The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
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Book Reviews of The Richest Man in Babylon
Book Review: May you use their wisdom wisely
Summary: 5 Stars
I came upon this book from the reference section in "Rich Dad, Poor Dad". Actually if you read all the books in that reference section, you will have realized that Kiyosaki has no original ideas of his own. But getting back to this book...The Babylonians were the first engineers, the first mathematicians. They were the first with written history and a system of currency. They built huge buidings and their fortress walls are one of the seven wonders of the world. Now, all these are gone, but their wisdom remains eternal.
This book contains stories of the ancient Babylonians, each with an important lesson. There is a bit of repetition, but this lesson is so important it might as well be repeated throughout the book. This is the lesson of saving what you earned. Save at least ten percent. Even when you are not making alot, save that ten percent! And before you know it, you will have this huge amount of money that you don't know what you should do with it. But before you spend it on playstation games, wait! This money should be used to help you make more money. And the money you make from this, you save ten percent. Then you use this money to make more money and save ten percent of what you earned and so on and so forth. And before you know it, whamo! You are the next Warren Buffet.
The other important lesson in this book is to work hard. Treat hardwork as a friend rather as an enemy and you will be rewarded greatly.
These are more or less the messages of this book. Simple as they sound, you should definitely read the book yourself because the stories are just amazingly inspirational and heart-felt. Can you imagine they were carved in stone many centuries ago and still, they are some of the best writing and with MEANING as compared to most of the garbage writing printed out today? This is the second best book I ever read.
Book Review: Rise From Financial Slavery
Summary: 5 Stars
Training for my M.A. degree involved deep analysis of literature, and a mastery of the many known devices that authors use to grab a reader's attention.
This book uses a simple device (called archaism) to deliver small stories which, stylistically, read like Biblical parables -- though they have nothing at all to do with Judaism or Christianity -- this book worships only at the altar of gold. And a most practical and profitable sermon it is.
How ironic is it, that also during my M.A. studies, the great universities of our land never taught me one fraction of the financial truths laid out so clearly in this book. Profound truths, that can free the low-wage-earners like myself (or anyone who makes a living in the arts) from the slavery-like yoke offered by credit card companies, from risky and stupid investments, and from the foolish desires that generally cause people to overspend.
The book centers on the theme of slavery. The literal slavery of ancient times is astonishingly allegorical of the financial slavery that debtors find themselves in. This type of slavery is not new. It hounded Charles Dickens, preoccupied Thoreau, and drove Marx to conclude that labor needed to revolt ... But all that is distraction. This book has the true answer to wage slavery, and that is that one must keep what he earns, and make it grow. Simple ideas to comprehend, and simple to execute if one can grasp the truths the author describes. Money, and the laws governing it, are unchanging.
Some readers may be put off by the book's device of the parable. Its dialogue and situations are sometimes heavy handed and overly preachy, once you see the parable's moral coming at you a mile away ... but this book speaks the truths that are worthy of Aesop. I am richer for having read this book, both financially and spiritually.
Book Review: Clasic, classic, classic.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read a lot of finance books by a lot of different authors: Bach, Chatzky, Orman, Kiyosaki just to name a few, but the "Richest Man in Babylon" is the simplest, most clear cut. It also has the least ego (thank you Eckhart Tolle). Simple is good in my case. I don't like a lot of fancy words clouding my understanding of finance. Clason repeats what a lot of other finance experts say, but the difference is that Clason said it first. So he wins. And the book is short.
The "Thou"s and "thy"s are a bit silly and annoying, I admit--but you get used to it and after a while--it's fun. The financial basics told thru parables (i.e. bible-esque tales). I read a few parts out loud to my husband and he was cracking up.
Richest Man in Babylon in a Nutshell:
Pay yourself 1st: Save 10% of your income.
Pay your debtors: 20% of your income
Live off 70% of your income.
7 Cures for a lean purse:
1st CURE: Start thy purse to fattening.
Save 10 % of what you earn.
2nd CURE: Control thy expenditures.
Budget your income.
3rd CURE: Make thy gold multiply.
Invest
4th CURE: Guard thy treasures from loss.
Study your investments to reduce risk. Make sure you are FDIC insured.
5th CURE: Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
Own your home.
6th CURE: Insure a future income.
Invest for old age.
7th CURE: Increase thy ability to earn.
Acquire education and experience to increase income.
Fave quote: A part of all I earn is mine to keep.
If you loved it: Think and Grow Rich, The Automatic Millionaire
If you hated it: Rich Dad Poor Dad
Book Review: Motivating a Wealth Mentality!
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book back in 1994. It has much timeless knowledge.
The Richest Man in Babylon is an inspirational book on helping to create an investment mentality by using parables of how the Richest Man in Babylon would have invested. It is for beginning investors who need good reasons to develop a proper mindset to start working towards becoming financially independent. It also is a good book for recharging a wealth mentality in any investor.
The concepts in the book are simple, but their effects on wealth are profound! For example, George Clason covers The Five Laws of Gold. From the version I read, they are:
I. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantities to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.
II. Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks in the field.
III. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.
IV. Gold slippeth 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.
V. 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.
Overall an excellent book for beginners though advanced investors.
The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide to: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking
Book Review: Shouldn't this be in your libray?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a parable about how a poor babylonian became so wealthy the king asked him to tell his story and help others with saving for the future. This is purly a commonsence appoach to the age old question of how to become wealthy. The book stresses saving; reduction of expences; protection from future loss. The solutions are definate not for some one to get rich quickly as these rules are to sustain us the rest os our lives.
The book give us the seven rules of money aquistion as its montra. They are;
1. Start thy purse to fattening= work
2. Control thy expenditures= reducing expences
3. Make Gold Mulitply= investing and saving
4. guard thy treasure from loss= understanding the risks to your
investments
5. Insure for the future= Insurance needs
6. Make thy dewelling a profitable investment= increase the value of
you home.
7. Increase your ability to earn= look for opportunies where they lay.
George Clason achieves this by telling stories which seem simple, but are quite powefull if you can grasp the concepts. You will learn;
1. The seve cures for a lean Purse
2. The five laws of gold
3. What does luck have to do with being wealthy
This is recomende to people wwho want to learn about getting wealthy with out dry charts, boring examples or bad advice.
This is a great book on personal finances you will need in your journey toward wealth. This is a must own book for all who want to be wealthy.