George S. Clason - The Richest Man in Babylon in Action

THE

RICHEST

MAN

IN

BABYLON

IN ACTION

THE

RICHEST

MAN

IN

BABYLON

IN ACTION

Based on the Classic Work
by George S. Clason

NIGHTINGALE-CONANT LEARNING SYSTEM

Published 2019 by Gildan Media LLC

aka G&D Media

www.GandDmedia.com

THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON IN ACTION. Copyright 2019 by Nightingale-Conant.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained within. Although every precaution has been taken, the author and publisher assume no liability for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Front Cover design by David Rheinhardt of Pyrographx

Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request

ISBN: 978-1-7225-0169-3

eISBN: 978-1-7225-2268-1

10987654321

Contents

by Dan Strutzel

by George S. Clason

Preface

G eorge Samuel Clasons book The Richest Man in Babylon is one of the great inspirational classics of the twentieth century. It was originally published in 1926, before the Great Depression. The book began as a series of informational pamphlets. Banks and insurance companies began to distribute them, and the most famous ones were eventually compiled into a book. More than 2 million copies have been sold. In The Richest Man in Babylon in Action, youll learn how to take the classic ideas from The Richest Man in Babylon and update them.

You probably know that wealth magnifies power and happiness, but do you know the Seven Cures for a Lean Purse? Is there such a thing as a Goddess of Good Luck? What are the Five Laws of Gold, and how can you use them to make you rich? These are just some of the questions well be answering.

This book contains the complete original text of The Rich Man of Babylon, including the original foreword, with some minor corrections and modernization of the spelling. At that end of each chapter, Ill recap the important parts of the story and discover some practical tips on how you can apply these lessons to your own twenty-first-century life. You may not want to invest your gold in a camel (youll learn more about that as our story begins), but well talk about modern techniques for making your money work for you. We have tips and ideas from experts in wealth building, debt reduction, and real-estate investing as well as other stories and ideas from modern life.

Before we get started, let me make some suggestions as to how to get the most out of this book. Well go through the original text. Then, after each chapter, well apply the ideas to your life. It would be a good idea to get a notebook or a journal so that you can do the exercises.

At the end of each session is a brief segment called the Babylon Builder. This is a concise recap of the core ideas and action steps that you can take to build your own personal empire. By the end, youll have everything you need to become the richest man or woman in Babylon, or whatever city youre in.

Dan Strutzel

Foreword

O ur prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals.

This book deals with the personal successes of each of us. Success means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.

This book of cures for lean purses has been termed a guide to financial understanding. That, indeed, is its purpose: to offer those who are ambitious for financial success an insight which will aid them to acquire money, to keep money, and to make their surpluses earn more money.

In the pages which follow, we are taken back to Babylon, the cradle in which was nurtured the basic principles of finance now recognized and used the world over.

To new readers, the author is happy to extend the wish that its pages may contain for them the same inspiration for growing bank accounts, greater financial successes and the solution of difficult personal financial problems so enthusiastically reported by readers from coast to coast.

To the business executives who have distributed these tales in such generous quantities to friends, relatives, employees and associates, the author takes this opportunity to express his gratitude. No endorsement could be higher than that of practical men who appreciate its teachings because they themselves have worked up to important successes by applying the very principles it advocates.

Babylon became the wealthiest city of the ancient world because its citizens were the richest people of their time. They appreciated the value of money. They practiced sound financial principles in acquiring money, keeping money and making their money earn more money. They provided for themselves what we all desireincomes for the future.

George S. Clason

ONE

An Historical Sketch of Babylon

I n the pages of history, there lives no city more glamorous than Babylon. Its very name conjures visions of wealth and splendor. Its treasures of gold and jewels were fabulous. One naturally pictures such a wealthy city as located in a suitable setting of tropical luxury surrounded by rich, natural resources of forests and mines. Such was not the case. It was located beside the Euphrates River in a flat, arid valley. It had no forests, no mines, not even stone for building. It was not even located upon a natural trade route. The rainfall was insufficient to raise crops.

Babylon is an outstanding example of mans ability to achieve great objectives using whatever means are at his disposal. All of the resources supporting this large city were man-developed. All of its riches were man-made.

Babylon possessed just two natural resourcesa fertile soil and water in the river. With one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of this or any other day, Babylonian engineers diverted the waters from the river by means of dams and immense irrigation canals. Far out across that arid valley went these canals to pour the life-giving waters over the fertile soil. This ranks among the first engineering feats known to history. Such abundant crops as were the reward of this irrigation system, the world had never seen before.

Fortunately, during its long existence, Babylon was ruled by successive lines of kings to which conquests and plunder were but incidental. While it engaged in many wars, most of these were local or defensive against ambitious conquerors from other countries who coveted the fabulous treasures of Babylon. The outstanding rulers of Babylon live in history because of their wisdom, enterprise, and justice. Babylon produced no strutting monarchs who sought to conquer the known world that all nations might pay homage to their egotism.

As a city, Babylon exists no more. When those energizing human forces that built and maintained the city for thousands of years were withdrawn, it soon became a deserted ruin. The site of the city is in Asia about 600 miles east of the Suez Canal, just north of the Persian Gulf. The latitude is about thirty degrees above the equator, practically the same as that of Yuma, Arizona. It possessed a climate similar to that of this American cityhot and dry.