The Richest Man in Babylon by Clason
Ref: George Clason (1926). The Richest Man in Babylon.
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Summary
Personal Finance; fundamentals through anecdotal lessons from history.
When youth come to age for advice, he receives the wisdom of years. But too often does youth think that age knows only the wisdom of days that are gone, and therefore profits not.
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?’
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Finance Fundamentals
Control your expenditures.
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.
That what each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.
Guard thy treasures from loss.
Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
Wealth grows wherever men exert energy,” Arkad replied. “If a rich man builds him a new palace, is the gold he pays out gone? No, the brick maker has part of it and the laborer has part of it, and the artist has part of it. And everyone who labors upon the house has part of it. Yet when the palace is completed, is it not worth all it cost? And is the ground upon which it stands not worth more because it is there? And is the ground that adjoins it not worth more because it is there?
Ensure a future Income.
To attract good luck to oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities.
Good luck often follows opportunity but seldom comes otherwise.
Men of Action are Favored by the Goddess of Good Luck.
Increase the Ability to Earn.
Always do the affairs of man change and improve because keen-minded men seek greater skill that they may better serve those upon whose patronage they depend. Therefore, I urge all men to be in the front rank of progress and not to stand still, lest they be left behind.
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Ancient Babylon
In ancient Babylon, It was a common custom for men to put themselves, their wives or their children up as a bond to guarantee payment of loans, legal judgments or other obligations. In case of default, those so bonded were sold into slavery.
Slave customs in ancient Babylon, though they may seem inconsistent to us, were strictly regulated by law. For example, a slave could own property of any kind, even other slaves upon which his master had no claim. Slaves intermarried freely with non-slaves. Children of free mothers were free. Most of the city merchants were slaves. Many of these were in partnership with their masters and wealthy in their own right.
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Misc Quotes
“Who is evil?” a rabbi asks his students. After rumination, the answer comes: “He who borrows and does not repay.”-Talmud.
“Desires must be simple and definite. They defeat their own purpose should they be too many, too confusing, or beyond a man’s training to accomplish.”
“Why should so few men be able to acquire all the gold?” “Because they know how,” replied the Chancellor. “One may not condemn a man for succeeding because he knows how. Neither may one with justice take away from a man what he has fairly earned, to give to men of less ability.”
If you desire to help thy friend, do so in a way that will not bring thy friend’s burdens upon thyself.
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Chronology
6000 BCE: The Sumerites inhabit Babylon.
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