3.31.2008
The Richest Man in Babylon - Part Four
Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
The glory of Babylon endures. Down through the ages its
reputation comes to us as the richest of cities, its treasures
as fabulous.
Yet it was not always so. The riches of Babylon were the
results of the wisdom of its people. They first had to learn
how to become wealthy.
When the Good King, Sargon, returned to Babylon after
defeating his enemies, the Elamites, he was confronted with
a serious situation. The Royal Chancellor explained it to
the King thus:
"After many years of great prosperity brought to our people
because your majesty built the great irrigation canals and
the mighty temples of the Gods, now that these works are
completed the people seem unable to support themselves.
"The laborers are without employment. The merchants
have few customers. The farmers are unable to sell their
produce. The people have not enough gold to buy food."
"But where has all the gold gone that we spent for these
great improvements?" demanded the King.
"It has found its way, I fear," responded the Chancellor,
"into the possession of a few very rich men of our city. It
filtered through the fingers of most our people as quickly as
the goat's milk goes through the strainer. Now that the
stream of gold has ceased to flow, most of our people have
nothing to for their earnings."
The King was thoughtful for some time. Then he asked,
"Why should so few men be able to acquire all the gold?"
"Because they know how," replied the Chancellor. "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."
"But why," demanded the King, "should not all the people
learn how to accumulate gold and therefore become
themselves rich and prosperous?"
Quite possible, your excellency. But who can teach them?
Certainly not the priests, because they know naught of
money making."
"Who knows best in all our city how to become wealthy,
Chancellor?" asked the King.
"Thy question answers itself, your majesty. Who has
amassed the greatest wealth, in Babylon?"
"Well said, my able Chancellor. It is Arkad. He is richest
man in Babylon. Bring him before me on the morrow."
Upon the following day, as the King had decreed, Arkad
appeared before him, straight and sprightly despite his three
score years and ten.
"Arkad," spoke the King, "is it true thou art the richest man
in Babylon?"
"So it is reported, your majesty, and no man disputes it"
"How becamest thou so wealthy?"
"By taking advantage of opportunities available to all
citizens of our good city."
"Thou hadst nothing to start with?"
"Only a great desire for wealth. Besides this, nothing."
"Arkad," continued the King, "our city is in a very unhappy
state because a few men know how to acquire wealth and
therefore monopolize it, while the mass of our citizens lack
the knowledge of how to keep any part of the gold they
receive.
"It is my desire that Babylon be the wealthiest city in the
world. Therefore, it must be a city of many wealthy men.
Therefore, we must teach all the people how to acquire
riches. Tell me, Arkad, is there any secret to acquiring
wealth? Can it be taught?"
"It is practical, your majesty. That which one man knows
can be taught to others."
The king's eyes glowed. "Arkad, thou speaketh the words I
wish to hear. Wilt thou lend thyself to this great cause?
Wilt thou teach thy knowledge to a school for teachers,
each of whom shall teach others until there are enough
trained to teach these truths to every worthy subject in my
domain?"
Arkad bowed and said, "I am thy humble servant to
command. Whatever knowledge I possess will I gladly give
for the betterment of my fellowmen and the glory of my
King. Let your good chancellor arrange for me a class of
one hundred men and I will teach to them those seven cures
which did fatten my purse, than which there was none
leaner in all Babylon."
A fortnight later, in compliance with the King's command,
the chosen hundred assembled in the great hall of the
Temple of Learning, seated upon colorful rings in a
semicircle. Arkad sat beside a small taboret upon which
smoked a sacred lamp sending forth a strange and pleasing
odor.
"Behold the richest man in Babylon," whispered a student,
nudging his neighbor as Arkad arose. "He is but a man
even as the rest of us."
"As a dutiful subject of our great King," Arkad began, "I
stand before you in his service. Because once I was a poor
youth who did greatly desire gold, and because I found
knowledge that enabled me to acquire it, he asks that I
impart unto you my knowledge.
"I started my fortune in the humblest way. I had no
advantage not enjoyed as fully by you and every citizen in
Babylon.
"The first storehouse of my treasure was a well-purse. I
loathed its useless emptiness. I desired it be round and full,
clinking with the sound of gold. Therefore, I sought every
remedy for a lean purse. I found seven.
"To you, who are assembled before me, shall I explain the
seven cures for a lean purse which I do recommend to all
men who desire much gold. Each day for seven days will I
explain to you one of the seven remedies.
"Listen attentively to the knowledge that I will impart.
Debate it with me. Discuss it among yourselves. Learn
these lessons thoroughly, that ye may also plant in your
own purse the seed of wealth. First must each of you start
wisely to build a fortune of his own. Then wilt thou be
competent, and only then, to teach these truths to others.
"I shall teach to you in simple ways how to fatten your
purses. This is the first step leading to the temple of wealth,
and no man may climb who cannot plant his feet firmly
upon the first step.
"We shall now consider the first cure."
THE FIRST CURE
Start thy purse to fattening
Arkad addressed a thoughtful man in the second row. "My
good friend, at what craft workest thou?"
"I," replied the man, "am a scribe and carve records upon
the clay tablets."
"Even at such labor did I myself earn my first coppers.
Therefore, thou hast the same opportunity to build a
fortune."
He spoke to a florid-faced man, farther back. "Pray tell also
what dost thou to earn thy bread?"
"I," responded this man, "am a meat butcher. I do buy the
goats the farmers raise and kill them and sell the meat to
the housewives and the hides to the sandal makers."
"Because thou dost also labor and earn, thou hast every
advantage to succeed that I did possess."
In this way did Arkad proceed to find out how each man
labored to earn his living. When he had done questioning
them, he said:
"Now, my students, ye can see that there are many trades
and labors at which men may earn coins. Each of the ways
of earning is a stream of gold from which the worker doth
divert by his labors a portion to his own purse. Therefore
into the purse of each of you flows a stream of coins large
or small according to his ability. Is it not so?"
Thereupon they agreed that it was so. "Then," continued
Arkad, "if each of you desireth to build for himself a
fortune, is it not wise to start by utilizing that source of
wealth which he already has established?"
To this they agreed.
Then Arkad turned to a humble man who had declared
himself an egg merchant. "If thou select one of thy baskets
and put into it each morning ten eggs and take out from it
each evening nine eggs, what will eventually happen?"
"It will become in time overflowing."
"Why?"
"Because each day I put in one more egg than I take out."
Arkad turned to the class with a smile. "Does any man here
have a lean purse?"
First they looked amused. Then they laughed. Lastly they
waved their purses in jest.
"All right," he continued, "Now I shall tell thee the first
remedy I learned to cure a lean purse. Do exactly as I have
suggested to the egg merchant. For every ten coins thou
placest within thy purse take out for use but nine. Thy purse
will start to fatten at once and its increasing weight will
feel good in thy hand and bring satisfaction to thy soul.
"Deride not what I say because of its simplicity. Truth is
always simple. I told thee I would tell how built my
fortune. This was my beginning. I, too, carried a lean purse
and cursed it because there was naught within to satisfy my
desires. But when I began to take out from my purse but
nine parts of ten I put in, it began to fatten. So will thine.
"Now I will tell a strange truth, the reason for which I know
not. When I ceased to pay out more than nine-tenths of my
earnings, I managed to get along just as well. I was not
shorter than before. Also, ere long, did coins come to me
more easily than before. Surely it is a law of the Gods that
unto him who keepeth and spendeth not a certain part of all
his earnings, shall gold come more easily. Likewise, him
whose purse is empty does gold avoid.
"Which desirest thou the most? Is it the gratification of thy
desires of each day, a jewel, a bit of finery, better raiment,
more food; things quickly gone and forgotten? Or is it
substantial belongings, gold, lands, herds, merchandise,
income-bringing investments? The coins thou takest from
thy purse bring the first. The coins thou leavest within it
will bring the latter.
"This, my students, was the first cure I did discover for my
lean purse: 'For each ten coins I put in, to spend but nine.'
Debate this amongst yourselves. If any man proves it
untrue, tell me upon the morrow when we shall meet
again."
THE SECOND CURE
Control thy expenditures
"Some of your members, my students, have asked me this:
How can a man keep one-tenth of all he earns in his purse
when all the coins he earns are not enough for his necessary
expenses?" So did Arkad address his students upon the
second day.
"Yesterday how many of thee carried lean purses?"
"All of us," answered the class.
"Yet, thou do not all earn the same. Some earn much more
than others. Some have much larger families to support.
Yet, all purses were equally lean. Now I will tell thee an
unusual truth about men and sons of men. It is this; That
what each of us calls our 'necessary expenses' will always
grow to equal our incomes unless we protest to the
contrary.
"Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. Each
of you, together with your good families, have more desires
than your earnings can gratify. Therefore are thy earnings
spent to gratify these desires insofar as they will go. Still
thou retainest many ungratified desires.
"All men are burdened with more desires than they can
gratify. Because of my wealth thinkest thou I may gratify
every desire? 'Tis a false idea. There are limits to my time.
There are limits to my strength. There are limits to the
distance I may travel. There are limits to what I may eat.
There are limits to the zest with which I may enjoy.
"I say to you that just as weeds grow in a field wherever the
farmer leaves space for their roots, even so freely do
desires grow in men whenever there is a possibility of their
being gratified. Thy desires are a multitude and those that
thou mayest gratify are but few.
"Study thoughtfully thy accustomed habits of living. Herein
may be most often found certain accepted expenses that
may wisely be reduced or eliminated. Let thy motto be one
hundred percent of appreciated value demanded for each
coin spent.
"Therefore, engrave upon the clay each thing for which
thou desireth to spend. Select those that are necessary and
others that are possible through the expenditure of ninetenths
of thy income. Cross out the rest and consider them
but a part of that great multitude of desires that must go
unsatisfied and regret them not.
"Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the onetenth
that is fattening thy purse. Let this be thy great desire
that is being fulfilled. Keep working with thy budget, keep
adjusting it to help thee. Make it thy first assistant in
defending thy fattening purse."
Hereupon one of the students, wearing a robe of red and
gold, arose and said, "I am a free man. I believe that it is
my right to enjoy the good things of life. Therefore do I
rebel against the slavery of a budget which determines just
how much I may spend and for what. I feel it would take
much pleasure from my life and make me little more than a
pack-ass to carry a burden."
To him Arkad replied, "Who, my friend, would determine
thy budget?"
"I would make it for myself," responded the protesting one.
"In that case were a pack-ass to budget his burden would he
include therein jewels and rugs and heavy bars of gold? Not
so. He would include hay and grain and a bag of water for
the desert trail.
"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. It is to enable thee to realize
thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy
casual wishes. Like a bright light in a dark cave thy budget
shows up the leaks from thy purse and enables thee to stop
them and control thy expenditures for definite and
gratifying purposes.
"This, then, is the second cure for a lean purse. Budget thy
expenses that thou mayest have coins to pay for thy
necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments and to gratify thy
worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths
of thy earnings."
THE THIRD CURE
Make thy gold multiply
"Behold thy lean purse is fattening. Thou hast disciplined
thyself to leave therein one-tenth of all thou earneth. Thou
hast controlled thy expenditures to protect thy growing
treasure. Next, we will consider means to put thy treasure
to labor and to increase. Gold in a purse is gratifying to
own and satisfieth a miserly soul but earns nothing. The
gold we may retain from our earnings is but the start. The
earnings it will make shall build our fortunes." So spoke
Arkad upon the third day to his class.
"How therefore may we put our gold to work? My first
investment was unfortunate, for I lost all. Its tale I will
relate later. My first profitable investment was a loan I
made to a man named Aggar, a shield maker. Once each
year did he buy large shipments of bronze brought from
across the sea to use in his trade. Lacking sufficient capital
to pay the merchants, he would borrow from those who had
extra coins. He was an honorable man. His borrowing he
would repay, together with a liberal rental, as he sold his
shields.
"Each time I loaned to him I loaned back also the rental he
had paid to me. Therefore not only did my capital increase,
but its earnings likewise increased. Most gratifying was it
to have these sums return to my purse.
"I tell you, my students, a man's wealth is not in the coins
he carries in his purse; it is the income he buildeth, the
golden stream that continually floweth into his purse and
keepeth it always bulging. That is what every man desireth.
That is what thou, each one of thee desireth; an income that
continueth to come whether thou work or travel.
"Great income I have acquired. So great that I am called a
very rich man. My loans to Aggar were my first training in
profitable investment. Gaining wisdom from this
experience, I extended my loans and investments as my
capital increased. From a few sources at first, from many
sources later, flowed into my purse a golden stream of
wealth available for such wise uses as I should decide.
"Behold, from my humble earnings I had begotten a hoard
of golden slaves, each laboring and earning more gold. As
they labored for me, so their children also labored and their
children's children until great was the income from their
combined efforts.
"Gold increaseth rapidly when making reasonable earnings
as thou wilt see from the following: A farmer, when his
first son was born, took ten pieces of silver to a money
lender and asked him to keep it on rental for his son until
he became twenty years of age. This the money lender did,
and agreed the rental should be one-fourth of its value each
four years. The farmer asked, because this sum he had set
aside as belonging to his son, that the rental be add to the
principal.
"When the boy had reached the age of twenty years, the
farmer again went to the money lender to inquire about the
silver. The money lender explained that because this sum
had been increased by compound interest, the original ten
pieces of silver had now grown to thirty and one-half
pieces.
"The farmer was well pleased and because the son did not
need the coins, he left them with the money lender. When
the son became fifty years of age, the father meantime
having passed to the other world, the money lender paid the
son in settlement one hundred and sixty-seven pieces of
silver.
"Thus in fifty years had the investment multiplied itself at
rental almost seventeen times.
"This, then, is the third cure for a lean purse: to put each
coin to laboring that it may reproduce its kind even as the
flocks of the field and help bring to thee income, a stream
of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse."
THE FOURTH CURE
Guard thy treasures from loss
"Misfortune loves a shining mark. Gold in a man's purse
must be guarded with firmness, else it be lost. Thus it is
wise that we must first secure small amounts and learn to
protect them before the Gods entrust us with larger." So
spoke Arkad upon the fourth day to his class.
"Every owner of gold is tempted by opportunities whereby
it would seem that he could make large sums by its
investment in most plausible projects. Often friends and
relatives are eagerly entering such investment and urge him
to follow.
"The first sound principle of investment is security for thy
principal. Is it wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when
thy principal may be lost? I say not. The penalty of risk is
probable loss. Study carefully, before parting with thy
treasure, each assurance that it may be safely reclaimed. Be
not misled by thine own romantic desires to make wealth
rapidly.
"Before thou loan it to any man assure thyself of his ability
to repay and his reputation for doing so, that thou mayest
not unwittingly be making him a present of thy hard-earned
treasure.
"Before thou entrust it as an investment in any field
acquaint thyself with the dangers which may beset it.
"My own first investment was a tragedy to me at the time.
The guarded savings of a year I did entrust to a brickmaker,
named Azmur, who was traveling over the far seas and in
Tyre agreed to buy for me the rare jewels of the
Phoenicians. These we would sell upon his return and
divide the profits. The Phoenicians were scoundrels and
sold him bits of glass. My treasure was lost. Today, my
training would show to me at once the folly of entrusting a
brickmaker to buy jewels.
"Therefore, do I advise thee from the wisdom of my
experiences: be not too confident of thine own wisdom in
entrusting thy treasures to the possible pitfalls of
investments. Better by far to consult the wisdom of those
experienced in handling money for profit. Such advice is
freely given for the asking and may readily possess a value
equal in gold to the sum thou considerest investing. In
truth, such is its actual value if it save thee from loss.
"This, then, is the fourth cure for a lean purse, and of great
importance if it prevent thy purse from being emptied once
it has become well filled. Guard thy treasure from loss by
investing only where thy principal is safe, where it may be
reclaimed if desirable, and where thou will not fail to
collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the
advice of those experienced in the profitable handling of
gold. Let their wisdom protect thy treasure from unsafe
investments."
THE FIFTH CURE
Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment
"If a man setteth aside nine parts of his earnings upon
which to live and enjoy life, and if any part of this nine
parts he can turn into a profitable investment without
detriment to his wellbeing, then so much faster will his
treasures grow." So spake Arkad to his class at their fifth
lesson.
"All too many of our men of Babylon do raise their families
in unseemly quarters. They do pay to exacting landlords
liberal rentals for rooms where their wives have not a spot
to raise the blooms that gladden a woman's heart and their
children have no place to play their games except in the
unclean alleys.
"No man's family can fully enjoy life unless they do have a
plot of ground wherein children can play in the clean earth
and where the wife may raise not only blossoms but good
rich herbs to feed her family.
"To a man's heart it brings gladness to eat the figs from his
own trees and the grapes of his own vines. To own his own
domicile and to have it a place he is proud to care for,
putteth confidence in his heart and greater effort behind all
his endeavors. Therefore, do I recommend that every man
own the roof that sheltereth him and his.
"Nor is it beyond the ability of any well intentioned man to
own his home. Hath not our great king so widely extended
the walls of Babylon that within them much land is now
unused and may be purchased at sums most reasonable?
"Also I say to you, my students, that the money lenders
gladly consider the desires of men who seek homes and
land for their families. Readily may thou borrow to pay the
brickmaker and the builder for such commendable
purposes, if thou can show a reasonable portion of the
necessary sum which thou thyself hath provided for the
purpose.
"Then when the house be built, thou canst pay the money
lender with the same regularity as thou didst pay the
landlord. Because each payment will reduce thy
indebtedness to the money lender, a few years will satisfy
his loan.
"Then will thy heart be glad because thou wilt own in thy
own right a valuable property and thy only cost will be the
king's taxes.
"Also wilt thy good wife go more often to the river to wash
thy robes, that each time returning she may bring a goatskin
of water to pour upon the growing things.
"Thus come many blessings to the man who owneth his
own house. And greatly will it reduce his cost of living,
making available more of his earnings for pleasures and the
gratification of his desires. This, then, is the fifth cure for a
lean purse: Own thy own home"
THE SIXTH CURE
Insure a future income
"The life of every man proceedeth from his childhood to
his old age. This is the path of life and no man may deviate
from it unless the Gods call him prematurely to the world
beyond. Therefore do I say that it behooves a man to make
preparation for a suitable income in the days to come,
when he is no longer young, and to make preparations for
his family should he be no longer with them to comfort and
support them. This lesson shall instruct thee in providing a
full purse when time has made thee less able to learn." So
Arkad addressed his class upon the sixth day.
"The man who, because 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
provision that may endure safely for many years, yet will
be available when the time arrives which he has so wisely
anticipated.
"There are diverse ways by which a man may provide with
safety for his future. He may provide a hiding place and
there bury a secret treasure. Yet, no matter with what skill
it be hidden, it may nevertheless become the loot of
thieves. For this reason I recommend not this plan.
"A man may buy houses or lands for this purpose. If wisely
chosen as to their usefulness and value in the future, they
are permanent in their value and their earnings or their sale
will provide well for his purpose.
"A man may loan a small sum to the money lender and
increase it at regular periods. The rental which the money
lender adds to this will largely add to its increase. I do
know a sandal maker, named Ansan, who explained to me
not long ago that each week for eight years he had
deposited with his money lender two pieces of silver. The
money lender had but recently given him an accounting
over which he greatly rejoiced. The total of his small
deposits with their rental at the customary rate of onefourth
their value for each four years, had now become a
thousand and forty pieces of silver.
"I did gladly encourage him further by demonstrating to
him with my knowledge of the numbers that in twelve
years more, if he would keep his regular deposits of but
two pieces of silver each week, the money lender would
then owe him four thousand pieces of silver, a worthy
competence for the rest of his life.
"Surely, when such a small payment made with regularity
doth produce such profitable results, no man can afford not
to insure a treasure for his old age and the protection of his
family, no matter how prosperous his business and his
investments may be.
"I would that I might say more about this. In my mind rests
a belief that some day wise-thinking men will devise a plan
to insure against death whereby many men pay in but a
trifling sum regularly, the aggregate making a handsome
sum for the family of each member who passeth to the
beyond. This do I see as something desirable and which I
could highly recommend. But today it is not possible
because it must reach beyond the life of any man or any
partnership to operate. It must be as stable as the King's
throne. Some day do I feel that such a plan shall come to
pass and be a great blessing to many men, because even the
first small payment will make available a snug fortune for
the family of a member should he pass on.
"But because we live in our own day and not in the days
which are to come, must we take advantage of those means
and ways of accomplishing our purposes. Therefore do I
recommend to all men, that they, by wise and well thought
out methods, do provide against a lean purse in their mature
years. For a lean purse to a man no longer able to earn or to
a family without its head is a sore tragedy.
"This, then, is the sixth cure for a lean purse. Provide in
advance for the needs of thy growing age and the
protection of thy family."
THE SEVENTH CURE
Increase thy ability to earn
"This day do I speak to thee, my students, of one of the
most vital remedies for a lean purse. Yet, I will talk not of
gold but of yourselves, of the men beneath the robes of
many colors who do sit before me. I will talk to you of
those things within the minds and lives of men which do
work for or against their success." So did Arkad address his
class upon the seventh day.
"Not long ago came to me a young man seeking to borrow.
When I questioned him the cause of his necessity, he
complained that his earnings were insufficient to pay his
expenses. Thereupon I explained to him, this being the
case, he was a poor customer for the money lender, as he
possessed no surplus earning capacity to repay the loan.
" 'What you need, young man,' I told him, 'is to earn more
coins. What dost thou to increase thy capacity to earn?'
" 'All that I can do' he replied. 'Six times within two moons
have I approached my master to request my pay be
increased, but without success. No man can go oftener than
that.'
"We may smile at his simplicity, yet he did possess one of
the vital requirements to increase his earnings. Within him
was a strong desire to earn more, a proper and
commendable desire.
"Preceding accomplishment must be desire. Thy desires
must be strong and definite. General desires are but weak
longings. For a man to wish to be rich is of little purpose.
For a man to desire five pieces of gold is a tangible desire
which he can press to fulfillment. After he has backed his
desire for five pieces of gold with strength of purpose to
secure it, next he can find similar ways to obtain ten pieces
and then twenty pieces and later a thousand pieces and,
behold, he has become wealthy. In learning to secure his
one definite small desire, he hath trained himself to secure
a larger one. This is the process by which wealth is
accumulated: first in small sums, then in larger ones as a
man learns and becomes more capable.
"Desires must be simple and definite. They defeat their
own purpose should they be too many, too confusing, or
beyond a man's training to accomplish.
"As a man perfecteth himself in his calling even so doth his
ability to earn increase. In those days when I was a humble
scribe carving upon the clay for a few coppers each day, I
observed that other workers did more than I and were paid
more. Therefore, did I determine that I would be exceeded
by none. Nor did it take long for me to discover the reason
for their greater success. More interest in my work, more
concentration upon my task, more persistence in my effort,
and, behold, few men could carve more tablets in a day
than I. With reasonable promptness my increased skill was
rewarded, nor was it necessary for me to go six times to my
master to request recognition.
"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. If he is an artisan, he may seek to learn the
methods and the tools of those most skillful in the same
line. If he laboreth at the law or at healing, he may consult
and exchange knowledge with others of his calling. If he be
a merchant, he may continually seek better goods that can
be purchased at lower prices.
"Always do the affairs of man change and improve because
keen-minded men seek greater skill that they may better
serve those upon whose patronage they depend. Therefore,
I urge all men to be in the front rank of progress and not to
stand still, lest they be left behind.
"Many things come to make a man's life rich with gainful
experiences. Such things as the following, a man must do if
he respect himself:
"He must pay his debts with all the promptness within his
power, not purchasing that for which he is unable to pay.
"He must take care of his family that they may think and
speak well of him.
"He must make a will of record that, in case the Gods call
him, proper and honorable division of his property be
accomplished.
"He must have compassion upon those who are injured and
smitten by misfortune and aid them within reasonable
limits. He must do deeds of thoughtfulness to those dear to
him.
"Thus the seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to
cultivate thy own powers, to study and become wiser, to
become more skillful, to so act as to respect thyself.
Thereby shalt thou acquire confidence in thy self to achieve
thy carefully considered desires.
"These then are the seven cures for a lean purse, which, out
of the experience of a long and successful life, I do urge for
all men who desire wealth.
"There is more gold in Babylon, my students, than thou
dreamest of. There is abundance for all.
"Go thou forth and practice these truths that thou mayest
prosper and grow wealthy, as is thy right.
"Go thou forth and teach these truths that every honorable
subject of his majesty may also share liberally in the ample
wealth of our beloved city."
Part Four is Over. Next is Part Five.
Part: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, The End.
Nicholas Longo - Entrepreneur. Pioneer. CEO. Founder.
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Nicholas Longo 11:57 PM
