The Art of Money Getting: Or, Golden Rules for Making Money
This is one of the original American self-help books, and it comes from an unlikely sage: P.T. Barnum, the circus king who knew more about making a dollar than nearly anyone in 19th-century America. Barnum wrote this guide to money after building and losing fortunes, and his advice carries the weight of experience rather than theory. He pushes the basics hard: spend less than you earn, avoid debt like poison, pick work you actually enjoy, and never, ever sacrifice your reputation for a quick buck. But what elevates the book beyond standard prosperity preaching is Barnum's irrepressible storytelling. He peppers every principle with anecdotes from his own spectacular successes and equally spectacular failures, making each lesson feel like a seat at the bar with an old businessman telling tales. The advice is Victorian in tone but startlingly modern in substance. Whether he's explaining why charity actually makes you richer or warning against get-rich-quick schemes (which he knew a thing about), Barnum writes with the same showman's instinct that made him famous. This is for anyone who wants financial wisdom wrapped in old-school charm, and for readers curious about where the self-help tradition began.
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“WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and never deferring for a single hour that which can be done just as well now. The old proverb is full of truth and meaning, "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." Many a man acquires a fortune by doing his business thoroughly, while his neighbor remains poor for life, because he only half does it. Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business. Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.””
— P. T. Barnum
“Be cautious and bold.””
— P. T. Barnum
“Money is, in some respects, like fire. It is a very excellent servant, but a terrible master.””
— P. T. Barnum
“Let your motto then always be 'Excelsior', for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.””
— P. T. Barnum
“Young men starting in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a slavish position to get ill, yet we find many a young man, hardly out of his "teens," running in debt. He meets a chum and says, "Look at this: I have got trusted for a new suit of clothes." He seems to look upon the clothes as so much given to him; well, it frequently is so, but, if he succeeds in paying and then gets trusted again, he is adopting a habit which will keep him in poverty through life. Debt robs a man of his self-respect, and makes him almost despise himself.””
— P. T. Barnum
“The foundation of success in life is good health: that is the substratum fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate a fortune very well when he is sick.””
— P. T. Barnum
“Fortune always favors the brave, and never helps a man who does not help himself.””
— P. T. Barnum
“The foundation of success in life is good health:””
— P. T. Barnum
“Dr. Franklin says "it is the eyes of others and not our own eyes which ruin us. If all the world were blind except myself I should not care for fine clothes or furniture.””
— P. T. Barnum
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Barnum, P. T.. The Art of Money Getting: Or, Golden Rules for Making Money. Lex, lex-books.com/book/the-art-of-money-getting-or-golden-rules-for-making-money-9a410c8d-6f15-451b-8348-3f7c31a5b817.Barnum, P. T. (n.d.). The Art of Money Getting: Or, Golden Rules for Making Money. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-art-of-money-getting-or-golden-rules-for-making-money-9a410c8d-6f15-451b-8348-3f7c31a5b817Barnum, P. T.. The Art of Money Getting: Or, Golden Rules for Making Money. Lex. https://lex-books.com/book/the-art-of-money-getting-or-golden-rules-for-making-money-9a410c8d-6f15-451b-8348-3f7c31a5b817.
