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  • The Art of Money Getting by P. T. Barnum

  • Introduction In the United States, where we have more land

  • than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in good health to make money. In this

  • comparatively new field there are so many avenues of success open, so many vocations

  • which are not crowded, that any person of either sex who is willing, at least for the

  • time being, to engage in any respectable occupation that offers, may find lucrative employment.

  • Those who really desire to attain an independence, have only to set their minds upon it, and

  • adopt the proper means, as they do in regard to any other object which they wish to accomplish,

  • and the thing is easily done. But however easy it may be found to make money, I have

  • no doubt many of my hearers will agree it is the most difficult thing in the world to

  • keep it. The road to wealth is, as Dr. Franklin truly says, "as plain as the road to the mill."

  • It consists simply in expending less than we earn; that seems to be a very simple problem.

  • Mr. Micawber, one of those happy creations of the genial Dickens, puts the case in a

  • strong light when he says that to have annual income of twenty pounds per annum, and spend

  • twenty pounds and sixpence, is to be the most miserable of men; whereas, to have an income

  • of only twenty pounds, and spend but nineteen pounds and sixpence is to be the happiest

  • of mortals. Many of my readers may say, "we understand this: this is economy, and we know

  • economy is wealth; we know we can't eat our cake and keep it also." Yet I beg to say that

  • perhaps more cases of failure arise from mistakes on this point than almost any other. The fact

  • is, many people think they understand economy when they really do not.

  • True economy is misapprehended, and people go through life without properly comprehending

  • what that principle is. One says, "I have an income of so much, and here is my neighbor

  • who has the same; yet every year he gets something ahead and I fall short; why is it? I know

  • all about economy." He thinks he does, but he does not. There are men who think that

  • economy consists in saving cheese-parings and candle-ends, in cutting off two pence

  • from the laundress' bill and doing all sorts of little, mean, dirty things. Economy is

  • not meanness. The misfortune is, also, that this class of persons let their economy apply

  • in only one direction. They fancy they are so wonderfully economical in saving a half-penny

  • where they ought to spend twopence, that they think they can afford to squander in other

  • directions. A few years ago, before kerosene oil was discovered or thought of, one might

  • stop overnight at almost any farmer's house in the agricultural districts and get a very

  • good supper, but after supper he might attempt to read in the sitting-room, and would find

  • it impossible with the inefficient light of one candle. The hostess, seeing his dilemma,

  • would say: "It is rather difficult to read here evenings; the proverb says 'you must

  • have a ship at sea in order to be able to burn two candles at once;' we never have an

  • extra candle except on extra occasions." These extra occasions occur, perhaps, twice a year.

  • In this way the good woman saves five, six, or ten dollars in that time: but the information

  • which might be derived from having the extra light would, of course, far outweigh a ton

  • of candles. But the trouble does not end here. Feeling

  • that she is so economical in tallow candies, she thinks she can afford to go frequently

  • to the village and spend twenty or thirty dollars for ribbons and furbelows, many of

  • which are not necessary. This false connote may frequently be seen in men of business,

  • and in those instances it often runs to writing-paper. You find good businessmen who save all the

  • old envelopes and scraps, and would not tear a new sheet of paper, if they could avoid

  • it, for the world. This is all very well; they may in this way save five or ten dollars

  • a year, but being so economical (only in note paper), they think they can afford to waste

  • time; to have expensive parties, and to drive their carriages. This is an illustration of

  • Dr. Franklin's "saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-hole;" "penny wise and pound foolish."

  • Punch in speaking of this "one idea" class of people says "they are like the man who

  • bought a penny herring for his family's dinner and then hired a coach and four to take it

  • home." I never knew a man to succeed by practising this kind of economy.

  • True economy consists in always making the income exceed the out-go. Wear the old clothes

  • a little longer if necessary; dispense with the new pair of gloves; mend the old dress:

  • live on plainer food if need be; so that, under all circumstances, unless some unforeseen

  • accident occurs, there will be a margin in favor of the income. A penny here, and a dollar

  • there, placed at interest, goes on accumulating, and in this way the desired result is attained.

  • It requires some training, perhaps, to accomplish this economy, but when once used to it, you

  • will find there is more satisfaction in rational saving than in irrational spending. Here is

  • a recipe which I recommend: I have found it to work an excellent cure for extravagance,

  • and especially for mistaken economy: When you find that you have no surplus at the end

  • of the year, and yet have a good income, I advise you to take a few sheets of paper and

  • form them into a book and mark down every item of expenditure. Post it every day or

  • week in two columns, one headed "necessaries" or even "comforts", and the other headed "luxuries,"

  • and you will find that the latter column will be double, treble, and frequently ten times

  • greater than the former. The real comforts of life cost but a small portion of what most

  • of us can earn. 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." It is the fear of what Mrs. Grundy may say that keeps the noses of many

  • worthy families to the grindstone. In America many persons like to repeat "we are all free

  • and equal," but it is a great mistake in more senses than one.

  • That we are born "free and equal" is a glorious truth in one sense, yet we are not all born

  • equally rich, and we never shall be. One may say; "there is a man who has an income of

  • fifty thousand dollars per annum, while I have but one thousand dollars; I knew that

  • fellow when he was poor like myself; now he is rich and thinks he is better than I am;

  • I will show him that I am as good as he is; I will go and buy a horse and buggy; no, I

  • cannot do that, but I will go and hire one and ride this afternoon on the same road that

  • he does, and thus prove to him that I am as good as he is."

  • My friend, you need not take that trouble; you can easily prove that you are "as good

  • as he is;" you have only to behave as well as he does; but you cannot make anybody believe

  • that you are rich as he is. Besides, if you put on these "airs," add waste your time and

  • spend your money, your poor wife will be obliged to scrub her fingers off at home, and buy

  • her tea two ounces at a time, and everything else in proportion, in order that you may

  • keep up "appearances," and, after all, deceive nobody. On the other hand, Mrs. Smith may

  • say that her next-door neighbor married Johnson for his money, and "everybody says so." She

  • has a nice one-thousand dollar camel's hair shawl, and she will make Smith get her an

  • imitation one, and she will sit in a pew right next to her neighbor in church, in order to

  • prove that she is her equal. My good woman, you will not get ahead in the

  • world, if your vanity and envy thus take the lead. In this country, where we believe the

  • majority ought to rule, we ignore that principle in regard to fashion, and let a handful of

  • people, calling themselves the aristocracy, run up a false standard of perfection, and

  • in endeavoring to rise to that standard, we constantly keep ourselves poor; all the time

  • digging away for the sake of outside appearances. How much wiser to be a "law unto ourselves"

  • and say, "we will regulate our out-go by our income, and lay up something for a rainy day."

  • People ought to be as sensible on the subject of money-getting as on any other subject.

  • Like causes produces like effects. You cannot accumulate a fortune by taking the road that

  • leads to poverty. It needs no prophet to tell us that those who live fully up to their means,

  • without any thought of a reverse in this life, can never attain a pecuniary independence.

  • Men and women accustomed to gratify every whim and caprice, will find it hard, at first,

  • to cut down their various unnecessary expenses, and will feel it a great self-denial to live

  • in a smaller house than they have been accustomed to, with less expensive furniture, less company,

  • less costly clothing, fewer servants, a less number of balls, parties, theater-goings,

  • carriage-ridings, pleasure excursions, cigar-smokings, liquor-drinkings, and other extravagances;

  • but, after all, if they will try the plan of laying by a "nest-egg," or, in other words,

  • a small sum of money, at interest or judiciously invested in land, they will be surprised at

  • the pleasure to be derived from constantly adding to their little "pile," as well as

  • from all the economical habits which are engendered by this course.

  • The old suit of clothes, and the old bonnet and dress, will answer for another season;

  • the Croton or spring water taste better than champagne; a cold bath and a brisk walk will

  • prove more exhilarating than a ride in the finest coach; a social chat, an evening's

  • reading in the family circle, or an hour's play of "hunt the slipper" and "blind man's

  • buff" will be far more pleasant than a fifty or five hundred dollar party, when the reflection

  • on the difference in cost is indulged in by those who begin to know the pleasures of saving.

  • Thousands of men are kept poor, and tens of thousands are made so after they have acquired

  • quite sufficient to support them well through life, in consequence of laying their plans

  • of living on too broad a platform. Some families expend twenty thousand dollars per annum,

  • and some much more, and would scarcely know how to live on less, while others secure more

  • solid enjoyment frequently on a twentieth part of that amount. Prosperity is a more

  • severe ordeal than adversity, especially sudden prosperity. "Easy come, easy go," is an old

  • and true proverb. A spirit of pride and vanity, when permitted to have full sway, is the undying

  • canker-worm which gnaws the very vitals of a man's worldly possessions, let them be small

  • or great, hundreds, or millions. Many persons, as they begin to prosper, immediately expand

  • their ideas and commence expending for luxuries, until in a short time their expenses swallow

  • up their income, and they become ruined in their ridiculous attempts to keep up appearances,

  • and make a "sensation." I know a gentleman of fortune who says, that

  • when he first began to prosper, his wife would have a new and elegant sofa. "That sofa,"

  • he says, "cost me thirty thousand dollars!" When the sofa reached the house, it was found

  • necessary to get chairs to match; then side-boards, carpets and tables "to correspond" with them,

  • and so on through the entire stock of furniture; when at last it was found that the house itself

  • was quite too small and old-fashioned for the furniture, and a new one was built to

  • correspond with the new purchases; "thus," added my friend, "summing up an outlay of

  • thirty thousand dollars, caused by that single sofa, and saddling on me, in the shape of

  • servants, equipage, and the necessary expenses attendant upon keeping up a fine 'establishment,'

  • a yearly outlay of eleven thousand dollars, and a tight pinch at that: whereas, ten years

  • ago, we lived with much more real comfort, because with much less care, on as many hundreds.

  • The truth is," he continued, "that sofa would have brought me to inevitable bankruptcy,

  • had not a most unexampled title to prosperity kept me above it, and had I not checked the

  • natural desire to 'cut a dash'." 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. He has no ambition; no incentive; no

  • force. Of course, there are those who have bad health and cannot help it: you cannot

  • expect that such persons can accumulate wealth, but there are a great many in poor health

  • who need not be so. If, then, sound health is the foundation of

  • success and happiness in life, how important it is that we should study the laws of health,

  • which is but another expression for the laws of nature! The nearer we keep to the laws

  • of nature, the nearer we are to good health, and yet how many persons there are who pay

  • no attention to natural laws, but absolutely transgress them, even against their own natural

  • inclination. We ought to know that the "sin of ignorance" is never winked at in regard

  • to the violation of nature's laws; their infraction always brings the penalty. A child may thrust

  • its finger into the flames without knowing it will burn, and so suffers, repentance,

  • even, will not stop the smart. Many of our ancestors knew very little about the principle

  • of ventilation. They did not know much about oxygen, whatever other "gin" they might have

  • been acquainted with; and consequently they built their houses with little seven-by-nine

  • feet bedrooms, and these good old pious Puritans would lock themselves up in one of these cells,

  • say their prayers and go to bed. In the morning they would devoutly return thanks for the

  • "preservation of their lives," during the night, and nobody had better reason to be

  • thankful. Probably some big crack in the window, or in the door, let in a little fresh air,

  • and thus saved them. Many persons knowingly violate the laws of

  • nature against their better impulses, for the sake of fashion. For instance, there is

  • one thing that nothing living except a vile worm ever naturally loved, and that is tobacco;

  • yet how many persons there are who deliberately train an unnatural appetite, and overcome

  • this implanted aversion for tobacco, to such a degree that they get to love it. They have

  • got hold of a poisonous, filthy weed, or rather that takes a firm hold of them. Here are married

  • men who run about spitting tobacco juice on the carpet and floors, and sometimes even

  • upon their wives besides. They do not kick their wives out of doors like drunken men,

  • but their wives, I have no doubt, often wish they were outside of the house. Another perilous

  • feature is that this artificial appetite, like jealousy, "grows by what it feeds on;"

  • when you love that which is unnatural, a stronger appetite is created for the hurtful thing

  • than the natural desire for what is harmless. There is an old proverb which says that "habit

  • is second nature," but an artificial habit is stronger than nature. Take for instance,

  • an old tobacco-chewer; his love for the "quid" is stronger than his love for any particular

  • kind of food. He can give up roast beef easier than give up the weed.

  • Young lads regret that they are not men; they would like to go to bed boys and wake up men;

  • and to accomplish this they copy the bad habits of their seniors. Little Tommy and Johnny

  • see their fathers or uncles smoke a pipe, and they say, "If I could only do that, I

  • would be a man too; uncle John has gone out and left his pipe of tobacco, let us try it."

  • They take a match and light it, and then puff away. "We will learn to smoke; do you like

  • it Johnny?" That lad dolefully replies: "Not very much; it tastes bitter;" by and by he

  • grows pale, but he persists and he soon offers up a sacrifice on the altar of fashion; but

  • the boys stick to it and persevere until at last they conquer their natural appetites

  • and become the victims of acquired tastes. I speak "by the book," for I have noticed

  • its effects on myself, having gone so far as to smoke ten or fifteen cigars a day; although

  • I have not used the weed during the last fourteen years, and never shall again. The more a man

  • smokes, the more he craves smoking; the last cigar smoked simply excites the desire for

  • another, and so on incessantly. Take the tobacco-chewer. In the morning, when

  • he gets up, he puts a quid in his mouth and keeps it there all day, never taking it out

  • except to exchange it for a fresh one, or when he is going to eat; oh! yes, at intervals

  • during the day and evening, many a chewer takes out the quid and holds it in his hand

  • long enough to take a drink, and then pop it goes back again. This simply proves that

  • the appetite for rum is even stronger than that for tobacco. When the tobacco-chewer

  • goes to your country seat and you show him your grapery and fruit house, and the beauties

  • of your garden, when you offer him some fresh, ripe fruit, and say, "My friend, I have got

  • here the most delicious apples, and pears, and peaches, and apricots; I have imported

  • them from Spain, France and Italyjust see those luscious grapes; there is nothing more

  • delicious nor more healthy than ripe fruit, so help yourself; I want to see you delight

  • yourself with these things;" he will roll the dear quid under his tongue and answer,

  • "No, I thank you, I have got tobacco in my mouth." His palate has become narcotized by

  • the noxious weed, and he has lost, in a great measure, the delicate and enviable taste for

  • fruits. This shows what expensive, useless and injurious habits men will get into. I

  • speak from experience. I have smoked until I trembled like an aspen leaf, the blood rushed

  • to my head, and I had a palpitation of the heart which I thought was heart disease, till

  • I was almost killed with fright. When I consulted my physician, he said "break off tobacco using."

  • I was not only injuring my health and spending a great deal of money, but I was setting a

  • bad example. I obeyed his counsel. No young man in the world ever looked so beautiful,

  • as he thought he did, behind a fifteen cent cigar or a meerschaum!

  • These remarks apply with tenfold force to the use of intoxicating drinks. To make money,

  • requires a clear brain. A man has got to see that two and two make four; he must lay all

  • his plans with reflection and forethought, and closely examine all the details and the

  • ins and outs of business. As no man can succeed in business unless he has a brain to enable

  • him to lay his plans, and reason to guide him in their execution, so, no matter how

  • bountifully a man may be blessed with intelligence, if the brain is muddled, and his judgment

  • warped by intoxicating drinks, it is impossible for him to carry on business successfully.

  • How many good opportunities have passed, never to return, while a man was sipping a "social

  • glass," with his friend! How many foolish bargains have been made under the influence

  • of the "nervine," which temporarily makes its victim think he is rich. How many important

  • chances have been put off until to-morrow, and then forever, because the wine cup has

  • thrown the system into a state of lassitude, neutralizing the energies so essential to

  • success in business. Verily, "wine is a mocker." The use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage,

  • is as much an infatuation, as is the smoking of opium by the Chinese, and the former is

  • quite as destructive to the success of the business man as the latter. It is an unmitigated

  • evil, utterly indefensible in the light of philosophy; religion or good sense. It is

  • the parent of nearly every other evil in our country.

  • End of introduction.

  • Chapter 1 — Don't Mistake Your Vocation The safest plan, and the one most sure of

  • success for the young man starting in life, is to select the vocation which is most congenial

  • to his tastes. Parents and guardians are often quite too negligent in regard to this. It

  • very common for a father to say, for example: "I have five boys. I will make Billy a clergyman;

  • John a lawyer; Tom a doctor, and Dick a farmer." He then goes into town and looks about to

  • see what he will do with Sammy. He returns home and says "Sammy, I see watch-making is

  • a nice genteel business; I think I will make you a goldsmith." He does this, regardless

  • of Sam's natural inclinations, or genius. We are all, no doubt, born for a wise purpose.

  • There is as much diversity in our brains as in our countenances. Some are born natural

  • mechanics, while some have great aversion to machinery. Let a dozen boys of ten years

  • get together, and you will soon observe two or three are "whittling" out some ingenious

  • device; working with locks or complicated machinery. When they were but five years old,

  • their father could find no toy to please them like a puzzle. They are natural mechanics;

  • but the other eight or nine boys have different aptitudes. I belong to the latter class; I

  • never had the slightest love for mechanism; on the contrary, I have a sort of abhorrence

  • for complicated machinery. I never had ingenuity enough to whittle a cider tap so it would

  • not leak. I never could make a pen that I could write with, or understand the principle

  • of a steam engine. If a man was to take such a boy as I was, and attempt to make a watchmaker

  • of him, the boy might, after an apprenticeship of five or seven years, be able to take apart

  • and put together a watch; but all through life he would be working up hill and seizing

  • every excuse for leaving his work and idling away his time. Watchmaking is repulsive to

  • him. Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended

  • for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed. I am glad

  • to believe that the majority of persons do find their right vocation. Yet we see many

  • who have mistaken their calling, from the blacksmith up (or down) to the clergyman.

  • You will see, for instance, that extraordinary linguist the "learned blacksmith," who ought

  • to have been a teacher of languages; and you may have seen lawyers, doctors and clergymen

  • who were better fitted by nature for the anvil or the lapstone.

  • End of chapter 1.

  • Chapter 2 — Select the Right Location After securing the right vocation, you must

  • be careful to select the proper location. You may have been cut out for a hotel keeper,

  • and they say it requires a genius to "know how to keep a hotel." You might conduct a

  • hotel like clock-work, and provide satisfactorily for five hundred guests every day; yet, if

  • you should locate your house in a small village where there is no railroad communication or

  • public travel, the location would be your ruin. It is equally important that you do

  • not commence business where there are already enough to meet all demands in the same occupation.

  • I remember a case which illustrates this subject. When I was in London in 1858, I was passing

  • down Holborn with an English friend and came to the "penny shows." They had immense cartoons

  • outside, portraying the wonderful curiosities to be seen "all for a penny." Being a little

  • in the "show line" myself, I said "let us go in here." We soon found ourselves in the

  • presence of the illustrious showman, and he proved to be the sharpest man in that line

  • I had ever met. He told us some extraordinary stories in reference to his bearded ladies,

  • his Albinos, and his Armadillos, which we could hardly believe, but thought it "better

  • to believe it than look after the proof'." He finally begged to call our attention to

  • some wax statuary, and showed us a lot of the dirtiest and filthiest wax figures imaginable.

  • They looked as if they had not seen water since the Deluge.

  • "What is there so wonderful about your statuary?" I asked.

  • "I beg you not to speak so satirically," he replied, "Sir, these are not Madam Tussaud's

  • wax figures, all covered with gilt and tinsel and imitation diamonds, and copied from engravings

  • and photographs. Mine, sir, were taken from life. Whenever you look upon one of those

  • figures, you may consider that you are looking upon the living individual."

  • Glancing casually at them, I saw one labeled "Henry VIII," and feeling a little curious

  • upon seeing that it looked like Calvin Edson, the living skeleton, I said: "Do you call

  • that 'Henry the Eighth?'" He replied, "Certainly; sir; it was taken from life at Hampton Court,

  • by special order of his majesty; on such a day."

  • He would have given the hour of the day if I had resisted; I said, "Everybody knows that

  • 'Henry VIII.' was a great stout old king, and that figure is lean and lank; what do

  • you say to that?" "Why," he replied, "you would be lean and

  • lank yourself if you sat there as long as he has."

  • There was no resisting such arguments. I said to my English friend, "Let us go out; do not

  • tell him who I am; I show the white feather; he beats me."

  • He followed us to the door, and seeing the rabble in the street, he called out, "ladies

  • and gentlemen, I beg to draw your attention to the respectable character of my visitors,"

  • pointing to us as we walked away. I called upon him a couple of days afterwards; told

  • him who I was, and said: "My friend, you are an excellent showman,

  • but you have selected a bad location." He replied, "This is true, sir; I feel that

  • all my talents are thrown away; but what can I do?"

  • "You can go to America," I replied. "You can give full play to your faculties over there;

  • you will find plenty of elbowroom in America; I will engage you for two years; after that

  • you will be able to go on your own account." He accepted my offer and remained two years

  • in my New York Museum. He then went to New Orleans and carried on a traveling show business

  • during the summer. To-day he is worth sixty thousand dollars, simply because he selected

  • the right vocation and also secured the proper location. The old proverb says, "Three removes

  • are as bad as a fire," but when a man is in the fire, it matters but little how soon or

  • how often he removes. End of chapter 2.

  • Chapter 3 — Avoid Debt 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 in, 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. Grunting and groaning and working for what he has eaten up or worn out,

  • and now when he is called upon to pay up, he has nothing to show for his money; this

  • is properly termed "working for a dead horse." I do not speak of merchants buying and selling

  • on credit, or of those who buy on credit in order to turn the purchase to a profit. The

  • old Quaker said to his farmer son, "John, never get trusted; but if thee gets trusted

  • for anything, let it be for 'manure,' because that will help thee pay it back again."

  • Mr. Beecher advised young men to get in debt if they could to a small amount in the purchase

  • of land, in the country districts. "If a young man," he says, "will only get in debt for

  • some land and then get married, these two things will keep him straight, or nothing

  • will." This may be safe to a limited extent, but getting in debt for what you eat and drink

  • and wear is to be avoided. Some families have a foolish habit of getting credit at "the

  • stores," and thus frequently purchase many things which might have been dispensed with.

  • It is all very well to say; "I have got trusted for sixty days, and if I don't have the money

  • the creditor will think nothing about it." There is no class of people in the world,

  • who have such good memories as creditors. When the sixty days run out, you will have

  • to pay. If you do not pay, you will break your promise, and probably resort to a falsehood.

  • You may make some excuse or get in debt elsewhere to pay it, but that only involves you the

  • deeper. A good-looking, lazy young fellow, was the

  • apprentice boy, Horatio. His employer said, "Horatio, did you ever see a snail?" "I—think—I—have,"

  • he drawled out. "You must have met him then, for I am sure you never overtook one," said

  • the "boss." Your creditor will meet you or overtake you and say, "Now, my young friend,

  • you agreed to pay me; you have not done it, you must give me your note." You give the

  • note on interest and it commences working against you; "it is a dead horse." The creditor

  • goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning better off than when he retired to bed, because

  • his interest has increased during the night, but you grow poorer while you are sleeping,

  • for the interest is accumulating against you. Money is in some respects like fire; it is

  • a very excellent servant but a terrible master. When you have it mastering you; when interest

  • is constantly piling up against you, it will keep you down in the worst kind of slavery.

  • But let money work for you, and you have the most devoted servant in the world. It is no

  • "eye-servant." There is nothing animate or inanimate that will work so faithfully as

  • money when placed at interest, well secured. It works night and day, and in wet or dry

  • weather. I was born in the blue-law State of Connecticut,

  • where the old Puritans had laws so rigid that it was said, "they fined a man for kissing

  • his wife on Sunday." Yet these rich old Puritans would have thousands of dollars at interest,

  • and on Saturday night would be worth a certain amount; on Sunday they would go to church

  • and perform all the duties of a Christian. On waking up on Monday morning, they would

  • find themselves considerably richer than the Saturday night previous, simply because their

  • money placed at interest had worked faithfully for them all day Sunday, according to law!

  • Do not let it work against you; if you do there is no chance for success in life so

  • far as money is concerned. John Randolph, the eccentric Virginian, once exclaimed in

  • Congress, "Mr. Speaker, I have discovered the philosopher's stone: pay as you go." This

  • is, indeed, nearer to the philosopher's stone than any alchemist has ever yet arrived.

  • End of chapter 3.

  • Chapter 4 — Persevere When a man is in the right path, he must persevere.

  • I speak of this because there are some persons who are "born tired;" naturally lazy and possessing

  • no self-reliance and no perseverance. But they can cultivate these qualities, as Davy

  • Crockett said: "This thing remember, when I am dead: Be sure

  • you are right, then go ahead." It is this go-aheaditiveness, this determination

  • not to let the "horrors" or the "blues" take possession of you, so as to make you relax

  • your energies in the struggle for independence, which you must cultivate.

  • How many have almost reached the goal of their ambition, but, losing faith in themselves,

  • have relaxed their energies, and the golden prize has been lost forever.

  • It is, no doubt, often true, as Shakespeare says:

  • "There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

  • If you hesitate, some bolder hand will stretch out before you and get the prize. Remember

  • the proverb of Solomon: "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand; but the hand

  • of the diligent maketh rich." Perseverance is sometimes but another word

  • for self-reliance. Many persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and borrow

  • trouble. They are born so. Then they ask for advice, and they will be governed by one wind

  • and blown by another, and cannot rely upon themselves. Until you can get so that you

  • can rely upon yourself, you need not expect to succeed.

  • I have known men, personally, who have met with pecuniary reverses, and absolutely committed

  • suicide, because they thought they could never overcome their misfortune. But I have known

  • others who have met more serious financial difficulties, and have bridged them over by

  • simple perseverance, aided by a firm belief that they were doing justly, and that Providence

  • would "overcome evil with good." You will see this illustrated in any sphere of life.

  • Take two generals; both understand military tactics, both educated at West Point, if you

  • please, both equally gifted; yet one, having this principle of perseverance, and the other

  • lacking it, the former will succeed in his profession, while the latter will fail. One

  • may hear the cry, "the enemy are coming, and they have got cannon."

  • "Got cannon?" says the hesitating general. "Yes."

  • "Then halt every man." He wants time to reflect; his hesitation is

  • his ruin; the enemy passes unmolested, or overwhelms him; while on the other hand, the

  • general of pluck, perseverance and self-reliance, goes into battle with a will, and, amid the

  • clash of arms, the booming of cannon, the shrieks of the wounded, and the moans of the

  • dying, you will see this man persevering, going on, cutting and slashing his way through

  • with unwavering determination, inspiring his soldiers to deeds of fortitude, valor, and

  • triumph. End of chapter 4.

  • Chapter 5 — Whatever You Do, Do It with All You 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. It

  • won't do to spend your time like Mr. Micawber, in waiting for something to "turn up." To

  • such men one of two things usually "turns up:" the poorhouse or the jail; for idleness

  • breeds bad habits, and clothes a man in rags. The poor spendthrift vagabond says to a rich

  • man: "I have discovered there is enough money in

  • the world for all of us, if it was equally divided; this must be done, and we shall all

  • be happy together." "But," was the response, "if everybody was

  • like you, it would be spent in two months, and what would you do then?"

  • "Oh! divide again; keep dividing, of course!" I was recently reading in a London paper an

  • account of a like philosophic pauper who was kicked out of a cheap boarding-house because

  • he could not pay his bill, but he had a roll of papers sticking out of his coat pocket,

  • which, upon examination, proved to be his plan for paying off the national debt of England

  • without the aid of a penny. People have got to do as Cromwell said: "not only trust in

  • Providence, but keep the powder dry." Do your part of the work, or you cannot succeed. Mahomet,

  • one night, while encamping in the desert, overheard one of his fatigued followers remark:

  • "I will loose my camel, and trust it to God!" "No, no, not so," said the prophet, "tie thy

  • camel, and trust it to God!" Do all you can for yourselves, and then trust to Providence,

  • or luck, or whatever you please to call it, for the rest.

  • DEPEND UPON YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXERTIONS. The eye of the employer is often worth more

  • than the hands of a dozen employees. In the nature of things, an agent cannot be so faithful

  • to his employer as to himself. Many who are employers will call to mind instances where

  • the best employees have overlooked important points which could not have escaped their

  • own observation as a proprietor. No man has a right to expect to succeed in life unless

  • he understands his business, and nobody can understand his business thoroughly unless

  • he learns it by personal application and experience. A man may be a manufacturer: he has got to

  • learn the many details of his business personally; he will learn something every day, and he

  • will find he will make mistakes nearly every day. And these very mistakes are helps to

  • him in the way of experiences if he but heeds them. He will be like the Yankee tin-peddler,

  • who, having been cheated as to quality in the purchase of his merchandise, said: "All

  • right, there's a little information to be gained every day; I will never be cheated

  • in that way again." Thus a man buys his experience, and it is the best kind if not purchased at

  • too dear a rate. I hold that every man should, like Cuvier,

  • the French naturalist, thoroughly know his business. So proficient was he in the study

  • of natural history, that you might bring to him the bone, or even a section of a bone

  • of an animal which he had never seen described, and, reasoning from analogy, he would be able

  • to draw a picture of the object from which the bone had been taken. On one occasion his

  • students attempted to deceive him. They rolled one of their number in a cow skin and put

  • him under the professor's table as a new specimen. When the philosopher came into the room, some

  • of the students asked him what animal it was. Suddenly the animal said "I am the devil and

  • I am going to eat you." It was but natural that Cuvier should desire to classify this

  • creature, and examining it intently, he said: "Divided hoof; graminivorous! It cannot be

  • done." He knew that an animal with a split hoof must

  • live upon grass and grain, or other kind of vegetation, and would not be inclined to eat

  • flesh, dead or alive, so he considered himself perfectly safe. The possession of a perfect

  • knowledge of your business is an absolute necessity in order to insure success.

  • Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one, all apparent paradox: "Be cautious and

  • bold." This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but it is not, and there is great wisdom

  • in the maxim. It is, in fact, a condensed statement of what I have already said. It

  • is to say; "you must exercise your caution in laying your plans, but be bold in carrying

  • them out." A man who is all caution, will never dare to take hold and be successful;

  • and a man who is all boldness, is merely reckless, and must eventually fail. A man may go on

  • "'change" and make fifty, or one hundred thousand dollars in speculating in stocks, at a single

  • operation. But if he has simple boldness without caution, it is mere chance, and what he gains

  • to-day he will lose to-morrow. You must have both the caution and the boldness, to insure

  • success. The Rothschilds have another maxim: "Never

  • have anything to do with an unlucky man or place." That is to say, never have anything

  • to do with a man or place which never succeeds, because, although a man may appear to be honest

  • and intelligent, yet if he tries this or that thing and always fails, it is on account of

  • some fault or infirmity that you may not be able to discover but nevertheless which must

  • exist. There is no such thing in the world as luck.

  • There never was a man who could go out in the morning and find a purse full of gold

  • in the street to-day, and another to-morrow, and so on, day after day: He may do so once

  • in his life; but so far as mere luck is concerned, he is as liable to lose it as to find it.

  • "Like causes produce like effects." If a man adopts the proper methods to be successful,

  • "luck" will not prevent him. If he does not succeed, there are reasons for it, although,

  • perhaps, he may not be able to see them. End of chapter 5.

  • Chapter 6 — Use the Best Tools Men in engaging employees should be careful

  • to get the best. Understand, you cannot have too good tools to work with, and there is

  • no tool you should be so particular about as living tools. If you get a good one, it

  • is better to keep him, than keep changing. He learns something every day; and you are

  • benefited by the experience he acquires. He is worth more to you this year than last,

  • and he is the last man to part with, provided his habits are good, and he continues faithful.

  • If, as he gets more valuable, he demands an exorbitant increase of salary; on the supposition

  • that you can't do without him, let him go. Whenever I have such an employee, I always

  • discharge him; first, to convince him that his place may be supplied, and second, because

  • he is good for nothing if he thinks he is invaluable and cannot be spared.

  • But I would keep him, if possible, in order to profit from the result of his experience.

  • An important element in an employee is the brain. You can see bills up, "Hands Wanted,"

  • but "hands" are not worth a great deal without "heads." Mr. Beecher illustrates this, in

  • this wise: An employee offers his services by saving,

  • "I have a pair of hands and one of my fingers thinks." "That is very good," says the employer.

  • Another man comes along, and says "he has two fingers that think." "Ah! that is better."

  • But a third calls in and says that "all his fingers and thumbs think." That is better

  • still. Finally another steps in and says, "I have a brain that thinks; I think all over;

  • I am a thinking as well as a working man!" "You are the man I want," says the delighted

  • employer. Those men who have brains and experience are

  • therefore the most valuable and not to be readily parted with; it is better for them,

  • as well as yourself, to keep them, at reasonable advances in their salaries from time to time.

  • End of chapter 6.

  • Chapter 7 — Don't Get above Your Business Young men after they get through their business

  • training, or apprenticeship, instead of pursuing their avocation and rising in their business,

  • will often lie about doing nothing. They say; "I have learned my business, but I am not

  • going to be a hireling; what is the object of learning my trade or profession, unless

  • I establish myself?'" "Have you capital to start with?"

  • "No, but I am going to have it." "How are you going to get it?"

  • "I will tell you confidentially; I have a wealthy old aunt, and she will die pretty

  • soon; but if she does not, I expect to find some rich old man who will lend me a few thousands

  • to give me a start. If I only get the money to start with I will do well."

  • There is no greater mistake than when a young man believes he will succeed with borrowed

  • money. Why? Because every man's experience coincides with that of Mr. Astor, who said,

  • "it was more difficult for him to accumulate his first thousand dollars, than all the succeeding

  • millions that made up his colossal fortune." Money is good for nothing unless you know

  • the value of it by experience. Give a boy twenty thousand dollars and put him in business,

  • and the chances are that he will lose every dollar of it before he is a year older. Like

  • buying a ticket in the lottery; and drawing a prize, it is "easy come, easy go." He does

  • not know the value of it; nothing is worth anything, unless it costs effort. Without

  • self-denial and economy; patience and perseverance, and commencing with capital which you have

  • not earned, you are not sure to succeed in accumulating. Young men, instead of "waiting

  • for dead men's shoes," should be up and doing, for there is no class of persons who are so

  • unaccommodating in regard to dying as these rich old people, and it is fortunate for the

  • expectant heirs that it is so. Nine out of ten of the rich men of our country to-day,

  • started out in life as poor boys, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy and

  • good habits. They went on gradually, made their own money and saved it; and this is

  • the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard started life as a poor cabin boy, and

  • died worth nine million dollars. A.T. Stewart was a poor Irish boy; and he paid taxes on

  • a million and a half dollars of income, per year. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer boy,

  • and died worth twenty millions. Cornelius Vanderbilt began life rowing a boat from Staten

  • Island to New York; he presented our government with a steamship worth a million of dollars,

  • and died worth fifty million. "There is no royal road to learning," says the proverb,

  • and I may say it is equally true, "there is no royal road to wealth." But I think there

  • is a royal road to both. The road to learning is a royal one; the road that enables the

  • student to expand his intellect and add every day to his stock of knowledge, until, in the

  • pleasant process of intellectual growth, he is able to solve the most profound problems,

  • to count the stars, to analyze every atom of the globe, and to measure the firmament

  • this is a regal highway, and it is the only road worth traveling.

  • So in regard to wealth. Go on in confidence, study the rules, and above all things, study

  • human nature; for "the proper study of mankind is man," and you will find that while expanding

  • the intellect and the muscles, your enlarged experience will enable you every day to accumulate

  • more and more principal, which will increase itself by interest and otherwise, until you

  • arrive at a state of independence. You will find, as a general thing, that the poor boys

  • get rich and the rich boys get poor. For instance, a rich man at his decease, leaves a large

  • estate to his family. His eldest sons, who have helped him earn his fortune, know by

  • experience the value of money; and they take their inheritance and add to it. The separate

  • portions of the young children are placed at interest, and the little fellows are patted

  • on the head, and told a dozen times a day, "you are rich; you will never have to work,

  • you can always have whatever you wish, for you were born with a golden spoon in your

  • mouth." The young heir soon finds out what that means; he has the finest dresses and

  • playthings; he is crammed with sugar candies and almost "killed with kindness," and he

  • passes from school to school, petted and flattered. He becomes arrogant and self-conceited, abuses

  • his teachers, and carries everything with a high hand. He knows nothing of the real

  • value of money, having never earned any; but he knows all about the "golden spoon" business.

  • At college, he invites his poor fellow-students to his room, where he "wines and dines" them.

  • He is cajoled and caressed, and called a glorious good follow, because he is so lavish of his

  • money. He gives his game suppers, drives his fast horses, invites his chums to fetes and

  • parties, determined to have lots of "good times." He spends the night in frolics and

  • debauchery, and leads off his companions with the familiar song, "we won't go home till

  • morning." He gets them to join him in pulling down signs, taking gates from their hinges

  • and throwing them into back yards and horse-ponds. If the police arrest them, he knocks them

  • down, is taken to the lockup, and joyfully foots the bills.

  • "Ah! my boys," he cries, "what is the use of being rich, if you can't enjoy yourself?"

  • He might more truly say, "if you can't make a fool of yourself;" but he is "fast," hates

  • slow things, and doesn't "see it." Young men loaded down with other people's money are

  • almost sure to lose all they inherit, and they acquire all sorts of bad habits which,

  • in the majority of cases, ruin them in health, purse and character. In this country, one

  • generation follows another, and the poor of to-day are rich in the next generation, or

  • the third. Their experience leads them on, and they become rich, and they leave vast

  • riches to their young children. These children, having been reared in luxury, are inexperienced

  • and get poor; and after long experience another generation comes on and gathers up riches

  • again in turn. And thus "history repeats itself," and happy is he who by listening to the experience

  • of others avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

  • "In England, the business makes the man." If a man in that country is a mechanic or

  • working-man, he is not recognized as a gentleman. On the occasion of my first appearance before

  • Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington asked me what sphere in life General Tom Thumb's

  • parents were in. "His father is a carpenter," I replied.

  • "Oh! I had heard he was a gentleman," was the response of His Grace.

  • In this Republican country, the man makes the business. No matter whether he is a blacksmith,

  • a shoemaker, a farmer, banker or lawyer, so long as his business is legitimate, he may

  • be a gentleman. So any "legitimate" business is a double blessing it helps the man engaged

  • in it, and also helps others. The Farmer supports his own family, but he also benefits the merchant

  • or mechanic who needs the products of his farm. The tailor not only makes a living by

  • his trade, but he also benefits the farmer, the clergyman and others who cannot make their

  • own clothing. But all these classes often may be gentlemen.

  • The great ambition should be to excel all others engaged in the same occupation.

  • The college-student who was about graduating, said to an old lawyer:

  • "I have not yet decided which profession I will follow. Is your profession full?"

  • "The basement is much crowded, but there is plenty of room up-stairs," was the witty and

  • truthful reply. No profession, trade, or calling, is overcrowded

  • in the upper story. Wherever you find the most honest and intelligent merchant or banker,

  • or the best lawyer, the best doctor, the best clergyman, the best shoemaker, carpenter,

  • or anything else, that man is most sought for, and has always enough to do. As a nation,

  • Americans are too superficialthey are striving to get rich quickly, and do not generally

  • do their business as substantially and thoroughly as they should, but whoever excels all others

  • in his own line, if his habits are good and his integrity undoubted, cannot fail to secure

  • abundant patronage, and the wealth that naturally follows. Let your motto then always be "Excelsior,"

  • for by living up to it there is no such word as fail.

  • End of chapter 7.

  • Chapter 8 — Learn Something Useful Every man should make his son or daughter

  • learn some useful trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortunes of

  • being rich to-day and poor tomorrow they may have something tangible to fall back upon.

  • This provision might save many persons from misery, who by some unexpected turn of fortune

  • have lost all their means. End of chapter 8.

  • Chapter 9 — Let Hope Predominate, but Be Not Too Visionary

  • Many persons are always kept poor, because they are too visionary. Every project looks

  • to them like certain success, and therefore they keep changing from one business to another,

  • always in hot water, always "under the harrow." The plan of "counting the chickens before

  • they are hatched" is an error of ancient date, but it does not seem to improve by age.

  • End of chapter 9.

  • Chapter 10 — Do Not Scatter Your Powers Engage in one kind of business only, and stick

  • to it faithfully until you succeed, or until your experience shows that you should abandon

  • it. A constant hammering on one nail will generally drive it home at last, so that it

  • can be clinched. When a man's undivided attention is centered on one object, his mind will constantly

  • be suggesting improvements of value, which would escape him if his brain was occupied

  • by a dozen different subjects at once. Many a fortune has slipped through a man's fingers

  • because he was engaged in too many occupations at a time. There is good sense in the old

  • caution against having too many irons in the fire at once.

  • End of chapter 10.

  • Chapter 11 — Be Systematic Men should be systematic in their business.

  • A person who does business by rule, having a time and place for everything, doing his

  • work promptly, will accomplish twice as much and with half the trouble of him who does

  • it carelessly and slipshod. By introducing system into all your transactions, doing one

  • thing at a time, always meeting appointments with punctuality, you find leisure for pastime

  • and recreation; whereas the man who only half does one thing, and then turns to something

  • else, and half does that, will have his business at loose ends, and will never know when his

  • day's work is done, for it never will be done. Of course, there is a limit to all these rules.

  • We must try to preserve the happy medium, for there is such a thing as being too systematic.

  • There are men and women, for instance, who put away things so carefully that they can

  • never find them again. It is too much like the "red tape" formality at Washington, and

  • Mr. Dickens' "Circumlocution Office,"—all theory and no result.

  • When the "Astor House" was first started in New York city, it was undoubtedly the best

  • hotel in the country. The proprietors had learned a good deal in Europe regarding hotels,

  • and the landlords were proud of the rigid system which pervaded every department of

  • their great establishment. When twelve o'clock at night had arrived, and there were a number

  • of guests around, one of the proprietors would say, "Touch that bell, John;" and in two minutes

  • sixty servants, with a water-bucket in each hand, would present themselves in the hall.

  • "This," said the landlord, addressing his guests, "is our fire-bell; it will show you

  • we are quite safe here; we do everything systematically." This was before the Croton water was introduced

  • into the city. But they sometimes carried their system too far. On one occasion, when

  • the hotel was thronged with guests, one of the waiters was suddenly indisposed, and although

  • there were fifty waiters in the hotel, the landlord thought he must have his full complement,

  • or his "system" would be interfered with. Just before dinner-time, he rushed down stairs

  • and said, "There must be another waiter, I am one waiter short, what can I do?" He happened

  • to see "Boots," the Irishman. "Pat," said he, "wash your hands and face; take that white

  • apron and come into the dining-room in five minutes." Presently Pat appeared as required,

  • and the proprietor said: "Now Pat, you must stand behind these two chairs, and wait on

  • the gentlemen who will occupy them; did you ever act as a waiter?"

  • "I know all about it, sure, but I never did it."

  • Like the Irish pilot, on one occasion when the captain, thinking he was considerably

  • out of his course, asked, "Are you certain you understand what you are doing?"

  • Pat replied, "Sure and I knows every rock in the channel."

  • That moment, "bang" thumped the vessel against a rock.

  • "Ah! be-jabers, and that is one of 'em," continued the pilot. But to return to the dining-room.

  • "Pat," said the landlord, "here we do everything systematically. You must first give the gentlemen

  • each a plate of soup, and when they finish that, ask them what they will have next."

  • Pat replied, "Ah! an' I understand parfectly the vartues of shystem."

  • Very soon in came the guests. The plates of soup were placed before them. One of Pat's

  • two gentlemen ate his soup; the other did not care for it. He said: "Waiter, take this

  • plate away and bring me some fish." Pat looked at the untasted plate of soup, and remembering

  • the instructions of the landlord in regard to "system," replied: "Not till ye have ate

  • yer supe!" Of course that was carrying "system" entirely

  • too far. End of chapter 11.

  • Chapter 12 — Read the Newspapers Always take a trustworthy newspaper, and thus

  • keep thoroughly posted in regard to the transactions of the world. He who is without a newspaper

  • is cut off from his species. In these days of telegraphs and steam, many important inventions

  • and improvements in every branch of trade are being made, and he who don't consult the

  • newspapers will soon find himself and his business left out in the cold.

  • End of chapter 12.

  • Chapter 13 — Beware of "Outside Operations" We sometimes see men who have obtained fortunes,

  • suddenly become poor. In many cases, this arises from intemperance, and often from gaming,

  • and other bad habits. Frequently it occurs because a man has been engaged in "outside

  • operations," of some sort. When he gets rich in his legitimate business, he is told of

  • a grand speculation where he can make a score of thousands. He is constantly flattered by

  • his friends, who tell him that he is born lucky, that everything he touches turns into

  • gold. Now if he forgets that his economical habits, his rectitude of conduct and a personal

  • attention to a business which he understood, caused his success in life, he will listen

  • to the siren voices. He says: "I will put in twenty thousand dollars. I

  • have been lucky, and my good luck will soon bring me back sixty thousand dollars."

  • A few days elapse and it is discovered he must put in ten thousand dollars more: soon

  • after he is told "it is all right," but certain matters not foreseen, require an advance of

  • twenty thousand dollars more, which will bring him a rich harvest; but before the time comes

  • around to realize, the bubble bursts, he loses all he is possessed of, and then he learns

  • what he ought to have known at the first, that however successful a man may be in his

  • own business, if he turns from that and engages ill a business which he don't understand,

  • he is like Samson when shorn of his locks his strength has departed, and he becomes

  • like other men. If a man has plenty of money, he ought to

  • invest something in everything that appears to promise success, and that will probably

  • benefit mankind; but let the sums thus invested be moderate in amount, and never let a man

  • foolishly jeopardize a fortune that he has earned in a legitimate way, by investing it

  • in things in which he has had no experience. End of chapter 13.

  • Chapter 14 — Don't Indorse without Security I hold that no man ought ever to indorse a

  • note or become security, for any man, be it his father or brother, to a greater extent

  • than he can afford to lose and care nothing about, without taking good security. Here

  • is a man that is worth twenty thousand dollars; he is doing a thriving manufacturing or mercantile

  • trade; you are retired and living on your money; he comes to you and says:

  • "You are aware that I am worth twenty thousand dollars, and don't owe a dollar; if I had

  • five thousand dollars in cash, I could purchase a particular lot of goods and double my money

  • in a couple of months; will you indorse my note for that amount?"

  • You reflect that he is worth twenty thousand dollars, and you incur no risk by endorsing

  • his note; you like to accommodate him, and you lend your name without taking the precaution

  • of getting security. Shortly after, he shows you the note with your endorsement canceled,

  • and tells you, probably truly, "that he made the profit that he expected by the operation,"

  • you reflect that you have done a good action, and the thought makes you feel happy. By and

  • by, the same thing occurs again and you do it again; you have already fixed the impression

  • in your mind that it is perfectly safe to indorse his notes without security.

  • But the trouble is, this man is getting money too easily. He has only to take your note

  • to the bank, get it discounted and take the cash. He gets money for the time being without

  • effort; without inconvenience to himself. Now mark the result. He sees a chance for

  • speculation outside of his business. A temporary investment of only $10,000 is required. It

  • is sure to come back before a note at the bank would be due. He places a note for that

  • amount before you. You sign it almost mechanically. Being firmly convinced that your friend is

  • responsible and trustworthy; you indorse his notes as a "matter of course."

  • Unfortunately the speculation does not come to a head quite so soon as was expected, and

  • another $10,000 note must be discounted to take up the last one when due. Before this

  • note matures the speculation has proved an utter failure and all the money is lost. Does

  • the loser tell his friend, the endorser, that he has lost half of his fortune? Not at all.

  • He don't even mention that he has speculated at all. But he has got excited; the spirit

  • of speculation has seized him; he sees others making large sums in this way (we seldom hear

  • of the losers), and, like other speculators, he "looks for his money where he loses it."

  • He tries again. endorsing notes has become chronic with you, and at every loss he gets

  • your signature for whatever amount he wants. Finally you discover your friend has lost

  • all of his property and all of yours. You are overwhelmed with astonishment and grief,

  • and you say "it is a hard thing; my friend here has ruined me," but, you should add,

  • "I have also ruined him." If you had said in the first place, "I will accommodate you,

  • but I never indorse without taking ample security," he could not have gone beyond the length of

  • his tether, and he would never have been tempted away from his legitimate business. It is a

  • very dangerous thing, therefore, at any time, to let people get possession of money too

  • easily; it tempts them to hazardous speculations, if nothing more. Solomon truly said "he that

  • hateth suretiship is sure." So with the young man starting in business;

  • let him understand the value of money by earning it. When he does understand its value, then

  • grease the wheels a little in helping him to start business, but remember, men who get

  • money with too great facility cannot usually succeed. You must get the first dollars by

  • hard knocks, and at some sacrifice, in order to appreciate the value of those dollars.

  • End of chapter 14.

  • Chapter 15 — Advertise Your Business We all depend, more or less, upon the public

  • for our support. We all trade with the publiclawyers, doctors, shoemakers, artists, blacksmiths,

  • showmen, opera stagers, railroad presidents, and college professors. Those who deal with

  • the public must be careful that their goods are valuable; that they are genuine, and will

  • give satisfaction. When you get an article which you know is going to please your customers,

  • and that when they have tried it, they will feel they have got their money's worth, then

  • let the fact be known that you have got it. Be careful to advertise it in some shape or

  • other because it is evident that if a man has ever so good an article for sale, and

  • nobody knows it, it will bring him no return. In a country like this, where nearly everybody

  • reads, and where newspapers are issued and circulated in editions of five thousand to

  • two hundred thousand, it would be very unwise if this channel was not taken advantage of

  • to reach the public in advertising. A newspaper goes into the family, and is read by wife

  • and children, as well as the head of the home; hence hundreds and thousands of people may

  • read your advertisement, while you are attending to your routine business. Many, perhaps, read

  • it while you are asleep. The whole philosophy of life is, first "sow," then "reap." That

  • is the way the farmer does; he plants his potatoes and corn, and sows his grain, and

  • then goes about something else, and the time comes when he reaps. But he never reaps first

  • and sows afterwards. This principle applies to all kinds of business, and to nothing more

  • eminently than to advertising. If a man has a genuine article, there is no way in which

  • he can reap more advantageously than by "sowing" to the public in this way. He must, of course,

  • have a really good article, and one which will please his customers; anything spurious

  • will not succeed permanently because the public is wiser than many imagine. Men and women

  • are selfish, and we all prefer purchasing where we can get the most for our money and

  • we try to find out where we can most surely do so.

  • You may advertise a spurious article, and induce many people to call and buy it once,

  • but they will denounce you as an impostor and swindler, and your business will gradually

  • die out and leave you poor. This is right. Few people can safely depend upon chance custom.

  • You all need to have your customers return and purchase again. A man said to me, "I have

  • tried advertising and did not succeed; yet I have a good article."

  • I replied, "My friend, there may be exceptions to a general rule. But how do you advertise?"

  • "I put it in a weekly newspaper three times, and paid a dollar and a half for it." I replied:

  • "Sir, advertising is like learning—'a little is a dangerous thing!'"

  • A French writer says that "The reader of a newspaper does not see the first mention of

  • an ordinary advertisement; the second insertion he sees, but does not read; the third insertion

  • he reads; the fourth insertion, he looks at the price; the fifth insertion, he speaks

  • of it to his wife; the sixth insertion, he is ready to purchase, and the seventh insertion,

  • he purchases." Your object in advertising is to make the public understand what you

  • have got to sell, and if you have not the pluck to keep advertising, until you have

  • imparted that information, all the money you have spent is lost. You are like the fellow

  • who told the gentleman if he would give him ten cents it would save him a dollar. "How

  • can I help you so much with so small a sum?" asked the gentleman in surprise. "I started

  • out this morning (hiccuped the fellow) with the full determination to get drunk, and I

  • have spent my only dollar to accomplish the object, and it has not quite done it. Ten

  • cents worth more of whiskey would just do it, and in this manner I should save the dollar

  • already expended." So a man who advertises at all must keep it

  • up until the public know who and what he is, and what his business is, or else the money

  • invested in advertising is lost. Some men have a peculiar genius for writing

  • a striking advertisement, one that will arrest the attention of the reader at first sight.

  • This fact, of course, gives the advertiser a great advantage. Sometimes a man makes himself

  • popular by an unique sign or a curious display in his window, recently I observed a swing

  • sign extending over the sidewalk in front of a store, on which was the inscription in

  • plain letters, End of chapter 15.

  • Chapter 16 — "Don't Read the Other Side" Of course I did, and so did everybody else,

  • and I learned that the man had made all independence by first attracting the public to his business

  • in that way and then using his customers well afterwards.

  • Genin, the hatter, bought the first Jenny Lind ticket at auction for two hundred and

  • twenty-five dollars, because he knew it would be a good advertisement for him. "Who is the

  • bidder?" said the auctioneer, as he knocked down that ticket at Castle Garden. "Genin,

  • the hatter," was the response. Here were thousands of people from the Fifth avenue, and from

  • distant cities in the highest stations in life. "Who is 'Genin,' the hatter?" they exclaimed.

  • They had never heard of him before. The next morning the newspapers and telegraph had circulated

  • the facts from Maine to Texas, and from five to ten millions off people had read that the

  • tickets sold at auction For Jenny Lind's first concert amounted to about twenty thousand

  • dollars, and that a single ticket was sold at two hundred and twenty-five dollars, to

  • "Genin, the hatter." Men throughout the country involuntarily took off their hats to see if

  • they had a "Genin" hat on their heads. At a town in Iowa it was found that in the crowd

  • around the post office, there was one man who had a "Genin" hat, and he showed it in

  • triumph, although it was worn out and not worth two cents. "Why," one man exclaimed,

  • "you have a real 'Genin' hat; what a lucky fellow you are." Another man said, "Hang on

  • to that hat, it will be a valuable heir-loom in your family." Still another man in the

  • crowd who seemed to envy the possessor of this good fortune, said, "Come, give us all

  • a chance; put it up at auction!" He did so, and it was sold as a keepsake for nine dollars

  • and fifty cents! What was the consequence to Mr. Genin? He sold ten thousand extra hats

  • per annum, the first six years. Nine-tenths of the purchasers bought of him, probably,

  • out of curiosity, and many of them, finding that he gave them an equivalent for their

  • money, became his regular customers. This novel advertisement first struck their attention,

  • and then, as he made a good article, they came again.

  • Now I don't say that everybody should advertise as Mr. Genin did. But I say if a man has got

  • goods for sale, and he don't advertise them in some way, the chances are that some day

  • the sheriff will do it for him. Nor do I say that everybody must advertise in a newspaper,

  • or indeed use "printers' ink" at all. On the contrary, although that article is indispensable

  • in the majority of cases, yet doctors and clergymen, and sometimes lawyers and some

  • others, can more effectually reach the public in some other manner. But it is obvious, they

  • must be known in some way, else how could they be supported?

  • End of chapter 16.

  • Chapter 17 — Be Polite and Kind to Your Customers

  • Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business. Large stores, gilt

  • signs, flaming advertisements, will all prove unavailing if you or your employees treat

  • your patrons abruptly. The truth is, the more kind and liberal a man is, the more generous

  • will be the patronage bestowed upon him. "Like begets like." The man who gives the greatest

  • amount of goods of a corresponding quality for the least sum (still reserving for himself

  • a profit) will generally succeed best in the long run. This brings us to the golden rule,

  • "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them" and they will do better by

  • you than if you always treated them as if you wanted to get the most you could out of

  • them for the least return. Men who drive sharp bargains with their customers, acting as if

  • they never expected to see them again, will not be mistaken. They will never see them

  • again as customers. People don't like to pay and get kicked also.

  • One of the ushers in my Museum once told me he intended to whip a man who was in the lecture-room

  • as soon as he came out. "What for?" I inquired.

  • "Because he said I was no gentleman," replied the usher.

  • "Never mind," I replied, "he pays for that, and you will not convince him you are a gentleman

  • by whipping him. I cannot afford to lose a customer. If you whip him, he will never visit

  • the Museum again, and he will induce friends to go with him to other places of amusement

  • instead of this, and thus you see, I should be a serious loser."

  • "But he insulted me," muttered the usher. "Exactly," I replied, "and if he owned the

  • Museum, and you had paid him for the privilege of visiting it, and he had then insulted you,

  • there might be some reason in your resenting it, but in this instance he is the man who

  • pays, while we receive, and you must, therefore, put up with his bad manners."

  • My usher laughingly remarked, that this was undoubtedly the true policy; but he added

  • that he should not object to an increase of salary if he was expected to be abused in

  • order to promote my interest. End of chapter 17.

  • Chapter 18 — Be Charitable Of course men should be charitable, because

  • it is a duty and a pleasure. But even as a matter of policy, if you possess no higher

  • incentive, you will find that the liberal man will command patronage, while the sordid,

  • uncharitable miser will be avoided. Solomon says: "There is that scattereth and

  • yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than meet, but it tendeth to poverty."

  • Of course the only true charity is that which is from the heart.

  • The best kind of charity is to help those who are willing to help themselves. Promiscuous

  • almsgiving, without inquiring into the worthiness of the applicant, is bad in every sense. But

  • to search out and quietly assist those who are struggling for themselves, is the kind

  • that "scattereth and yet increaseth." But don't fall into the idea that some persons

  • practice, of giving a prayer instead of a potato, and a benediction instead of bread,

  • to the hungry. It is easier to make Christians with full stomachs than empty.

  • End of chapter 18.

  • Chapter 19 — Don't Blab Some men have a foolish habit of telling their

  • business secrets. If they make money they like to tell their neighbors how it was done.

  • Nothing is gained by this, and ofttimes much is lost. Say nothing about your profits, your

  • hopes, your expectations, your intentions. And this should apply to letters as well as

  • to conversation. Goethe makes Mephistophilles say: "Never write a letter nor destroy one."

  • Business men must write letters, but they should be careful what they put in them. If

  • you are losing money, be specially cautious and not tell of it, or you will lose your

  • reputation. End of chapter 19.

  • Chapter 20 — Preserve Your Integrity It is more precious than diamonds or rubies.

  • The old miser said to his sons: "Get money; get it honestly if you can, but get money:"

  • This advice was not only atrociously wicked, but it was the very essence of stupidity:

  • It was as much as to say, "if you find it difficult to obtain money honestly, you can

  • easily get it dishonestly. Get it in that way." Poor fool! Not to know that the most

  • difficult thing in life is to make money dishonestly! Not to know that our prisons are full of men

  • who attempted to follow this advice; not to understand that no man can be dishonest, without

  • soon being found out, and that when his lack of principle is discovered, nearly every avenue

  • to success is closed against him forever. The public very properly shun all whose integrity

  • is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man may be, none of us

  • dare to deal with him if we suspect "false weights and measures." Strict honesty, not

  • only lies at the foundation of all success in life (financially), but in every other

  • respect. Uncompromising integrity of character is invaluable. It secures to its possessor

  • a peace and joy which cannot be attained without itwhich no amount of money, or houses and

  • lands can purchase. A man who is known to be strictly honest, may be ever so poor, but

  • he has the purses of all the community at his disposalfor all know that if he promises

  • to return what he borrows, he will never disappoint them. As a mere matter of selfishness, therefore,

  • if a man had no higher motive for being honest, all will find that the maxim of Dr. Franklin

  • can never fail to be true, that "honesty is the best policy."

  • To get rich, is not always equivalent to being successful. "There are many rich poor men,"

  • while there are many others, honest and devout men and women, who have never possessed so

  • much money as some rich persons squander in a week, but who are nevertheless really richer

  • and happier than any man can ever be while he is a transgressor of the higher laws of

  • his being. The inordinate love of money, no doubt, may

  • be and is "the root of all evil," but money itself, when properly used, is not only a

  • "handy thing to have in the house," but affords the gratification of blessing our race by

  • enabling its possessor to enlarge the scope of human happiness and human influence. The

  • desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided

  • the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.

  • The history of money-getting, which is commerce, is a history of civilization, and wherever

  • trade has flourished most, there, too, have art and science produced the noblest fruits.

  • In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race. To them,

  • in a great measure, are we indebted for our institutions of learning and of art, our academies,

  • colleges and churches. It is no argument against the desire for, or the possession of wealth,

  • to say that there are sometimes misers who hoard money only for the sake of hoarding

  • and who have no higher aspiration than to grasp everything which comes within their

  • reach. As we have sometimes hypocrites in religion, and demagogues in politics, so there

  • are occasionally misers among money-getters. These, however, are only exceptions to the

  • general rule. But when, in this country, we find such a nuisance and stumbling block as

  • a miser, we remember with gratitude that in America we have no laws of primogeniture,

  • and that in the due course of nature the time will come when the hoarded dust will be scattered

  • for the benefit of mankind. To all men and women, therefore, do I conscientiously say,

  • make money honestly, and not otherwise, for Shakespeare has truly said, "He that wants

  • money, means, and content, is without three good friends."

  • End of chapter 20.

  • End of The Art of Money Getting by P. T. Barnum.

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