Money Can’t Buy Happiness or Friendship

I recently came across a review of a book about former Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, who was once known as the King of Late Night. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was the highest-paid entertainer in the US. The book was written by Henry Bushkin who served as Mr. Carson’s personal attorney for 18 years. While Mr. Carson came across as a friendly and likable person while on camera, according to the book, he was anything but. All four of his marriages failed because of his excessive drinking and voracious womanizing. On top of that he was not a kind person, so he had no friends. In the end, he died alone at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center unhappy and worth $450 million. The same thing happened to baseball legend Ty Cobb. He was such a mean and nasty person that no one liked him. And, like Johnny Carson, Mr. Cobb died alone, a very unhappy man who was worth more than $90 million in today’s dollars. To his credit, Mr. Cobb confided to someone shortly before he died, “If I had it to do over, I’d have more friends.” The lesson for all of us here is that money can’t buy happiness or friendship. On the other hand, being kind to our fellow human beings will bring both things to us in abundance.