English

Proverb

you can't take it with you

1. It is not possible to take one's material wealth or possessions to whatever world may await one after death.
   • 1900, E. Phillips Oppenheim, A Millionaire of Yesterday, ch. 6:

     "The clause which—at my death—makes you sole owner of the whole concession. You see—the odds were scarcely even, were they? It wasn't likely anything would happen to you!" . . .

     "What's it matter to you now?" Trent said, with unintentional brutality. "You can't take it with you."

   • 1980 Jan. 14, "Business: The Great Sell-Off," Time:

     Dealers also quietly bought gold fillings from morticians, proving that you can't take it with you.

   • 2007 Aug. 3, Conrad de Aenlle, "All the right (and wrong) moves," New York Times (retrieved 11 July 2011):

     You can't take it with you, of course, but your intended heirs may not be able to take it with them, either, if you do not explicitly state through a will who is supposed to get what.