HOW MUCH MONEY DOES it take to make a person happy? Someone asked John D. Rockefeller this question, and he replied,“Just a little more.” Although Rockefeller lived more than a hundred years ago and was a man of such extreme wealth that he’s often considered the richest person in history, he obviously knew something about contemporary living—and about how humanity has approached the concept of “more” since the beginning of time.

Rockefeller was also extremely generous and charitable, so let’s not get the idea that he was particularly greedy or self-centered. Rockefeller was just like the rest of us: It seems that no matter how much we have, no matter how fortunate we may feel, most everyone wants more of something. It’s part of our human fabric. We all pray what could be called the selfish prayer—“Oh, God, please help me!”—and you can know it’s completely okay to do so.We want more wealth, certainly, and also more love, more satisfaction at work, more time with family or to pursue our interests, more of a sense of spiritual purpose and connection, more fun, more mental and physical health, more business, more attention, more affection, more accolades, more achievements, and, well, still more. More, more, more.