Stephen complained about not having people to play golf with now that he'd worked his way up to where he had plenty of weekday time to indulge his favorite sport. It was frustrating, he remarked, and didn't seem fair. I also gathered from observing his wife that he had married "up" and I wondered if he hadn't also used his friends and relations to further his career.

Listening to him, I was tempted to ask why he didn't play golf with his wife, since she didn't work and would (happily, maybe) be available. Or why he didn't share his ample leisure time with his children. I wondered, instead, about the intimacy-or lack of it-in his marriage. Talking with Stephen, my sense of him was that of a frustrated, lost person, confused that his easy financial success didn't automatically bring him happiness and contentment as well but had led him instead to emotional poverty.

Professional observations: Stephen is a prime example of successful business people who have plainly "arrived," but at a place that is dismayingly empty. This void, he must bring himself to realize, cannot be filled by all the money in the world-but instead with love, spirituality, and emotional intimacy. Many people like Stephen haven't felt the need to examine their values, priorities, or attitudes. Or to look inside themselves for the fulfillment they desire and think they richly deserve. Increasingly dissatisfied and lonely, they haven't yet realized that their answers lie in spiritual-not physical-attainments and in improving the quality of their daily lives with those closest to them. Stephen is creating a legacy for his children which reaches far beyond money. If he is fortunate, he will become concerned about the entire scope of his children's inheritance. If not, he will plunge them into the dark side of wealth.

This book's caution, then, is about the impoverishment of the human spirit that material riches can bring, for no one gets a free ride through life, particularly those who believe they deserve one simply because they have the price of a ticket.

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