59 Wealth Building Quotes From The Richest Man in Babylon

Don’t let the date (1926) fool you into thinking that the book, The Richest Man In Babylon, is still not relevant today.

It and other classics such as Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich (1937), contain wealth building lessons that will NEVER go out of style. 

The Richest Man In Babylon has gained tremendous popularity due to the fact that it’s simple to understand as is a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. 

The author, George Samuel Clason, teaches 7 lessons in what he calls the “seven cures to a lean purse”. These are wealth building habits that anyone can follow to build a solid financial foundation.

Let’s briefly review…

7 Wealth Building Lessons From The Richest Man in Babylon

#1 Pay yourself first

Do you know who understands this lesson? The IRS!

They’ve learned that if they want to get paid first with “our money” then deducting it from each person’s paycheck is the way to do.

Speaking of IRS, what are you doing to lower your taxes?

Related article:  5 Outstanding Tax Strategies For High Income Earners

Clason recommends that we pay ourselves at least 10% of our earnings. In my opinion, high income earners should be able to save more (20+%). 

The wealthy get this concept and pay themselves first whereas the poor don’t.

#2 Live below your means

Dave Ramsey has fun with doctors that call his show complaining about not being able to get ahead. He calls this syndrome, “Doc-itis.”

Doctors go from broke in school to graduating with nice, six-figure incomes. After a while, they realize they don’t know how to budget and live below their means. 

The average physician salary is $300,000. If you follow Rule #1 and save at least 10% ($30,000), then you’d have $270,000 to live on. I don’t know about you but living on $270K a year is a GOOD problem to have!

The bottom line, learn to live on LESS than you make. 

#3 Make your money work for you

Proverbs 21:20 – “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.”

Most doctors can attest to getting “pitched” frequently by salesmen wanting to invest with them in the latest and greatest products. 

Unfortunately, too many doctors lose money in risky investments that they don’t have a clue about even though their told it’s the next BIG THING.

Whatever you choose to invest in (i.e. stocks or real estate), educate yourself so you can ask the right questions before pulling the trigger.

Put your money to work by making smart investments and taking advantage of time and compounding interest.

#4 Insure to protect your wealth

Many times we get so excited about exiting our training and making “real” money that we don’t give any thought to protecting it. 

The majority of the time we’re so focused on digging out from under the student debt load that obtaining the necessary insurance policies are overlooked. 

 Insurance helps safeguard your wealth by absorbing potential loss and mitigating your financial situation.

There are many types of polices that you should consider. Make sure you research those that you need or find an agent that can guide you.

One of the MOST important ones is something you can ensure against yourself…an emergency fund!

#5 Our home is our biggest expense

Of all of the lessons discussed in the book, this one could be the most debatable.

Two of the top financial gurus, Dave Ramsey and Robert Kiyosaki, have different views regarding home ownership.

Dave suggests that someone should buy a house if they can afford one and to put at least 20% down on a 15 year fixed mortgage.

Kiyosaki suggests that a house is a liability and NOT an asset.

He claims that having money tied up in a mortgage not earning anything is a financial disaster and to avoid it.

Whether you choose to rent or purchase a home is up to you. 

If you follow Lesson #2 and live below your means, you’ll be in much better financial shape when it comes to making larger purchases in the future.

#6 Have a retirement plan

The six wealth building lesson suggests that we should have a retirement plan in order to retire comfortably.

This goes along with Lesson #1, paying yourself first. Most company’s can automatically take money out of your paycheck to fund retirement accounts. 

The younger we can start putting money away for our retirement the better. By doing this, we take advantage of a magical thing called ‘compounding interest‘.

Time can be our retirement’s greatest friend.

“Remember that money is of a prolific generating nature. Money can beget money, and its offspring can beget more.” – Benjamin Franklin

#7 Invest in yourself

The MORE money you make, the more you can invest and give to others.

There’s no better way to do this than by investing in yourself.

The more time spent becoming an expert at your career, the better. 

The internet and virtual courses have made it simple to access the information needed to continue getting better. The best part is much of this information is free.

Let’s now move on to the 59 wealth building quotes from “The Richest Man in Babylon.”

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The Richest Man In Babylon Quotes (59) For Wealth Building

#1 “Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you only take what is worth having.”

#2 “I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.”

#3 Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which govern its acquisition.”

#4 “If you desire to help thy friend, do so in a way that will not bring thy friend’s burdens upon thyself.”

#5 “Money makes possible the enjoyment of the best the earth affords.”

#6 “A part of all I earn is mine to keep.’ Say it in the morning when you first arise. Say it at noon. Say it at night. Say it each hour of every day. Say it to yourself until the words stand out like letters of fire across the sky.”

#7 “Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity.” 

#8 “Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put no less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.”

#9 “Our acts can be no wiser than our thoughts, Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.”

#10 “It costs nothing to ask wise advice from a good friend.”

#11 “Will power is but the unflinching purpose to carry the task you set for yourself to fulfillment.”

#12 “Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that also that can earn for you.”

#13 “If you would become wealthy, then what you save must earn, and its children must earn, that all may help to give to you the abundance you crave.”

#14 “Men of action are favored by the Goddess of luck.”

#15 “The hungrier one becomes, the clearer one’s mind works— also the more sensitive one becomes to the odors of food.”

#16 “Money is governed today by the same laws which controlled it when prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon, six thousand years ago.”

#17 “As for time, all men have it in abundance.”

#18 “Preceding accomplishment must be desire. Thy desires must be strong and definite.”

#19 “Provide in advance for the needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family.”

#20  “Invest thy treasure with greatest caution that it not be lost. Usurious rates of return are deceitful sirens that sing but to lure the unwary upon the rocks of loss and remorse.”

#21 “Learning was of two kinds: the one being the things we learned and knew, and the other being the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know?”

#22 “The reason why we have never found measure of wealth. We never sought it.”

#23 “The sun that shines today is the sun that shone when thy father was born, and will still be shining when thy last grandchild shall pass into the darkness.”

#24 “Wealth like a tree grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow.”

#25 “You do eat the children of your savings, then how do you expect them to work for you? And how can they have children that will also work for you?”

#26 “If I set for myself a task, be it so trifling, I shall see it through. How else shall I have confidence in myself to do important things?”

#27 “You’ve learned the lessons well. You first learned to live on less than you earn. Next you learned to seek advice from those who are competent. Lastly, you’ve learned to make gold work for you.”

#28 “Where the determination is, the way can be found.” 

#29 “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.” 

#30 “Soon you will realize what a rich feeling it is to own a treasure upon which you alone have claim. As it grows it will stimulate you. A new joy of life will thrill you. Greater efforts will come to you to earn more. For of your increased earnings, will not the same percentage be also yours to keep?”

#31 “Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it.”

#32 “In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors we succeeded.”

#33 “The more of wisdom we know, the more we may earn. That man who seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded.”

#34 “Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires.”

#35 “Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling.”

#36 “One may not condemn a man for succeeding because he knows how. Neither may one with justice take away from a man what he has fairly earned, to give to men of less ability.”

#37 “That what each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.” (I really like this one as too many doctors get caught up into trying to “keep up with the Joneses” and then complain about not making enough money)

#38 “Be not misled by thine own romantic desires to make wealth rapidly.”

#39 “Will power is but the unflinching purpose to carry the task you set for yourself to fulfillment.”

#40 “The reason why we have never found measure of wealth. We never sought it.”

#41 “Perhaps there is some secret we might learn if we but sought from those who knew.”

#42 “Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with those who are unprepared.”

#43 “For every ten coins thou placest withing thy purse, take out for use but nine. Thy purse will start to fatten at once and it’s increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring and bring satisfaction to thy soul.”

#44 “Make thy gold multiply.”

#45 “Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.”

#46 “Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.”

#47 “Advice is one thing that is freely given away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in such matters, shall pay with his savings for proving the falsity of their opinions.”

#48 “Truth is always simple.” 

#49 “A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it.” (sound familiar?)

#50 “Enjoy life while you are here. Do not overstrain or try to save too much. If one-tenth of all you earn is as much as you can comfortably keep, be content to keep this portion.”

#51 “The purpose of a budget is to help thy purse to fatten. It is to assist thee to have thy necessities and, insofar as attainable, thy other desires. “

#52 “My admiration stranger within our gates, who hesitates not to speak the truth.”

#53 “Never mind though our purses be as empty as the falcon’s nest of a year ago. Let that not detain us. We are weary of being without gold in the midst of plenty. We wish to become men of means. Come, let us go to Arkad and ask how we, also, may acquire incomes for ourselves.”

#54 “One may not condemn a man for succeeding because he knows how. Neither may one with justice take away from a man what he has fairly earned, to give to men of less ability.”

#55 “Before you entrust you investments into any field, acquaint yourself with the dangers which may befall your principal.” (In other words, don’t invest in anything that you DO NOT understand.)

#56 “Every man must master his own spirit of procrastination before he can expect to share in the rich treasures of Babylon.”

#57 “Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it, but with wisdom, gold can be secured by those who have it not.”

#58 “There is no chain of disasters that will not come to an end.”

#59 “The man who became of his understanding of the laws of wealth, acquireth a growing surplus, should give thought to those future days. He should plan certain investments or provisions that may endure safely for many years, yet will be available when the time arrives which he has so wisely anticipated.”

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