&gt; I absolutely hate this quote; it gets parroted all the time as a smug and flippant criticism of the American Dream.<p>Its not a criticism of the American Dream.<p>&gt; Isn&#x27;t it a good thing that people see themselves as temporarily embarrassed millionaires?<p>No; it might be good if people saw themselves as <i>aspiring</i> millionaires, and acted sensible to achieve that aspiration.<p>The whole thrust of the &quot;temporarily embarrassed&quot; quote is that the subjects see their condition as an inherently temporary condition that will resolve itself, and therefore act as if there interest were the interest of what their fantasized &quot;normal&quot; condition would be once that &quot;temporary embarrassment&quot; resolved itself.<p>This, however, <i>actively inhibits</i> the realization of that condition -- which is not a &quot;normal&quot; condition to which things will resolve on their own.