i’m finally reading The Richest Man In Babylon – I’d seen in recommended several times in multiple contexts over the years, and I found a cheap copy at a book fair in a shopping mall. It’s thinner than I expected; my copy is 147 pages with a fairly large typeface. The author, George S Clason, was born in 1874, and published the book in 1926. So in a couple of years it will be 100 years old. I didn’t actually know that it was a “personal finance” book. I wasn’t really expecting to enjoy the book, I thought it would be a straightforward skim read, a quaint curiosity, like watching an old movie that’s not exactly enjoyable anymore because it feels dated, but you watch it anyway just to get the cultural references, and some sense of what things were like back then.

I’m enjoying the book more than I expected, at multiple layers. I’m 27 pages in as I paused to write this. I enjoy its introduction and its use of frame stories. I’m assuming Clason was a legitimate Babylon nerd, Babylon must’ve been ‘his Roman Empire’. I enjoyed the layers to the setup. On the first page is a summary of the lessons or learnings of the books. There’s a confidence to the Foreword, which begins with “Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of each of us as individuals. This book deals with the personal successes of each of us.” I like how crisp that frame is, being clear about what the limits of the book are.

After the Foreword comes “A Historical Sketch of Babylon”, beginning with “In the pages of history there lives no city more glamorous than Babylon. Its very name conjures visions of wealth and splendor… Babylon is an outstanding example of man’s ability to achieve great objectives, using whatever means are at his disposal…” – it’s a fairly short history, but it prepares the reader with context. Then comes “The Man Who Desired Gold”, and we begin the parable with the story of a frustrated worker: “Bansir, the chariot builder of Babylon, was thoroughly discouraged. From his seat upon the low wall surrounding his property, he gazed sadly at his simple home and the open workshop in which stood a partially completed chariot.” Clason spends several evocative pages talking about Bansir’s struggles and ennui– how his wife wordlessly reminds him that he should be working so they can feed their family, how his friend Kobbi the musician pays him a visit to ask for a small loan, how dejected Bansir is to admit that he’s equally penniless. Over several pages I find myself smiling, nodding, sighing at how familiar the conversation between Bansir and Kobbi is, two seemingly decent men who have done nothing wrong, and yet are quietly struggling and hoping for better. They end with the decision to seek out Arkad, The Richest Man in Babylon, for his wisdom.

Then comes the chapter with the same title as the book, and we learn about Arkad. Here I am struck by how succinctly and deftly Clason writes for several pages about the very same arguments I see people having on Twitter to this day,about the role of luck, preparation, opportunity. Arkad tells the story of how he himself was a mere scribe, who struck a deal with Algamish, a money-lender who would become his mentor in turn, and after a couple of failures (he makes a bad investment, and then he makes a good one but spends everything), the aging Algamish would be impressed by his newfound financial savvy, and give him a share of his estate to manage and ultimately inherit.

As I’m reading this– “Algamish had returned to the room of the scribes each time because he was watching a man work his way out of darkness into light. When that man had found the light, a place awaited him. No one could fill that place until he had for himself worked out his own understanding, until he was ready for opportunity.” – this isn’t actually resonating for me so much about money, but it’s resonating for me in the ream of writing, creativity, output.

✱

in the next chapter, the King returns to Babylon after defeating his enemies to learn from his Royal Chancellor that the distribution of wealth in Babylon was severely warped. He summons Arkad, who is 70 years old. The King says, “It is my desire that Babylon be the wealthiest city in the world therefore it must be a city of many wealthy men.

A quick note, i like how there are occasional sensory etails, like “a scared lamp sending forth a strange and pleasing odor”. And how there are little details like what one student whispers to another, “behold the richest man, he is but a man even as the rest of us”

a big point about the “save 10% for yourself” seems to be that is it feels good to possess savings

interesting that everyone seems to be at their limit despite all earning different amounts and having different expenses

home ownership point is hm, idk if it was true during babylon’s time and i’m unsure about what was the situation in 1920s america