Take a look at Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: http://tinyurl.com/oyyf8nh Money can get you past level 1 (physiological: air, food, water) and 2 (safety). It doesn't help you with levels 3 (love/belonging: friendship, family, sexual intimacy), 4 (esteem: respect, confidents, achievement) and certainly not 5 (self-actualization). P.S. I wish I could remember where I read this--I think it was actual data. At any rate, the writer said that when asked what they need to be happy, most people say they would be happy if their salary were about 30% higher than it is--regardless of how high their salary is! P. P. S. My favorite quotation on happiness is Charles Kingsley: "We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about."

Money is very important for living. But it can not construct eternal paradise for us.

A certain amount of money can free one from the curse of the drinking classes - namely work, which is a point never to be under-estimated...

I think it's important to point out that there's a difference between happiness and joy. You say happiness, but quite often when this question is asked one is referring to joy (even though that's not what we say). Personally, I have a mental disorder, and even though I take medication, my specific mental disorder is not as affected by the medication. All this medication does is keep me alive. Because of this personal experience I understand that happiness is a lie. If our lives are to achieve happiness we will never be fulfilled because it can be taken away regardless of circumstances. Joy however can be found in things that are less fleeting. When I'm severely depressed, I can still experience joy over the fact that I have an Ecuadorian family that loves me dearly. But I won't necessarily feel happiness, because this has been taken from me. Just a thought.

I think money is quite important, it can help you get many things that you want. Just like, if a member in your family get big ill, you may save him with money, then you will feel happiness. So i think can achieve happiness. But the most important is how you treat money, money can help us, but it is not everything.