Richest Man In Babylon Book Review
This book is short and sweet. It’s written in the style of old Biblical parables. If you go for that sort of thing, this book is a nice inspirational book. If you don’t go for that sort of thing, it’s a book about weird ancient men who got to a rich guy for advice.
Having made a serious study of classical languages, this book is kind of annoying for its creative use of the ancient world. It’s like a bad Latin grammar text on the adventures of Julius and Hadrianus. On the other hand, it’s kind of charming and it’s kind of amazing that it was written in the 1920’s but is, literally, a timeless classic.
There are 7 main lessons which you should take away from the book, and they really aren’t that much different from the everyday advice you can read in modern personal finance advice columns, 1) Try to save some money out of every paycheck, 2) Spend less than you earn. 3) Own your own home, etc. FreeMoneyFinance’s got it all here if you want to know all the details.
There’s a lot to be gleaned from this short little book if you are open to its style. It’s definitely for those who prefer to infer their own lessons from a story. One reason I found this book irritating is that most folks looking for personal finance help are usually approaching a crisis and need practical steps to get them moving. This book doesn’t really offer that and so it can only really be a starting point for most people who are already in debt.
What I did like about it was that it makes it sound easy to start. Because starting is the key. The last thing I learned from it, which I don’t think was an intentional lesson is that you should be an entrepreneur and business-owner. I don’t think the author meant for that to be a lesson, but in the book the successful people are the farmers and merchants in charge of their own destiny, instead of those who work for others their whole lives.
Seattle Simplicity wrote:
I’ve been meaning to read this book so this is a very timely post!
Posted on 03-May-06 at 12:13 pm | Permalink
Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge / PF Book Reviews wrote:
[…] New! The Richest Man In Babylon, by George S. Clason, a brief classic […]
Posted on 27-Sep-07 at 9:04 pm | Permalink