A part of all you earn
Arkad's answer is a sentence he learnt from the moneylender Algamish. A part of all you earn is yours to keep. Put aside at least a tenth before paying anything else.
Money
The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
Why is Bansir always broke?
Bansir builds chariots in ancient Babylon and works hard all day, yet his purse is always empty. So is his friend Kobbi's, a musician. George Clason's parable begins when the two go to ask their boyhood friend Arkad, now the richest man in Babylon, how he did it.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
What you'll learn
- A part of all you earn
- Control thy expenditures
- Make thy gold multiply
- Dabasir's clay tablets
The key ideas in The Richest Man in Babylon
Control thy expenditures
The second cure. What we call necessary expenses always grow to match our income, Clason warns, unless we push back. Arkad tells his class to list everything they want to spend on, keep what nine tenths of their income can pay for, and cross out the rest.
Make thy gold multiply
Saving a tenth is the start. The third cure is to put each saved coin to work so that it earns more coins, and those earn too. The fourth, guard thy treasures from loss, says to invest where your money is safe and take advice from people who know.
Dabasir's clay tablets
Dabasir the camel trader once ran from his debts. When he came home to face them, he carved a plan on clay. Keep one tenth. Live on seven tenths. Give the last two tenths to his creditors, shared out fairly, month after month, until every debt was paid.
Lines worth underlining
A tenth
Keep at least a tenth of everything you earn. Pay yourself before anyone else.
Good advice
Take money advice only from people who know the trade. Arkad lost his first savings to a brickmaker buying jewels.
Wants
Your spending will grow to match your income unless you keep an eye on it.
Put it to work
Make your savings earn more money, and let those earnings earn too.
Guard it
Protect what you have first. Chasing big returns is how most savings get lost.
A story from the book
The scribe's bargain
Young Arkad carved clay tablets for a living. One day Algamish, a rich moneylender, needed a copy of a law in a hurry. Arkad offered to work through the night if Algamish would tell him how to become wealthy. By dawn the tablet was finished, and Algamish kept his side.
One thing to try
Keep the first tenth
On your next payday, move a tenth of it to a separate account before you pay a single bill, and leave it there. Arkad says that once he stopped spending more than nine tenths, he got along just as well as before.
There's more to The Richest Man in Babylon
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. The Richest Man in Babylon comes with a Spot the Trap case to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appQuestions about The Richest Man in Babylon
What is The Richest Man in Babylon about?
Why is Bansir always broke? Bansir builds chariots in ancient Babylon and works hard all day, yet his purse is always empty. So is his friend Kobbi's, a musician. George Clason's parable begins when the two go to ask their boyhood friend Arkad, now the richest man in Babylon, how he did it.
What are the key ideas in The Richest Man in Babylon?
A part of all you earn; Control thy expenditures; Make thy gold multiply; Dabasir's clay tablets.
What's one thing to try from The Richest Man in Babylon?
On your next payday, move a tenth of it to a separate account before you pay a single bill, and leave it there. Arkad says that once he stopped spending more than nine tenths, he got along just as well as before.
Is The Richest Man in Babylon on Knotd?
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from The Richest Man in Babylon in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Spot the Trap case to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
