can go start a company and give themselves a job they do like.

This "they still lack something" is the exact gaslighting I talked about here.

Being poor doesn't make you better in some ineffable way. Being poor doesn't give you the secret code for internal happiness.

You're just poor and still having to struggle to live and you've bought into the idea that poorness is what's good for you.

1. I'm not poor. I don't struggle to live. I'm a teen.

2. "Every human being desires happiness, but only a few of us are rich. So either a basic human need can only be satisfied by extraordinary circumstances, or like our other needs, it must be within every person's reach."

I took this from a book, just in case someone cares about copyright.

Happiness is a basic human need. We all want it. Compare it to other human needs, like health. Everyone wants to be healthy. But given that we're all humans, there are objective laws about how to define and how to maintain good health. Similarly happiness has to have rules and limits for gaining and keeping it.

If happiness only came from money and pleasures, then all you would have to do is satisfy yourself and you'd be happy, as you described in your comment. For that matter, animals would be happy too, because they're always trying to satisfy themselves. But even when we're satisfied we still feel the desire to be happy. We can distract ourselves with other things, but it doesn't work for long.

Try this. Sit in a quiet room for five minutes without worldly distractions. No screens, no music, no books, etc. How do you feel?

3. If you want to talk about what they lack, I will do my best to tell you. Just let me know. It might get a bit religious though. I have a reason for this.

That 2nd point of yours is the gaslighting.

Happiness isn't some unexplainable unknowable until you have it thing.

It's being able to take that 5 minutes and not be consumed with worry about how you're going to pay for anything if anything goes wrong, or pay your bills, or any of the things that money can and does fix.

I grew up poor. We didn't take vacations. My dad, when he had a job, only took vacation days because he was sick and couldn't drag himself in to work.

Money does buy happiness. It buys you time off. It buys you hobbies. It buys you vacations. It buys you education.

Money buys you the elements of happiness. It buys you the house that room you want to take 5 mindful minutes in.

Seems your life has been hard and maybe still is. I'll pray for you.

It also seems that you define happiness as the opposite of anxiety. Financial security is important, and it would definitely make you worry less. It probably obscures your view though. But what I said still holds. Rich people are still looking for something more.

We can all relate to the following. You want something, it seems like the whole world to you, then, you have it! You're satisfied for a few hours or days, etc. But that feeling fades. You want something else... and the cycle repeats. Simply, it's never enough. We want something, but we don't know what it is, otherwise we would get it. Tell me, would money cure this? Or would it just make this cycle worse, because everything is within your reach?

If you sit for five minutes, quietly, you can feel this void. Like you are restless for something. That's how I felt, anyway. Give it a whirl.

My third point still is on the table.

Have you ever worried about where your next meal is coming from, or whether the heat would stay on in your house in the winter, or the AC in the summer? Some 10% of US households do. Whether or not money gives you happiness, the lack of money creates stress, depression and decreased life outcomes.