You can get a copy of the NEWBIES NIGHTMARE here ---> 
Book Review – “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S Clason
by Gary ~ April 1st, 2009
Hello again,
I did mention to Hilary Dickinson during the week that I would have something special to write about in my book review this week. You see, I know that Hilary is very passionate about teaching children literary and numeracy and financial skills because we ALL KNOW that the so-called “education system” in our respective countries is failing to educate our children to any accpetable standard at all these days.
Parents like Hilary should be commended for taking this stance and I hope that everyone visits Hilary’s blog to add their comments on what she is doing. And well done to her daughter (Lizzie “the Lizzard”) too for being so keen to learn from her mum. If only all kids would do the same. But… most of them seem destined to make the SAME nincompoop mistakes that their parents have taken half a lifetime to learn from and correct…
… anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Book review. Sometimes I just get so side-tracked.
Well, I am sitting here with my copy of “The Richest Man in Babylon” written by George S Clason and wondering what I can possibly say about this WONDERFUL book to inspire you to go and purchase a copy and READ it. No, not just read it – STUDY it!
You see, like my previous book review on “Psycho Cybernetics” (Maxwell Maltz) – which you can read at: http://motivationselfesteem.com/talk/914/book-review-psycho-cybernetics-by-maxwell-maltz.htm – if you missed it, “The Richest Man in Babylon” is another of my TOP TEN motivation, inspiration and information books of all time. Yes! It is that darn good.
In my massive library of 300-400 motivation, self-esteem, inspiration books this little baby is right up there. So, what is it all about?
Perhaps I could do no better than to repeat the “mandamus”-like inscription just inside the front cover:
1 – start thy purse to fattening
2 – control thy expenditures
3 – make thy gold multiply
4 – guard thy treasures from loss
5 – make of thy dwelling a profitable investment
6 – insure a future income
7 – increase thy ability to earn.
Now, that all sounds VERY simple doesn’t it? So, why do most people completely stuff it up? Hmm, well we live in a very complex world now. People with VESTED interests make SIMPLE finance VERY difficult to understand. I am talking about bankers, stock-brokers, insurers, finance providers and the like. Oh, not to mention how all of those “industries” are now completely surrounded by massive legal teams completely devoted to enshrouding simple techniques with legal “protection” thereby making everything very, very complex and almost IMPOSSIBLE to understand.
The Richest Man in Babylon (sorry Nikki Stephens but yep, Babylon IS in the title and I know that “By the Rivers of Babylon” is not your favourite tune of all time and that this will further ensure that the words of that song will be bouncing around inside your head – SORRY!), as the name suggests (and the excerpt above) is written in biblical text.
DON’T LET THAT PUT YOU OFF!
George Classon wrote a MASTERPIECE here! Just a few comments about Classon…
George Classon was born in Louisiana Missouri on 7 November 1874. He was a publisher and in 1926 he issued the first of a series of pamphlets on thrift and financial success. These pamphlets were issued by banks and insurance companies in tens of thousands. People loved the information and from these pamphlets the Richest Man in Babylon was conceived. It went on to sell many millions of copies.
Using much of this information and adding a few twists of my own I wrote “How to Save 1000′s and Increase Your Personal Net Wealth” which you can see here: http://motivationselfesteem.com/wealth.html. The main addition to my book was the inclusion of a set of exercises to “slap” people into action by making them realise that:
1 – you probably are NOT doing anywhere near as well as you think you are and,
2 – you need to do something about that NOW!
Anyway, back to the Richest Man in Babylon by George Classon – get it, read it, study it and apply the timeless principles. The ISBN is 0:7343:0509:5 and my copy is published by Penguin books.
PS: Oh, one more thing… in 2002, I purchased a copy for each of my children… as a Christmas present. Can you imagine their faces when they opened those presents? Then me being me offered them a $50 note for a one page book review by way of a “promissory note.”
I warned them not to “fudge” me on that review either coz I would know (and I bloody-well would have too and they KNEW it!). I am pleased to inform that they both collected the $50 and both have made some very sound financial decisions ever since. They are both now at least $100,000 in front of where they would have been had they not absorbed the wisdom of this book.
Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:
“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************
April 1st, 2009 at 9:18 am
Agree Gazza,
One of the all times classics.
I have read it a few times. Amazingly it is such a relatively short and concise book but really is packed with inspiration.
The ‘story-book’ format makes it very easy to read as well, making it ideal for younger people to grasp the wisdom and enjoy too.
I picked up a copy of your last book recommendation yesterday so I will start to read that over the coming days.
Garry
April 1st, 2009 at 9:31 am
@ Garry – Hmm, now why does it not surprise me that you have read “The Richest Man in Babylon” huh?
I see you have just released the Profit Pulling Project newsletter #6. I hope people like my observations of Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing 2.0 launch.
Off the thread here, I just have to make mention of what happened on Twitter last night too Garry – hope you don’t mind…
… folks, you are NOT gonna believe this…
Garry Parkes kindly donated money to a young girl who, sadly, is suffering from cancer. He saw the appeal on Twitter and responded to it. Then he RT’d (re-tweeted) it on for other people to see.
And here is where the very WORST part of negatively inspired, nastiness kicked in. Some trumped up moron had the audacity to FLAME Parkesy for what he did on the re-tweet and informed him (Parkesy) that he was reporting him for spam. WTF?
Can you believe that? Well, people became incensed at that and Parkesy was backed to the hilt.
Some people huh?
Oh, and in checking Mr Moron’s Twitter page he has a real personal fetish for what he considers an effrontery to his ridiculous feeling of being personally spammed. Reading his Twitter page is like reading some Nazi propaganda. Needless to say I blocked this guy. I imagine that lots of others probably did too. He deserves it.
Anyway, enough of that rubbish.
So, now you have a copy of Psycho Cybernetics huh? Great stuff. You will enjoy it immensely and it will certainly help you with Internet Marketing.
TGM
April 1st, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hi Gary,
“The Richest Man in Babylon” is a great book like I commented previously but what you have reminded me is that it is in a very accessible format that young children can read and benefit from. Guess what I will be doing very soon ….. I’m sure my kids will benefit from it.
Regarding the charity donation. No I don’t mind you commenting, in any case it was all over Twitter as that is the power of it. It is so viral an nothing stays hidden for very long, lol.
Have to correct you on one thing though.
I don’t believe the young 11 year old girl had cancer herself (though I can’t be certain as it is a bit of a personal thing to ask). She was running in an event to raise money for a Cancer Charity. But everything else you say is true.
I was in a Twitter conversation with her father who mentioned he was so proud of his young daughter doing the running event raising money for charity. (Well you would be, wouldn’t you – he would be immensely proud?). So I Re-tweeted the link he sent me to my 14,000+ followers to try and help with awareness and raise sponsorship money for the girl.
All in all, the 1 unfortunate individual who took offense was more than compensated for by the overwhelming messages of support once people realized what had gone on.
Garry
April 1st, 2009 at 10:44 am
Another book for me to add to my list – just as well it’s my birthday soon! Think Amazon might be getting a bit of a battering from me.
I’m saying absolutely nothing about you putting that song into my head YET AGAIN. Know however that you will pay for such misdemeanours. Quite how I’ll make you pay is entirely at my discretion of course.
I don’t read nearly enough at the moment. It’s only when I do find time to get stuck into a good book that I remember how much I love reading, so by providing these reviews you are also reminding me that I do need to make time to read.
PMW from the LOT
April 1st, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Hi Gary,
Richest Man In Babylon is one of my favorites – right up there with Think and Grow Rich and The Greatest Salesman in the World.
My wife jokes me all the time because I like reading non-fiction books like these and other autobiography/self-help kinds, and she loves reading non-fiction. Not that I don’t enjoy a good non-fiction book, but I rarely get around to it! We have a good laugh about our different book tastes every once in a while.
Great review – and I’m proud of your kids writing their reviews too! What a great Christmas gift.
On another note – after seeing what happened to Parkesy on Twitter and reading about all the craziness that went on in the Warrior Forum from your review of the BFM launch – I am appalled at the way that some people act online. They think that because they are online, they somehow aren’t dealing with real people and don’t have to face any real consequences…as Nikki said a few days ago…it is a sign of the times I guess…
Adam
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 am
@ Garry – Sorry mate. I obviously mis-understood the detail of the girl with cancer bit. But I won’t change it coz you have already explained it. And it really doesn’t affect the sentiment of what transpired anyway.
I found this bit rather inspiring:
If only they will listen. It seems unless you “force” the issue and make yourself somewhat of a tyrant then they are destined to make all the SAME ridiculous mistakes that we did when we were young – and then, sadly, they just become the NEXT generation of cannon fodder to be exploited for their time, labour and money.
The “system” rules 99% of the population and that is why so many people are poor, frustrated and disappointed. OK, this is turning into a sermon, bordering on one of my rants. I can feel it building so I am gonna stop right now.
Gary
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:18 am
@ Nikki – Hmm, some interesting comments there…
LOL @
and then:
Might I suggest PMW@LOT… that just looks SO cool! Er, just like your new Twitter background page.
Folks if you haven’t seen Nikki’s new Twitter background page then check it out – http://twitter.com/minxywitch
TGM@IMTOLFN
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:40 am
@ Adam – You have just mentioned two more of my top ten motivational books. In the coming weeks or months – whenever I feel the timing is appropriate – I will feature those among others.
You said:
Well, they didn’t think so at the time! I had been telling them that I had a SPECIAL gift among all the other gifts I had for them. I saved it for last and when they opened it I saw their faces drop. I could almost read their minds – “Ughh! One of your STUPID books!”
Now, that is a familiar response when you give the gift of a “LIFE CHANGING” book. I LOVE them. I learn so much from “my books.” But I would say that of all the dozens and dozens of these books that I have given people as gifts almost NONE of them have ever been read. And that is why people ARE like they ARE.
Very little good can come out of a mind that is only taking in rubbish.
Hmm, I rather like that. Just made it up. I shall have to include that in my original quote list.
Here’s a moment for Linda Caroll (who is always amused at my penchant for quoting… me!) – PMSL…
After that little piece of self-indulgent frivolity I now want to address your comments about what I wrote about in Garry Parkes’ Profit Pulling Project newsletter #6…
[Incidentally, if you are reading this and are not getting Garry Parkes' regular newsletter then get over to his site at http://www.GarryParkes.com and GET IT! It's FREE!]
Anyway, sermon/rant/something is coming on here…
I find it rather fascinating observing people. Further, I am gonna include in my TOP TEN motivational books a title by a lady who is an expert on personality types and traits. And that will explain so much to people about why YOU are like YOU are and why OTHERS are like THEY are. And once you “understand” personality types you can interact with people better by moderating your personality and… well, I won’t go into that now. Later…
Yes, it is VERY disappointing to see how people can turn nasty at the drop of a hat these days. Over here where I live (Perth, Western Australia) we have MASSIVE anti-social problems. Every morning newspaper is full of the exploits of the psychologically damaged morons who are just plain nasty and vicious or who have been affected (no excuse) by too much alcohol and/or drugs.
The extreme violence in my city is exasperating. People are being viciously physically assaulted and verbally abused every minute of the day.
Just let me quote from this morning’s West Australian newspaper:
1 – Front Page HEADLINE: “Carjack Victim’s Anger as Judge Sets Thug Free.”
2 – “Pharmacy Terror Raid Brings Jail.”
3 – “Police Action to Ban Thugs is a Necessity.”
and this from a “Letters to the Editor” writer:
And so it goes on and on and on.
This comes on top of numerous bashings of police officers who are simply trying to quell the violence. Many of our fine officers have been hospitalised and some are now confined to wheelchairs for the rest of their lives.
In the most recent incident Constable Matt Butcher was paralysed for life by a vicious airborne flying headbutt from behind as he attempted to break up a fight. The perpetrator of that disgusting, cowardly “Pearl Harbour” attack was found “NOT GUILTY” because it was deemed he was “acting in self-defence.” Well FM! Don’t ask! Nobody with half a working brain-cell over here can understand that either. It provoked a massive march on our Parliament by Police and citizens to COMPLAIN bitterly about this exasperatingly stupid “decision.”
This sort of behaviour is rampant over here. We are seeing brazen open attacks on people happening all over the city and suburbs, mostly at night but also in broad-daylight as the thugs become bolder and bolder by the day. Home invasions are also commonplace.
The level of violence and anger here is appalling – particularly on the roads too where people are dragged out of their vehicles and bashed for “perceived” mis-demeanours on the roads. All manner of weapons are used in this violence too, mostly screwdrivers and baseball bats. Several years ago I had one such lunatic slam his foot on the brake causing me to stop whereupon he got out and threatened me with violence. [the idiot!]
Having got all that off my chest and getting more to your point Adam… I witnessed a lot of similar “verbal” anger at the BM 2.0 launch. Just because some people are inconvenienced in a silly or minor way they become aggressive and abusive. It’s just ridiculous. Don’t they understand what they are doing? I think – obviously NOT!
I made the observation in my article in the newsletter that these people are showing an outward manifestation of their crippled mindset that will see them FAIL miserably at everything they do. But they just don’t understand that.
OK… rant over. Whew! I just need to do that every now and then.
Gary
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:54 am
…..and BREATHE!
You haven’t been on one of those for a while, and in fact neither have I…ooh, perhaps that’ll have to inspire one of my rants of impressive proportions.
After all, you know how impressive proportions are important to me…
PMW@LOT
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:54 pm
The Richest Man in Babylon is an excellent book. This thread reminds me of an old Jim Rohn story. When he was young and broke, his mentor asked him what his financial plan was. He said if he had more money, he’d have a plan. His mentor countered and said if he had a plan, he’d have more money.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:14 pm
@ Nikki - Go on! Have a good rant. It will get things of your er… chest.
@ Linda – Sounds somewhat like a zen parable. A conundrum.
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:18 pm
“If a man does not of his own free will put himself last among his creatures,
there is no salvation for him.”
- Mahatma Gandhi.
Comment – I will step over an ant if I see it and I am forever rescuing bees from drowning in my swimming pool. I detest seeing cruelty to animals. There is hardly anything more distressing to me than seeing a creature being abused or harmed.
TGM
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Linda – too true. And a very sensible point.
Good thing I like making lists really, as I can then turn that into plans…
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
@ Nikki – I have SEEN some of your lists – PMSL!
Accountability PARTNER!
TGM
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:55 pm
TGM – PMSL @ that.
Yes, you have indeed seen some of my lists, and shortly some of those lists that then became plans will be coming to fruition.
April 6th, 2009 at 3:00 am
Hi Gary,
I haven’t heard of this book or author . . . where have I been? Sounds like something I better read soon. I love your book reviews and really appreciated what you said in the newsletter regarding the BFM launch. You’d think you’d entered shark infested waters the way people were going on.
Garry, The Greatest Salesman in the World is one of my favorites, too.
Theresa
April 6th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
Hi Gary
Thought I better comment on this – I have been reading and lurking but so many other things to do I didn’t get round to commenting.
Thanks for the plug for me and Lizzie BTW. We both have some work to do now that the Easter holidays have started…
I’m currently reading ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, but I have just had a birthday so have put this into my Amazon basket – just need to finish shopping with my birthday money!
Just investigated the cost of airfares to Las Vegas – unfortunately I think that will preclude me joining you there. Wish I could though. I wonder if Alex will do a UK meeting for those of us based here. I could manage that, so I must ask him.
Anyway off to bed – I’ve had too many late nights (doing accounts until after 1am last night – argh!).
Hilary
April 7th, 2009 at 1:25 am
@ Nikki – You will soon need a list for your lists!
@ Theresa – Well, you know how highly I rate The Richest Man in Babylon – one of my all time favourites.
Regarding the BFM2.0 launch and some people’s behaviour – it was nothing short of bloody atrocious. I was ashamed to see it. I wonder how Mike Filsaime and his staff felt.
The Greatest Salesman in the World is indeed another fantastic inspirational book. I love all of Og Mandino‘s books in my library and I have read all of them, some several times. I was rather sad some years back when I learned of his passing. I was right into reading all of his stuff at the time and I even sent him an email. Did you know that Og was short for Augustine? Yep, I am full of useless facts like that – LOL!
@ Hilary – I thought I read somewhere that you had recently had a birthday – HAPPY BIRTHDAY for whenever it was (I know – security concerns prevent all the honest folk from sharing such info – sad but necessary these days.).
Nappy’s T&GR is another timeless classic and I intend to feature that book in one of my upcoming reviews. No doubt you are aware that it contains a “secret” on just about every page.
Pity you won’t be in Las Vegas. I’d like to meet you in person. Oh well, if there is a meeting/seminar in the UK I may be able to meet you there.
Gary
April 7th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Er…I have to confess that there have been times that I have made lists of my lists…I’m sure that says something terrible about me!
What can I say…I like lists. I like writing.
Yeah – I should get out more. I know.
April 9th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Update on our new twitter software.
Most of the JV’s have had the software for a few weeks. We are coming around the last turn and heading for the home stretch. The beta results have been nothing short of amazon. Our JV partners are averaging over a thousand follows a week in their own niches.
http;//mytweetelite.com started brand new 3 weeks ago ( zero following – zero followers ) if you click on the link you will see we are over 5000 following back and have followed over 15000 to achieve this. Soon on my tweet elite their will be a second video talking about the software and how it works. This will be the last video before the final launch video.
I am going to share a secret with all my readers, not only will you be able to get this software. We are going to give away such a terrific bonus that this will become a no brainier. So stay tune and check out the new video at My Tweet Elite
April 9th, 2009 at 7:23 am
@ Nix – I think you ARE gonna get out more. A little bird told me that you are going to Viva Las Vegas. Maybe we could have a cup of tea together over there somewhere. Please bring me a Lion Bar. I used to love those things when I was in the UK.
@ Vince – Glad you liked my book review of the Richest Man in Babylon. Good luck with your TweetElite. Come back ANY time and feel free to tell us of the latest developments. And don’t worry about being completely off-thread.
Gary
April 11th, 2009 at 5:51 am
Richest Man is a great book. I always find something new each time that I read it.
April 13th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Guess what!
Yes, I know, I’m being a tiny bit rebellious & hijacking your blog, but it’s been a bit quiet here lately so it’s time for some randomness from the PMW.
Actually, it’s not that random really – it’s that my blog / website has now received a damn good seeing…..er, I mean, it’s been revamped. It’s still a work in progress while I update a few things & iron out a couple of issues, but I think curiosity may drive you over there in the meantime!
More to the point, if anyone can help with this particular problem (post teaser plugin not working now – more info on my blog) then I’d be most grateful.
@TGM – thinking about it, I don’t recall seeing Lion bars for a while. I’m going to have to go for a rummage & see if I can find some! Do you think they’d survive a flight? Hmm…
PMW from the new improved extra-sparkly Lair of Temptation
April 13th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
@ Quit Smoking – Richest Man in Babylon is indeed a great book.
@ Nikki – WHAT?
I have indeed seen the enhancements to your Lair and I very much like the new look. Still purple – OF COURSE!
Lion Bars – Oh please bring some to Las Vegas. If I catch up with you there I will do anything to get them. Well… almost anything. TGM has his pride to consider. PMSL!
TGM@IMT
April 13th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I am gonna put a new post up tomorrow and it is gonna be about… BRANDING! Watch out for it.
TGM
April 13th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Pride….Lions….
Yeah, that didn’t escape me.
Looking forward to the branding post – something of interest to me (well, one of many things of interest to me, but then I’d end up in one of my monolithic rants if I were to list everything).
What can I say. Having a Lair of Temptation does tend to lend itself rather well to branding, as does being a Purple Minxy Witch.
*flies off as I can hear the kettle boiling*
PMW
April 13th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Nikki,
Maybe we can just escape to some den somewhere and devour them all by ourselves. PMSL!
Nikki, did you ever used to watch that show “Bewitched?” Remember the start of it? Where she (the caricature of Elizabeth Montgomery – one of the co-stars of the show with Dick York) was zipping and zapping around on that broomstick. And the catchy jingle that went along with it?
Well, if not, here it is on You Tube for you to see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRZitnndpoY
… and that was the vision that I had of you when you said what you said – flying into your kitchen to make your cup of tea. This is kind of a good segue into my next post on branding. The reason being coz I had an immediate mental vision of all that and that is what branding is all about – pre-warming a person’s mind.
Gary