A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no matter how little you earn. It can be as much more as you can afford.

Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared.

Wealth that comes quickly goeth the same way. Wealth that stayeth to give enjoyment and satisfaction to its owner comes gradually, because it is a child born of knowledge and persistent purpose.

Controlling expenses is fundamentally about choice and discipline. The ancient Babylonian principle teaches:
<ul>
<li>Necessary expenses will always rise to meet income unless consciously constrained</li>
<li>Every purchase should be evaluated by need versus want</li>
<li>Maintaining a gap between income and expenses creates capital for investment</li>
<li>The appearance of wealth (luxury items) often prevents actual wealth accumulation</li>
</ul>
The formula is simple but challenging: income - savings = expenses (rather than income - expenses = savings).

Live Below Your Means

The Five Laws of Gold reveal the universal principles governing wealth:<ol><li>Gold comes gladly and in increasing quantity to any who saves not less than one-tenth of his earnings</li><li>Gold labors diligently for wise owners who find profitable employment for it</li><li>Gold clings to the protection of cautious owners who invest only with those wise in handling it</li><li>Gold slips away from those who invest in purposes or businesses unfamiliar to them</li><li>Gold flees those pursuing impossible earnings or following the alluring advice of tricksters</li></ol>These laws operate whether acknowledged or not—like gravity, they affect everyone regardless of belief.

The Five Laws of Gold

Saving money is only the first step to wealth. For true prosperity, your money must work for you through wise investment. Key principles include:<ul><li>Money can reproduce itself through compound interest and returns</li><li>Seek knowledge before investing (ignorance leads to loss)</li><li>Consult with experienced, successful investors</li><li>Start small but start now—time is the most powerful factor in wealth growth</li></ul>The wealth-building process accelerates dramatically once your money begins generating its own income, creating a perpetual cycle of growth.

Make Your Gold Work

The principle of protecting your principal is fundamental to sustained wealth-building. The ancient wisdom teaches:<ul><li>The first consideration in any investment is the safety of your original capital</li><li>Guaranteed returns of any investment should be proportional to its risk</li><li>Entrust money only to those experienced in the business they propose</li><li>Beware investments promising unusually high returns—they typically carry hidden dangers</li></ul>Wealth preservation is as important as wealth creation. Many fortunes are lost by neglecting this principle.

Protect Your Treasure

What appears as luck is often the natural consequence of action and readiness. This ancient wisdom teaches:
<ul>
<li>Opportunity rarely announces itself with perfect clarity</li>
<li>While the hesitant deliberate, the decisive act and seize advantage</li>
<li>Action itself creates new opportunities through expanded networks and experience</li>
<li>Preparation meets opportunity in the moment of decision</li>
</ul>
Every person encounters potential good fortune, but only those who recognize and act upon it benefit from these moments. The appearance of luck is the visible result of invisible preparation and decisive action.

Good Luck Follows Action

The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse represent the complete system for financial prosperity:<ol><li>Start thy purse fattening: Save 10% of all you earn</li><li>Control thy expenditures: Live below your means</li><li>Make thy gold multiply: Invest wisely for income</li><li>Guard thy treasures from loss: Avoid risky investments</li><li>Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment: Own your home</li><li>Insure a future income: Plan for retirement and family</li><li>Increase thy ability to earn: Develop valuable skills</li></ol>These principles work as a system, each reinforcing the others to create lasting wealth.

The Seven Cures for a Lean Purse

The fundamental principle of wealth-building is to pay yourself first. This means:
<ul>
<li>Save at least 10% of all income before paying other expenses</li>
<li>This portion is sacred and must be saved regardless of other demands</li>
<li>The 10% is not for spending but for investing and growing</li>
<li>Even small amounts compound dramatically over time</li>
</ul>
This principle works because it reverses typical behavior. Instead of saving what's left after spending, you spend what's left after saving, ensuring wealth accumulation regardless of income level.

Pay Yourself First

The principle of debt repayment is both practical and ethical. This ancient wisdom teaches:<ul><li>Unpaid debts consume future opportunity through interest and damaged reputation</li><li>A clear, systematic plan transforms even overwhelming debt into manageable payments</li><li>Communicating openly with creditors typically leads to workable arrangements</li><li>The discipline of debt repayment builds the same habits needed for wealth accumulation</li></ul>Financial freedom begins with freeing yourself from obligations to others, creating both material and psychological space for prosperity to grow.

Pay Your Debts

Your earning ability is directly tied to your skill development and the value you provide. This ancient principle reveals:<ul><li>Income is largely determined by how hard you are to replace</li><li>Developing rare and valuable combinations of skills creates opportunity</li><li>Knowledge beyond your primary profession increases your worth</li><li>Continuous self-improvement is the surest path to increased earnings</li></ul>The market rewards solutions to problems, not time or effort. Those who solve valuable problems command valuable compensation.

Increase Your Ability to Earn

Tired of living paycheck to paycheck? This classic book uses simple parables set in ancient Babylon to reveal timeless financial principles that still work today. Written in the 1920s but reading like biblical stories, it breaks down wealth-building into practical steps anyone can follow. Think of it as your great-grandparents' get-rich-slowly guide that actually works better than today's financial "hacks."

The Richest Man in the Babylon. This book deals with the personal success of each of us. Success means results coming from our efforts and ability. A good preparation is the key to our success. So keep a part of what you earn with yourself. From the benefits of saving to the essentials of getting rich, this collection of educative Babylonian fables gives you timeless information on how to make money. It guides to getting rich, attracting good fortune and the five golden rules. As a guide to understanding hydro-wealth and a powerhouse has been inspiring readers for generations. You know that Babylon became the richest city of the ancient civilization because it had reserved part of its earnings for the future. Thats why citizens got everything they wanted. How can you always keep your wallet heavy, the author has taught very beautifully on this topic.

George Samuel Clason, also known as George S. Clason. George Samuel Clason was born in Louisiana, Missouri, and died in Napa, California.During his eighty two years he was a soldier, businessman and writer. He served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War.Clason started two companies, the Clason Map Company of Denver Colorado and the Clason Publishing Company. The Clason Map Company was the first to publish a road atlas of the United States and Canada, and did not survive the Great Depression.George Clason is best known for writing a series of informational pamphlets about being thrifty and how to achieve financial success. He started writing the pamphlets in 1926, using parables that were set in ancient Babylon.

GEORGE S. CLASON

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H. JACKSON BROWN, JR.

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