Saturday, August 1, 2015

Wisdom Lessons Notes:The Richest Man In BABYLON

You miss all the shots you don’t take.             Don't cry because it’s over; smile because it happened

Money is Plentiful For those Who Understand the Simple Rules of its Acquisition
Seven Cures for a Lean Purse—Cures for an empty wallet
1.       Start thy purse to fattening--- start stacking
2.       Control thy expenditures--- control expenses/spending
3.       Make thy gold multiply- make money multiply   
4.       Guard thy treasures from loss--- guard what you got/ your possessions
5.       Make thy dwelling a profitable investment—make my home profitable investment
6.       Insure future income
7.       Increase thy ability to earn
_The Richest Man in Babylon
A part of all you earn is yours to keep pg 28
Bansir talking to Kobbi
We have been contented subjects of our kind. We have been satisfied to work long hours and spend our earnings freely. We have earned much coin in the years that have passed, yet to know the joys that come from wealth, we just dream about them. Bah! Are we more dumb than sheep? We live in the richest city in all the world. Pg 5
I wish to be a man of means. I wish to own lands and cattle to have fine robes and coins in my purse. I am willing to work for these things with all the strength in my back, with all the skill in my  hands, with all the cunning in my mind, but I wish my labors be fairly rewarded. What is the matter with us? Again I ask you! Why cannot we have our just share of the good things so plentiful for those who have the gold with which to buy them? Pg. 6

He is claimed to be the richest man in all Babylon,”bansir mused. 
“So rich the king is said to seek his golden aid in affairs of treasury,” Kobbi replied. 
“So rich,” Bansir interrupted, “ I fear if I should meet him in the darkness of the night, I should lay my hands upon his fat wallet.”
 Nonsense,” reproved Kobbi, “ a man’s wealth is not in the purse he carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it. Arkad has an income that constantly keeps his purse full, no matter how liberally he spends.”
Income, that is the thing, ejaculated Bansir. “ I wish an income that will keep flowing into my purse whether I sit upon the wall or travel to far lands. Arkad must know how a man can make an income for himself. Dost suppose it is something he could make clear to a mind as slow as mine?’
“Methinks he did teach his knowledge to his son, Nomasir,” Kobbi respond,
 “ Did he not go to Nineveh and so it is told at the inn, become , without aid from his father, one of the richest men in that city?”

It costs nothing to ask wise advice from a good friend and Arkad was always that Pages 8-10
I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep.pg 17
Fool! You pay to everyone but yourself. Dullard you labor for others. As well be a slave and work for what your master gives you to eat and wear. Pg 18
A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be no less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. Pg 18

“Wealth, is 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 the tree shall grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade. ‘Pg. 19
Every fool must learn,’ he growled, but why trust the knowledge of a brickmaker about jewels? Would you go to the breadmaker to inquire about the stars? No, you would go to the astrologer, if you had power to think. Your savings are gone, youth you have jerked your wealth-tree up by the roots. But plant another. Try again pg 20
Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in such matters, shall pay with his savings for proving the falsity of their opinions.’ Pg 20

It is my deep desire that thou begin the building of a valuable estate for thyself that that thou mayest become respected among men . I desire to see thou profit from a knowledge of the thoughtless mistakes of thy father…Do what I should have done at thy age. From thy earnings keep out 1/10to put to favorable investments. With this one-tenth of thy earnings and what it will also earn, thou canst, before thou art my age, accumulate for thyself a valuable estate.’     “’ Thy words are words of wisdom my father pg 67

The youth found success at first and then was overzealous to gain great wealth. His knowledge was immature. His enterprise collapsed. Pg 110
“Youth is ambitious. Youth would take short cuts to wealth and the desirable things for which it stands. To secure wealth quickly youth often borrows unwisely. Youth, never having had experience, cannot realize that hopeless debt is like a deep pit into which one may descend quickly and where one may struggle vainly for many days. It is a pit of sorrow and regrets where the brightness of the sun is overcast and night is made unhappy by restless sleeping. Pg 111

Better a little caution than great regret pg. 118

We cannot afford to be without adequate protection pg 124

How can you call yourself a free man when your weakness has brought you to this ?... If a man has within him the soul of a free man, will he not become respected and honored in his own city in spite of his misfortune?’ pg 132 Have I the soul of a man or have I the soul of a slave?” … no man can respect himself who does not repay honest debts.’ pg. 133
Thy debts are thine enemies who have run thee out of Babylon’, Sira had said.pg 137
 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?’ pg 138-139.

Where the determination is, the way can be found. Pg140
I like to work and I like to do good work, for work is the best friend I’ve evr known. It has brought me all the good things I’ve had, my farm and cows and crops , everything.’ Pg 164

Babylon possessed just two natural resources—fertile soil and water in the river