Home · Book Reports · 2024 · Richest Man in Babylon

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Thoughts

Exceptional Quotes

“As for study, did not our wise teacher teach us that learning was of two kinds: the one kind being the things we learned and knew, and the other being the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know?

If I set for myself a task, be it ever so trifling, I shall see it through. How else shall I have confidence in myself to do important things?

When I set a task for myself, I complete it. Therefore, I am careful not to start difficult and impractical tasks, because I love leisure."

A bag heavy with gold or a clay tablet carved with words of wisdom; if thou hadst thy choice; which wouldst thou choose?"

“Hark,” he resumed, raising his hand. “Hear the wild dogs out there in the night. They howl and wail because they are lean with hunger. Yet feed them, and what do they? Fight and strut. Then fight and strut some more, giving no thought to the morrow that will surely come.

“Just so it is with the sons of men. Give them a choice of gold and wisdom—what do they do? Ig- nore the wisdom and waste the gold. On the morrow they wail because they have no more gold.

Gold is reserved for those who know its laws and abide by them."

When lending… Better a little caution than a great regret

Table of Contents

• 00: Forward
• 01: The Man Who Desired Gold
• 02: The Richest Man in Babylon
• 03: Seven Cures for a Lean Purse
• 04: Meet the Goddess of Luck
• 05: The Five Laws of Gold
• 06: The Gold Lender of Babylon
• 07: The Walls of Babylon
• 08: The Camel Trader of Babylon
• 09: The Clay Tablets from Babylon
• 10: The Luckiest Man in Babylon
• 11: An Historical Sketch of Babylon

· Forward

• Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals.

· 01 - The Man Who Desired Gold

page 24:

• Thou makest me to realize the reason why we have never found any measure of wealth.

· Chapter 02 - The Richest Man in Babylon

page 30:

• “As for study, did not our wise teacher teach us that learning was of two kinds: the one kind being the things we learned and knew, and the other being the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know?

page 32:

• “I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.”

page 36:

• You first learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it. And, lastly, you have learned to make gold work for you.

• “Willpower!” retorted Arkad. “What nonsense. Do you think willpower gives a man the strength to lift a burden the camel cannot carry, or to draw a load the oxen cannot budge? Will power is but the unflinching purpose to carry a task you set for yourself to fulfillment. If I set for myself a task, be it ever so trifling, I shall see it through. How else shall I have confidence in myself to do important things?

• When I set a task for myself, I complete it. Therefore, I am careful not to start difficult and impractical tasks, because I love leisure."

· Chapter 03 - Seven Cures for a Lean Purse

The First Cure - Start thy purse to fattening

• Same advice as last chapter. Save 10% (or more) of all you earn.

The Second Cure - Control thy expenditures

page 49:

• That what each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.

page 51;

• “Budget thy expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine- tenths of thy earnings.”

The Third Cure - Make thy gold multiply

• Invest and let the returns compound.

The Fourth Cure - Guard thy treasures from loss

page 54:

• “The first sound principle of investment is security for thy principal. Is it wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when thy principal may be lost? I say not. The penalty of risk is probable loss.

page 55:

• Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be reclaimed if desirable, and where thou will not fail to collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of gold. Let their wisdom protect thy treasure from unsafe investments.”

The Fifth Cure - Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment

• Buy a house (laughing in 2024 dollars… really crying)

The Sixth Cure - Insure a future income

page 59:

• “This, then, is the sixth cure for a lean purse. Provide in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family.”

The Seventh Cure - Increase thy ability to earn

page 62:

• “Thus the seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skilful, to so act as to respect thyself.

· Chapter 04 - Meet the Goddess of Luck

page 72:

• “In this tale we see how good luck waits to come to that man who accepts opportunity,”

page 77:

• From our discussion have I learned that to attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities.

page 78:

• Men of action are favoured by the goddess of good luck.

· Chapter 05 - The Five Laws of Gold

page 79:

• A bag heavy with gold or a clay tablet carved with words of wisdom; if thou hadst thy choice; which wouldst thou choose?"

• “Hark,” he resumed, raising his hand. “Hear the wild dogs out there in the night. They howl and wail because they are lean with hunger. Yet feed them, and what do they? Fight and strut. Then fight and strut some more, giving no thought to the morrow that will surely come.

• “Just so it is with the sons of men. Give them a choice of gold and wisdom—what do they do? Ig- nore the wisdom and waste the gold. On the morrow they wail because they have no more gold.

• Gold is reserved for those who know its laws and abide by them."

page 86:

1. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth or his earnings to create an estate for his future and that or his family.

2. Gold laboureth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.

3. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.

4. Gold slip peth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep.

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.

page 89:

• ‘This I do to prove to thee, my father, of how much greater value I consider thy wisdom than thy gold. Yet, who can measure in bags of gold, the value of wisdom? Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it, but with wisdom, gold can be secured by those who have it not, as these three bags of gold do prove.

· Chapter 06 - The Gold Lender of Babylon

page 111:

• When lending…

• Better a little caution than a great regret

· Chapter 07 - The Walls of Babylon

· Chapter 08 - The Camel Trader of Babylon

page 132:

• We found the trail to Babylon because the soul of a free man looks at life as a series of problems to be solved and solves them, while the soul of a slave whines, ‘What can I do who am but a slave?’

· Chapter 09 - The Clay Tablets from Babylon

· Chapter 10 - The Luckiest Man in Babylon

• A wonderful story about a rich man who was once a slave and his (and his friend’s) adventure to becoming free and wealthy men.

· Chapter 11 - An Historical Sketch of Babylon