The Greatest Gift tells the story of a man named George Pratt, who is depressed and not satisfied with life. As a result of his depression, he contemplates and begins to make plans to commit suicide, ending his life of misery.
One day, George travels to a bridge one day, bent on ending his own life. Before he can kill himself, however, another man (who is poorly dressed but well-mannered) approaches George. George, in turn, strikes up a conversation with the man and tells the man that he wishes he had never been born. The man, clearly some kind of genie or wish-giver, grants George's wish and hands him a bag, which the man says George should carry around with him.
Eventually, George returns to the town he once called home, but no one knows who he is because he was technically never born. As he checks in on his friends and family, he discovers that their lives have taken a much darker turn. His brother, whom George had saved from death, was dead. The woman he married was in a loving relationship with someone else. George attempts to enter his house but is quickly rebuffed by his wife and her new husband.
George is understandably dejected and returns to the bridge, hoping that he can convince the man to put him back in his old life. The man tells George that he was given the best gift anyone could ever have, life. George understands the lesson the man is trying to tell him and decides to beg the man for his old life back. The man agrees and George returns to his past life. He hugs his wife and expresses his profound love for her.
