All I ask is the chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.

Milligan’s line is a comic inversion of the moral cliché that “money can’t buy happiness.” Instead of rejecting wealth on principle, the speaker asks for the opportunity to test the claim personally—implying that poverty is an unconvincing platform from which to preach detachment. The humor comes from exposing a social hypocrisy: people often romanticize simplicity while still desiring financial security. At the same time, the quip acknowledges that money can remove many sources of misery (stress, insecurity), even if it cannot guarantee deeper contentment. It’s a satirical, self-aware plea for comfort disguised as philosophical skepticism.