The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
First published in 1926

“There are a few books of basic wisdom that endure for generations. One of these books is The Richest Man In Babylon, first published in 1926.”

Seven cures for a lean purse:

1. Start thy purse to fattening.
   • 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.
   • 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.
2. Control thy expenditures
   • 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?
   • 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.
3. Make thy gold multiply.
   • I tell you, my students, a man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries in his purse; it is in 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.
   • Behold, from my humble earnings I had begotton 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.
4. Guard thy treasures from loss.
   • 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.
   • 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.
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment.
   • 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.
6. Insure a future income.
   • 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.
   • 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 provisions that may endure safely for many years, yet will be available when the time arrives which he has so wisely anticipated.
   • 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 investments may be.
7. Increase thy ability to earn.
   • As a man perfecteth himself in his calling even so doth his ability to earn increase.
   • The more wisdom we know, the more we may earn. That man who seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded.
   • 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.

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I flew from Cairns to Sydney today, and arrived at the Sydney Harbor Marrior around 1pm.
I took the 2:15pm Captain Cook Coffee Cruise which toured Sydney Harbor for about 2.5 hours, during which a took a large number of pictures.

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I took the historic train from Cairns up to Kuranda today. After a 2 hour look around Kuranda, I took the Skyrail back down towards Cairns.
Skyrail Marketing:
“The World’s Most Beautiful Rainforest Exprience. Your gondala trip takes you above the canapy of Barron Gorge National Park. These forest are part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, one of the world’s remarkable natural wonders which has been protected for all people.”
A couple of facts about the Skyway:The 7.5 killometre (4.7 mile) cableway was completed in 1995 after one year of contructionAll towers were lifted into place by helicopterThe talest tower is Tower 6 at 40.5 metres (133 feet)There are 144 gondola cabinsRead Peak Station at 545 metres (1788 feet) is the highest point on the cableway

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I took a tour bus from Cairns to Port Douglas and Mossman Gorge today.? The bus traveled North up Cook highway along many vacant beaches to Port Douglas.?? Port Douglas is a peninsula with a hill on the tip.? While the population of Cairns is 130,000 residents plus 15,000 visitors, the population of Port Douglas is about 4,000 residents plus 20,000 visitors.??I took a bus from Port Douglas to the tropical rainforest at Mossman gorge and back.? At Mossman gorge, I walked the 2.7 km trail through the rainforest, along two rivers.Back in Port Douglas, I walked up and down the Macrossan Street which is the main street a few times during the day.? Port Douglas reminds me of a miniature Annapolis.? On one side
if the peninsula there is a harbor with many docks, on the other side of the peninsula there is ?four mile beach?, on the tip of the peninsula is ?the hill?, and just down from the hill is the main
street with a large number of shops and restraints. People routinely take boats out to the Great Barrier Reef.?The water around Port Douglas is normally light blue, but today?s gale force winds (25-35 kts) have churned up the mud on the bottom and turned the water brown.? Only the postcards show the normal color of the water.?

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First day of SCUBA Open Water Diving off of ReefQuest on the Great Barrier Reef.  We dove at two different sites on Norman reef which is roughly an hour and a half away from Cairns by boat.  Cairns is pronounced “cans”. 

 

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Green Island is situated 27 km East of Cairns on The Great Barrier Reef.  Green island is a small (15 hectare) coral cay which can be effortlessly walked around in 20 minutes.
In fact its circumference is almost exactly 1.5 kilometres. It is about 300 metres wide and 650 metres long. The edges of the island are either compacted coral or rather beautiful coral/sand beaches. The interior is predominantly rainforest. 

Sunny day photos of green island

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Canberra is the capital of Australia, and provides residence for most of the Australia government.  There is not much to see other than government related attractions.  Canberra, is located between Melbourne and Sydney in a little district called the ACT.  Australia has several states including New South Wales where Sydney is located, Victoria where Melbourne is located, and Queensland where Brisbane and Cairns are located.  I suspect the ACT is an attempt not to favor any particular state, similar to Washington D.C.  I visited the Australian equivalent of the Pentagon.  The building I visited even had a central courtfard with five sides.  In the green area between the ADF buildings was a tall spire that was apparently a gift form the United States.   Our symposium is Canberra was held in the theater at the War Memorial.