The Richest Man in Babylon

The Richest Man In Babylon is a great inspirational work that dispenses sound advice on the subject of thrift, financial planning and personal wealth. The book is written in a very simple, easy-to-understand language, and it makes use of fascinating and informative parables that are set in ancient Babylon in order to illustrate practical financial wisdom. This bestseller offers an understanding of, and a solution to, all your personal financial problems and also reveals simple secrets on how to make money, keep it and how to make your money earn more money.

The collection of parables in the book was originally part of a series of separate instructional and informational pamphlets that were distributed by insurance companies and banks. These pamphlets were compiled together and published as The Richest Man In Babylon in 1926. Since then, the book has been read by millions and it has helped countless readers set out on a sure path to prosperity and its accompanying joys. The book is written in a highly engaging and informative style with various fictional characters in the parables throwing light on profoundly simple yet highly effective financial wisdom, through their experiences in business and in managing household finances.

One of the parables tells of how a chariot builder called Bansir and his musician friend Kobbi seek financial advice from their childhood friend Arkad. Arkad then narrates his own story of how he came to be rich after his chance meeting with a very rich man called Algamish. The secret he shares with his friends was handed down to him by Algamish in exchange for a copy of a law that Arkad scribed in clay for him. Arkad tells his friends that a part of what they earn is theirs to keep, i.e. the secret to becoming rich is to save a part of what you earn and invest it wisely.

Some of the parables included in the book in the form of individual chapters are the man who desired gold, the richest man in Babylon, meet the goddess of good luck, seven cures for a lean purse, the camel trader of Babylon, the walls of Babylon, the five laws of gold, the gold lender of Babylon, and the luckiest man in Babylon.