It is often said that "money is the root of all evil". Of course, that's a somewhat overly simplistic statement - if that maxim is true at all, it would perhaps be better to say that the pursuit of money is the root of all evil. However, even that statement is wildly misleading.

Certainly many people who devote their lives to accumulating (or attempting to accumulate) vast sums of wealth will occassionally be involved in morally reprehensible activity - in more extreme examples, they may even commit crimes to generate more wealth.

However, money (and even devoting one's life to the pursuit of money) is not inherently evil (or even, in itself, morally wrong). Money, after all, is only a promise - from the debtor to the creditor. The way in which the creditor acquires those promises (or chooses to "cash them in" (i.e. by buying property or assets)) represents an opportunity for that person to commit some evil act - but it does not mean that evil will necessary result.

The real damage often done by the pursuit of money is to persuade the creditor (i.e. the person holding the wealth) that the promises representing that money can somehow (just by virtue of being available to him) make him happy. This, of course, is a fallacy - proven time after time by financially wealthy individuals who lead superficially glamorous and "desirable" (but actually self-destructive and unfilfililng) lives.

The happiest people in the world are by no means also the wealthiest (at least not if that wealth is measured in currency). No, the happiest people are overwhelmingly those who have identified what they want to achieve with their lives, and are living each day to the full in an effort to attain their goals.

Of course, some financially wealthy people are no doubt also extremely happy - but happiness and money are not causally connected. Money can help to facilitate happiness - but only in the life of a person who already knows what they need to truly make themselves happy with their life.