Richest Man in Babylon

As this is one of the most informative and inspiring book I have read, I have written quite a concise "summary".

I have just invested in this book and my 1st read was fantastic. I have read many books and I must say this one has been very enlightening in terms of growing money.

This book is considered a classic as it is written in 1920s. The cover is yellowish in colour, size about 20x10cm and only 144 pages. This makes this book a very easy-to-carry around type of book as it is smaller and lighter than most other books. Being only 144 pages, you can also finish reading it in a very short time. There are 11 chapters, so each chapter has only an average of 10-15 pages. Each chapter could be read within 5-15 mins, depending on your reading speed. For me as an average reader, I started reading this book on 23 Sep. I only read one chapter at a time and i finish reading the book a week later. In total, I think I took about 3 hours. The only problem(to some) about this book is the type of English language used. As the author uses ancient Babylon's parables to make his point, the language is also the ancient English type....with words such as "thy", "shalt", "thee" and many more. If you have studied Literature books, like Shakespeare, you should not have any problem.

Lastly about the author. His name is George S. Clason and he is an American. In 1920s, he wrote a series of pamphlets on financial success using parables set in ancient Babylon to make his point. These pamphlets were distributed in large quantities by banks and insurance companies. This being his most famous book then went on to sell more than 2 million books.

In a nutshell, this book teaches 7 simple rules to become wealthy. It does not matter if you are broke or already wealthy. Following these 7 rules will make you more money. To all who are going to read this. These are my own interpretations of the stories told in this book.

Chapter 1 - The Man who Desired Gold
This chapter is basically an opening chapter which is about a conversation between 2 poor men. They talked about their lack of wealth and were whining about the "why are we poor", "why others can be rich" and so on. At last, they thought of going to the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, who was their childhood friend.

Chapter 2 - The Richest Man in Babylon
Here, these 2 men with other men came to seek's Arkad's advice. Arkad then talks about his life...from just a scribe to his present wealth....on how he took the opportunities and how he learned to manage his growing wealth. The one phrase which stands out in this chapter is
"A Part Of All You Earn Is Yours To Keep". What this phrase says is to take a portion of what you earn(here in this book is 10%) and save it.

Chapter 3 - Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
This is probably the most important chapter in the whole book. As the huge constructions for the temple ended, unemployment rate was increasing. The king was concerned and requested Arkad to teach his people how to accumulate wealth such tah his people do not starve. Arkad agreed and went on to talk about the 7 rules.

1st cure - Start Thy Purse to Fattening
This is what he taught in the previous chapter. Save 10% of what you earn everytime and see your wealth grow. "For each ten coins i put in, to spend but nine"

2nd Cure -Control Thy Expenditures
Check your expenses and determine what you can reduce or even eliminate to cut cost. There are alway things you can do without. Determine for yourself what are necessary and what are good-to-haves. "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."

3rd Cure - Make Thy Gold Multiply
Though it does not specifically says what to do, he tells all to put the saved money into trustworthly investments. "To put each coin to labouring that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and help bring to thee income, a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse."

4th Cure - Guard Thy Treasures From Loss
1st principle is to secure for the principal. If unsure, consult the right person for your investments. "Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be reclaimed if desired, 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."

5th Cure - Make Of Thy Dwelling A Profitable Investment
Arkad encourages everyone to own a home as it gives security and shlter for the family. "Own thy own home."

6th Cure - Secure a Future Income
He talks about several ways to build a retirement nest. Buying land, properties, becoming a money lender(like a bank) and even just applying the 1st cure. "Provided in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family."

7th Cure - Increase Thy Ability To Earn
You have to improve your skills or increase the number of skills you have in order to earn more money."To cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to act as to respect thyself.

Chapter 4 - Meet the Goddess of Good Luck
The desire to be lucky is universal. In this chapter, Arkad was asked if there is a way to attract good luck. He starts by disproving people from trying to earn his keep by gambling. Then the group talks about the times where good opportunities slip them by due to their ignorance or prostination. 2 sentences stands out in this chapter. "Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity" & "Men of action are favoured by the goddess of good luck"

Chapter 5 - The Five Laws Of Gold
The chapter starts by an old man asking a group of people if they would prefer a bag of gold or a tablet of carved with words of wisdom. Naturally, the group chose the gold. Then this old man tells a story about a rich man giving his son a bag of gold and a tablet which 5 laws of gold are written. The story then tells about how the son went out and lost all the money and then later became rich due to these 5 laws. The 5 laws are similar to the 7 rules written in chapter 3. As the 5 laws are quite long and all in ancient words, I shall not write them.

Chapter 6 - The Gold Lender Of Babylon
A poor spear maker was rewarded with 50 pieces of gold and he was very happy. He told his sister and his sister wanted him to lend her husband the gold to start a business. This spear maker was in a dilemma as he fear his gold may be gone. Thus, he went to find a money lender to ask for advice. The advice in short is to lend to people whom you know will pay back the money and also with interest. "Better a little caution than a great regret."

Chapter 7 - The Walls of Babylon
Many foreign countries have tried to attack Babylon to reap its wealth, but did not manage to conquer Babylon. This is because of its people and also the walls of Babylon, which they build to withstand these attacks. "We cannot afford to be without adequate protection."

Chapter 8 - The Camel Trader of Babylon
This chapter tells a tale about how a man, who became a slave, bought his freedom and then partnered another ex-slave to become a rich man. It is about optimism and passion about your work. "Where the determination is, the way can be found."

Chapter 9 - The Clay Tablets Of Babylon
This chapter starts with a letter written by an archaeologist to a professor who excavated the ruins of Babylon in 1934. In the letter, this archaeologist wrote about the 5 clay tablets. It went on to state what was exactly written on those tablets. They are about the story of how the camel trader(from last chapter) just returning from slavery works his way to pay his debts. Then the chapter ends with another letter. This letter is also from the same sender to the same receiver...this time in 1936....a mere 2 years have passed and in the letter, this archaeologist told the professor that he has used the methods from the clay tablets and have paid his debts.

Chapter 10 - The Luckiest Man In Babylon
This story starts with a rich man with his friend's son. This friend's son is arrogant and thinks he is above the rest as he is rich. This rich man then tells him how he partnered his friend and became rich. This is actually the last chapter in this book.

Chapter 11 - An Historical Sketch of Babylon
This chapter only tells of how Babylon was like, its location and so on.

The last few pages in this book also recommends some other books. Personally, I feel that only Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich is another of such classics. By the way, the front cover has this...."The success secrets of the ancients - The most inspiring book on wealth ever written".