You can't take it with you

1. We all must leave worldly wealth behind when we die.

This proverb was used as the title of a comedy by the twentieth-century American playwrights Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. You Can't Take It with You concerns an unconventional family fiercely opposed to materialistic values.

Idioms and Phrases

Enjoy material things while you're alive, as in Go ahead and buy the fancier car; you can't take it with you. This phrase gained currency as the title of a very popular play (1936) by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart and of the 1938 film based on it. [First half of 1800s]

Example Sentences

The biggest downside: You can’t take it with you when you go!

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“I suddenly realized, with my dad getting old and my mom dying, it’s like, ‘No, you can’t take it with you,’ ” she said.

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You have to be able to say, "No, that's not right," and do the right thing, even if it means a little less money because you can't take it with you.

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Groban had nothing but praise for his co-star, who won a Tony in 2015 for her performance in the Moss Hart-George S. Kaufman comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” and received rapturous acclaim for her role in the 2017 revival of “Sunday in the Park With George” that starred Jake Gyllenhaal.

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Other roles came, several of them further variations on the dumb blonde: Glinda in “Wicked”; Essie in “You Can’t Take It With You,” her Tony-winning part; Sylvia in “Sylvia,” in which she played a blond dog.

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