the richest man in town

I have a friend who has never earned much money.  He's in his seventies now and doing okay because he fell in love with a woman who owns a house and inherited a large N California farm, so he is not at risk of becoming homeless. Now. This is how things are for him now.

But when I first knew him, in a moment of discouragement, he lamented that he had never earned any money and felt like a failure.

"Ken," I exclaimed, "How can you say that?  You are like the Jimmy Stewart character in "It's A Wonderful Life", when at the end of the movie, his brother returns a war hero, the whole town is gathered in Jimmy's house and his brother makes a toast to the richest man in town. You are like the richest man in town!"

"How do you get that?" he groaned, still feeling down.

"Because you have lived your whole life aligned with your values, that's why. That makes you the richest man in town. Not many people can say they have always lived aligned with their values."

I could hear his being respond to what I had said. I don't remember that he said anything to me. I think he gruffly changed the subject.

I meant every word I said to him.