In our unending search for panaceas, we believe that happiness and "success" — which, loosely translated, means money — are the things to strive for. People are constantly surprised that, even though they have acquired material things, discontent still gnaws.
An Englishman said to me recently, "You Americans live on a much higher plane of expectancy than we do. You constantly work toward some impossible goal of happiness and perfection, and you unfortunately don't have our ability just to give up. Really, it's much easier to accept the fact that some things can't be solved." He is right; we never accept it, and we kill ourselves trying.