Life is a game. Money is how we keep score.

In this aphorism, Turner frames modern life as a competitive game in which success is measured externally rather than intrinsically. “Money” functions as a scoreboard: a quantifiable, socially legible metric that simplifies complex human aims—security, status, freedom, power—into a single number. The line can be read as both descriptive and critical. Descriptively, it captures how capitalist societies often translate achievement into wealth. Critically, it hints at the reductionism of that system: if money is merely the score, it may not reflect the quality of play (ethics, relationships, meaning), only the tally. The quote’s bite lies in its blunt acceptance of the rules people often pretend not to follow.