Learning From Literature

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

Cover of The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason

The Richest Man In Babylon by George Clason is a personal finance book published in 1926.

The majority of the world’s billionaires / millionaires are self-made. Not all are necessarily smarter than you; they simply observe basic principles surrounding money and use them to their advantage. If you make an effort to learn about money and adhere to its principles, you, too, can become wealthy.

The book is a parable set in the historical time of Babylon (over 4,000 years ago). Babylon is believed to be the first city with a population of over 200,000, and its Hanging Gardens, one of the Ancient Wonders Of The World, are still referenced today. However, slavery and economic inequality were widely prevalent. Clason uses wealthy Babylonians – primarily Arkad, a poor scribe – that rose from poverty, debt, and more common obstacles we face today by demonstrating the main principles of personal finance.

In the words of the Babylonians:

  • “Why should so few men be able to acquire all the gold?”
    • — “Because they know how”
  • “How becamest thou so wealthy?”
    • — “By taking advantage of opportunities available to all citizens of our good city”
  • “Thou hadst nothing to start with?”
    • — “Only a great desire for wealth”
  • “Is there any secret to acquiring wealth? Can it be taught?”
    • — “That which one man knows can be taught to others”

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Enjoy!

Table of Contents

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The Man Who Desired Gold
  • Learn
    • Might we not find out how others acquire gold and do as they do?
    • Perhaps there is some secret we might learn if we but sought from those who knew 
    • It costs nothing to ask wise advice from a good friend 
  • Create Passive Income
    • I wish an income that will keep flowing into my purse whether I sit up on the wall or travel to far lands
    • A man’s wealth is not in the purse he carries
  • Make An Effort
    • In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors, we succeeded 
    • Thou makest me to realize the reason why we have never found any measure of wealth. We never sought it
The Richest Man In Babylon 
  • Actively Observe, Learn, And Do
    • Seek the advice of men whose daily work is handling money. Let them save you from such an error as I myself made
    • Once we were equal. We studied under the same master. We played in the same games. And in neither the studies nor the games did you outshine us. And in the years since, you have been no more honorable a citizen than we. Nor have you worked harder or more faithfully… Why then should a fickle fate single you out to enjoy all the good things of life and ignore us?
      • — “If you have not acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of wealth or else you do not observe them.”
  • Use Your Time
    • As for time, all men have it in abundance… Each of you have let slip by sufficient time to have made yourselves wealthy
  • Save
    • I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep
  • Make Money With Money (Invest)
    • Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that can also earn for you
    • If you would become wealthy, then what you save must earn and its children must earn
    • Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner shall the tree grow
  • How To Grow Wealth
    • You first learned to live upon less than you could earn
    • Next, you learn to seek advice from those who are confident through their own experiences to give it
    • And lastly, you have learned to make gold work for you
Seven Cures For A Lean Purse 
  • 1st Cure — START THY PURSE TO FATTENING
    • For every 10 coins thou placest within thy purse take out for use but nine… I managed to get along just as well
    • Which desirest thou the most? Is it the gratification of thy desires each day… things quickly gone and forgotten?
  • 2nd Cure — CONTROL THY EXPENDITURES
    • Study thoughtfully thy accustomed habits of living… That what each of us calls our necessary expenses will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary 
    • Confuse not thy necessary expenses with thy desires 
    • The purpose of a budget is… realize thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy casual wishes
  • 3rd Cure — MAKE THY GOLD MULTIPLY
    • A man’s world is not in the coins he carries in his purse, it is the income he buildeth
    • I had begotten a horde of golden slaves, each laboring and earning more gold. As they labored for me, so their children also labored and their children’s children, until great was the income from their combined efforts
  • 4th Cure — GUARD THY TREASURES FROM LOSS
    • Every owner of gold is tempted by opportunities whereby it would seem that he could make large sums by its investment 
    • The first sound principle of investment is security for thy principal
  • 5th Cure — MAKE OF THY DWELLING A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT
    • If a man setteth aside nine parts of his earnings upon which to live and enjoy life, and if any part of this nine parts he can turn into a profitable investment without detriment to his well-being, then so much faster will his treasures grow 
  • 6th Cure — ENSURE A FUTURE INCOME
    • Provide in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family
    • When such a small payment made with regularity doth produce such profitable results, no man can afford not to ensure a treasure for his old age and the protection of his family, no matter how prosperous his business and his investments may be
  • 7th Cure — INCREASE THY ABILITY TO EARN
    • Cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself
Meet The Goddess Of Good Luck
  • Make Your Own Luck
    • To attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities
    • Action will lead thee forward to the successes thou dost desire
The Five Laws Of Gold
  • Law 1
    • Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than 1/10 of his earnings to create an estate for his future
  • Law 2
    • Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field
  • Law 3
    • Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling
  • Law 4
    • Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar
  • Law 5
    • Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment
The Gold Lender Of Babylon 
  • Help But Don’t Enable
    • If you desire to help thy friend, do so in a way that will not bring thy friend’s burdens upon thyself
  • Be Patient
    • Ambitious youth would take shortcuts to wealth and the desirable things for which it stands
    • Better a little caution than a great regret 
The Walls Of Babylon
  • We cannot afford to be without adequate protection 
The Camel Trader Of Babylon 
  • Strengthen Your Mindset
    • If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one no matter what his birth, even as water seeks its level?
    • Where the determination is, the way can be found
The Clay Tablets From Babylon
  • Make A Plan
    • 1/10 have I set aside to keep as my own, 7/10 have I divided with my good wife to pay for our living, 2/10 have I divided among my creditors
    • It is the plan that hath made my success
The Luckiest Man In Babylon 
  • Work Hard
    • If thou thinkest about what a good house thou build, then who cares if the beams are heavy and it is far from the well to carry the water for the plaster
    • Such spirit can carry thee far on the road to success
  • Find Joy In Positive Things
    • Life is rich with many pleasures for men to enjoy
A Historical Sketch Of Babylon 
  • The author concludes with a short and easy-to-read description about the true historical city of Babylon

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