You Can't Take It With You Wealth Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from You Can't Take it With You.

Quote #4

GRANDPA VANDERHOF: What if all your deals fall through? Might be a good thing for you.

MR. KIRBY: Man, you're crazy.

GRANDPA VANDERHOF Well, maybe I am, but I used to be just like you once. Then one morning, when I was going up in the elevator... it struck me I wasn't having any fun. So I came right down and never went back. Yes, sir. That was thirty-five years ago.

Grandpa was going up in that elevator towards wealth and more wealth… and then he came down, got out of the rat race, and started collecting stamps. The moral is, push the elevator button for love, not money. (Or something like that.)

Quote #5

GRANDPA VANDERHOF: Scum, are we? What makes you think you're such a superior human being? Your money? If you do, you're a dull-witted fool, Mr. Kirby. And a poor one at that. You're poorer than any of these people you call scum, because I'll guarantee at least they've got some friends. While you with your jungle and your long claws, as you call 'em, you'll wind up your miserable existence without anything you can call friend. You may be a high mogul to yourself, Mr. Kirby, but to me you're a failure—failure as a man, failure as a human being, even a failure as a father. When your time comes, I doubt if a single tear will be shed over you. The world will probably cry, "Good riddance." That's a nice prospect, Mr. Kirby. I hope you'll enjoy it. I hope you'll get some comfort out of all this coin you've been sweating over then!

Grandpa gets uncharacteristically riled up and gives Mr. Kirby what for. The "long claws" here reference Social Darwinism—the belief that the rich got rich by being the fittest, and that society is a struggle to see who comes out on top. Grandpa is rejecting that idea; the goal isn't to be the biggest lion in the jungle, but to have the most friends (lion or otherwise.)