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Book Of The Week: The Richest Man In Babylon.

    Book Of The Week: 
The Richest Man In Babylon.

              


            Personal finance. Important. Personal wealth. Important. Not starving. Also important. For this weeks book of the week, I chose the first true personal finance book I ever read. The Richest Man In Babylon by George Samuel Clason. This book is a true classic, and has been read some two million times. More than likely on the three million side at this point. It has some 36,000 reviews on Amazon, and can be found at most book shops. This is a book about personal wealth, and the laws that come with saving, and growing the money you have earned. 


            The story takes place roughly 4,100 years ago in ancient Babylon. We are introduced to a few characters within the story, but the main character is Arkad. Arkad started his life poor, and was hopefully to become rich. Along his journey he is introduced to the "Seven Cures" and the "Five Laws of Gold". Arkad starts out by completing a task for a money lender named Algamish. Through the work and mentoring from Algamish. Arkad slowly learns the rules and scripts of personal wealth. The Seven Cures discuss the personal wealth management side of the book. The second part is the Five Laws of Gold. These laws discuss the importance of gold. A few of the Seven Cures are similar to the laws, but not all of them. I won't spoil anymore for you, because I believe this is a great book for you too read if you are looking to grow your personal finance knowledge. Some of it comes off as common sense, but there are deeper meanings to some of the parables in the book. 

        If you don't want to read the book, I will save you the time and share what I think is the most important part of the book. This part takes place at the beginning of the book, after Arkad is already "The richest man in Babylon." Some of the poor people in the city are complaining to Arkad about being poor, and how he should share his wealth. They are trying to guilt him into doing them a favor, rather than them having to work. But, it gets much deeper. Arkad then goes into a story, reflecting on his troubled and poor youth. This is the part of the book where he is completing his first job for money; the job Algamish has assigned for him. Algamish starts sharing wisdom with Arkad. "'The thoughts of youth, 'he continued, 'are bright lights that shine forth like the meteors that oft make brilliant the sky, but the wisdom of age is like the fixed stars that shine so unchanged that the sailor may depend upon them to steer his course." This quote from Algamish made me read this book completely different. Once I understood that wisdom was one of the most important principles, I understood all of it differently. Algamish is sharing his wisdom with Arkad, which are the cures and laws, which in-turn Arkad shares with others in the book. Wisdom, and the mentorship we gain from those who are experienced is what changes us. It is not the hardest thing to do to save one dollar if we are given ten, but to know what to do with that one dollar is what is important. 

     I don't want to spoil anymore of the book for you, but give it a read. It is only 144 pages in total, and 85 pages discussing the cures and laws. Reading it from the standpoint of wisdom and mentorship seeking will make the book much more enjoyable. You can find this book at Barnes & Nobles for $9.99, and even used for $1.00 to $2.00 dollars. You can find this book on B&N, Amazon, ThriftBooks, Target, eBay, etc. If you don't need a hardcopy to read, I have shared the PDF online version below. Give it a read and let me know what you think! As always, subscribe, like, and comment! Let me know your opinions on this book. Did you see a different deeper message that I missed?


Quinton S. Young
QSYCapital, LLC.
18 February 2023




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