The Art of Money Getting - Revised Edition

Original by P.T. Barnum and Revised & Modernized by Jayaram V

Summary: This classic self‑help text by P.T. Barnum outlines practical, character‑driven principles for achieving financial stability and long‑term prosperity. The work emphasizes choosing a vocation aligned with one’s natural abilities , selecting the right location for one’s work or business Current page, avoiding debt as a destructive habit that undermines independence , and practicing true economy—spending less than one earns and avoiding false frugality that saves pennies while wasting pounds Current page. Barnum stresses perseverance, self‑reliance, and doing every task with full commitment . He warns against speculative “outside operations” that lure people away from the steady habits that originally made them successful . Additional guidance includes using the best tools and employees , being systematic in work habits , learning something useful, avoiding vanity‑driven spending, and advertising honestly to build trust with the public . Overall, the book blends moral discipline, practical business sense, and personal responsibility, presenting prosperity as the natural result of good habits, steady effort, and sound judgment.

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Contents

• INTRODUCTION
• DON'T MISTAKE YOUR VOCATION 
• SELECT THE RIGHT LOCATION
• AVOID DEBT
• PERSEVERE
• WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT
• DEPEND UPON YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXERTIONS.
• USE THE BEST TOOLS
• DON'T GET ABOVE YOUR BUSINESS
• LEARN SOMETHING USEFUL
• LET HOPE PREDOMINATE, BUT BE NOT TOO VISIONARY
• DO NOT SCATTER YOUR POWERS
• BE SYSTEMATIC
• READ THE NEWSPAPERS
• BEWARE OF "OUTSIDE OPERATIONS"
• DON'T ENDORSE WITHOUT SECURITY
• ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS
• "DON'T READ THE OTHER SIDE"
• BE POLITE AND KIND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS
• BE CHARITABLE
• DON'T BLAB
• PRESERVE YOUR INTEGRITY

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INTRODUCTION

Those who truly want to achieve independence need only set their minds to it and adopt the right means, just as they would for any other goal they wish to accomplish, and the task can be done. Yet however easy it may be to make money, many of my readers will agree that it is far harder 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 spending less than we earn; that seems like a very simple problem. Mr. Micawber, one of Dickens’s memorable creations, makes the point vividly when he says that to have an annual income of twenty pounds and spend twenty pounds and sixpence is to be most miserable, whereas to have only twenty pounds and spend but nineteen pounds and sixpence is to be most happy. Many readers may say, "we understand this: this is economy, and we know economy is wealth; we know we can’t spend everything and still keep it." Yet I would say that perhaps more failures 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 often misunderstood, and people go through life without fully grasping what the principle means. One person says, "I have a certain income, and my neighbor has the same; yet each year my neighbor gets ahead while I fall short. Why is that? I know all about economy." They think they do, but they do not. Some people believe economy means saving crumbs and scraps, trimming pennies from household bills, and doing all sorts of small, mean-spirited things. Economy is not stinginess. The misfortune is that such people apply their economy in only one direction. They imagine that because they are so careful to save a small coin where they ought to spend a larger one, they can afford to waste freely in other areas.

A few years ago, before kerosene was discovered or even thought of, a traveler might stop overnight at almost any farmhouse in an agricultural district and get a very good supper. But afterward, if that traveler tried to read in the sitting room, it would often be impossible by the weak light of a single candle. The hostess, seeing the difficulty, might say: "It is rather hard to read here in the evening; 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 special occasions." Those special occasions might occur only once or twice a year. In this way the household might save five, six, or ten dollars over time, yet the knowledge and benefit that might come from better light would far outweigh the cost of many candles.

But the trouble does not end there. Feeling that she is so economical in candles, she may think she can afford to go often to the village and spend twenty or thirty dollars on ribbons and finery, much of it unnecessary. This false idea can just as easily be seen in businesspeople, and in those cases it may show up in stationery. You find capable businesspeople who save every old envelope and scrap of paper, and who would never tear a fresh sheet if they could avoid it. That may save five or ten dollars a year, but because they are so economical in that one matter, they imagine they can afford to waste time, give costly parties, or keep up expensive appearances. This is Dr. Franklin’s idea of "saving at the spigot and wasting at the bung-hole," being penny wise and pound foolish. Punch once described such people as being 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 anyone to succeed by practicing that kind of economy.

True economy consists in making sure that income always exceeds outgo. Wear older clothes a little longer if necessary; forgo a new pair of gloves; mend the old dress; live on plainer food if needed, so that, under ordinary circumstances, there will always be some margin in favor of income. A penny here and a dollar there, placed at interest, will go on accumulating, and in this way the desired result is achieved. It may take some discipline to practice this kind of economy, but once you are used to it, you will find more satisfaction in sensible saving than in careless spending. Here is a remedy I recommend for extravagance, and especially for mistaken economy: when you find that you have no surplus at the end of the year despite a good income, take a few sheets of paper, make a small book, and write down every item of expenditure. Record it daily or weekly in two columns, one headed "necessaries" or even "comforts," and the other headed "luxuries," and you will likely find that the latter column is double, triple, or even ten times greater than the former. The real comforts of life cost only 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 others may say that keeps many worthy families always straining. In America, many people like to say, "we are all free and equal," but that is a great mistake in more than one sense.

That we are born "free and equal" is a noble truth in one sense, yet we are not all born equally rich, and we never will be. One may say, "there is a person with an income of fifty thousand dollars a year, while I have only one thousand. I knew that person when they were poor like me; now they are rich and think they are better than I am. I will show them that I am just as good as they are; I will go and buy a horse and buggy—or, if I cannot do that, I will hire one and ride on the same road this afternoon, and thus prove that I am their equal."

My friend, you need not go to that trouble; you can easily prove that you are every bit as worthy as anyone else by conducting yourself well. But you cannot persuade anyone that you are wealthy simply by imitating the appearance of wealth. If you put on such airs, waste your time, and spend your money, someone at home may have to work excessively and cut back on daily necessities so that you can keep up appearances, and even then you are unlikely to deceive anyone. In the same way, one neighbor may envy another’s costly purchases and feel compelled to buy imitations simply to appear equal in public. That urge to compete in appearances often leads only to needless expense.

My friend, you will not get ahead in the world if vanity and envy take the lead. In this country, where we say the majority ought to rule, we often ignore that principle in matters of fashion and let a small group set a false standard of perfection. In trying to rise to that standard, we keep ourselves poor by laboring for appearances alone. How much wiser it is to be guided by our own judgment and say, "we will regulate our spending by our income, and lay something aside for a rainy day." People ought to be as sensible about earning and keeping money as they are about any other subject. Like causes produce like effects. You cannot accumulate a fortune by following 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 hardship or reversal, can never attain financial independence.

People who are used to indulging every whim will naturally find it difficult at first to cut back unnecessary expenses. It may feel like a serious sacrifice to live in a smaller house than they are accustomed to, with simpler furniture, fewer social gatherings, less costly clothing, fewer servants, fewer balls, parties, theater outings, carriage rides, pleasure trips, cigars, liquor, and other luxuries. But if they will try the habit of putting aside a small "nest egg," or, in other words, saving a modest sum at interest or investing it wisely, they will be surprised by the pleasure of steadily adding to it, as well as by the economical habits this course encourages.

The old suit, bonnet, or dress may serve for another season; plain water may taste better than champagne; a cold bath and a brisk walk may prove more refreshing than a ride in the finest carriage; and a social chat, an evening of reading in the family circle, or a simple game at home may be far more pleasant than an extravagant party, especially when one reflects on the difference in cost. Thousands of people are kept poor, and tens of thousands become poor after once acquiring enough to support themselves comfortably, because they build their standard of living on too broad a foundation. Some families spend twenty thousand dollars a year, and some much more, and scarcely know how to live on less, while others find more solid enjoyment on a fraction of that amount. Prosperity is a more severe test than adversity, especially sudden prosperity. "Easy come, easy go" is an old and true proverb. Pride and vanity, when allowed to rule, are like a worm that eats away the very substance of a person’s worldly possessions, whether those possessions are small or vast. Many people, as soon as they begin to prosper, immediately expand their wants and spend on luxuries until their expenses swallow their income, and they are ruined in the absurd effort to keep up appearances and make a sensation.

I know a wealthy gentleman who says that when he first began to prosper, his wife wanted a new and elegant sofa. "That sofa," he says, "cost me thirty thousand dollars!" When it arrived, chairs had to be purchased to match; then sideboards, carpets, and tables to go with them, and so on through the entire household. At last it was decided that the house itself was too small and old-fashioned for the furniture, so a new one was built to match the new purchases. "Thus," my friend added, "an outlay of thirty thousand dollars grew out of that single sofa, and saddled me, in the form of servants, equipage, and the many expenses of maintaining a fine establishment, with an annual cost of eleven thousand dollars—and that with constant strain. Ten years earlier, we lived with much more real comfort, because with much less care, on only a few hundred dollars. The truth is," he continued, "that sofa would have brought me to bankruptcy had not an extraordinary run of prosperity kept me above it, and had I not checked the natural desire to make a display."

A strong foundation for success in life is personal well-being, because it supports energy, judgment, and happiness. It can be difficult to build security when one is unwell or facing physical limitations, though many other factors also shape a person’s opportunities and outcomes. The point is not that health determines worth, but that caring for one’s well-being can make work and daily life easier to sustain.

If sound health is a foundation of success and happiness in life, then it is important to understand the basic laws of health, which are simply another expression for the laws of nature. The more closely we live in keeping with nature, the better our chances of maintaining good health. Yet many people ignore those laws and violate them even against their own better judgment. We should understand that ignorance does not protect us from the consequences of breaking nature’s rules; the penalty still follows. A child may put a finger into a flame without knowing it will burn, and still suffer for it; regret does not stop the pain. Many of our ancestors knew very little about ventilation. They built houses with cramped little bedrooms, and these worthy old Puritans would shut themselves into those small rooms, say their prayers, and go to sleep. In the morning they would give thanks for the preservation of their lives during the night, and they had good reason to be grateful. Most likely, some crack in the window or beneath the door let in enough fresh air to save them.

Many people knowingly go against their better judgment for the sake of fashion. Consider tobacco: very few people naturally enjoy it at first, yet many deliberately train themselves into the habit until they come to like it. They take up a poisonous, filthy weed—or rather, it takes hold of them. Here are married people who go about spitting tobacco juice on carpets and floors, and sometimes even on those around them. They may not behave as violently as drunkards, but they still make home life disagreeable. Another dangerous feature is that this artificial appetite, like jealousy, grows by what it feeds on. When we teach ourselves to desire what is harmful, that craving may become stronger than the natural desire for what is harmless. There is an old proverb that says "habit is second nature," but in some cases an acquired habit can become even stronger than nature itself. Consider an old tobacco chewer: attachment to the quid may become stronger than the desire for any particular food. Such a person may find it easier to give up roast beef than to give up the weed.

Children often wish to seem older than they are, and to do so they may imitate the habits of adults around them. A child may see an older relative smoking and think that doing the same will make them appear grown up. At first the habit may feel unpleasant, yet they persist in the belief that imitation brings maturity, until an acquired taste replaces their natural aversion.

I speak from experience, having once smoked ten or fifteen cigars a day, though I gave up the habit fourteen years ago and never returned to it. The more a person smokes, the more the habit tends to intensify; one cigar only awakens the desire for another, and so the cycle continues.

Consider the tobacco chewer. In the morning, on getting up, a quid goes into the mouth and stays there all day, removed only to be replaced with a fresh one or set aside while eating. At other moments, it may be taken out just long enough for a drink before being popped back in again. This only shows that the appetite for one harmful indulgence may compete with another. When such a person visits a country home and is shown the grapery, the fruit house, and the beauties of the garden, and is offered ripe apples, pears, peaches, apricots, or grapes, the answer may still be, "No, thank you, I have tobacco in my mouth." The palate has been numbed by the weed, and much of the delicate pleasure of fresh fruit is lost. This shows what costly, useless, and injurious habits people will fall into. I speak from experience. I smoked until I trembled, until the blood rushed to my head, and until I felt such a palpitation of the heart that I thought I had heart disease and was nearly overcome with fear. When I consulted my physician, he said, "stop using tobacco." I was not only injuring my health and spending a great deal of money, but also setting a bad example. I followed his advice. No young person in the world ever looked as impressive as they imagined behind a fine cigar or pipe.

These remarks apply with even greater force to the use of intoxicating drink. To make money requires a clear mind. A person must see clearly that two and two make four; must lay plans with reflection and forethought; and must examine closely all the details and ins and outs of business. No one can succeed in business without the judgment required to plan wisely and act on those plans. So, however great a person’s natural intelligence may be, if the mind is clouded and judgment distorted by strong drink, success in business becomes nearly impossible. How many good opportunities have passed and never returned while someone was lingering over a "social glass" with a friend? How many foolish bargains have been made under the influence of a stimulant that temporarily makes its victim feel wealthy? How many important chances have been postponed until tomorrow—and then forever—because the wine cup has left the body sluggish and the mind dulled, draining the energy so necessary for success? Truly, "wine is a mocker." The use of intoxicating drink as a beverage is as much an infatuation as the smoking of opium, and is equally destructive to the success of a businessperson. It is a grave evil and, in the light of philosophy, religion, or common sense, impossible to defend.

DON'T MISTAKE YOUR VOCATION

The safest plan, and the one most likely to bring success to a person starting out in life, is to choose the vocation most suited to their abilities and interests. Parents and guardians are often far too careless about this. It is common for a parent to decide in advance what each child will become, regardless of natural inclination or talent. That choice is too often made without regard for the individual’s gifts, preferences, or strengths.

We are all, no doubt, born for a wise purpose. There is as much diversity in our minds as in our faces. Some people are natural mechanics, while others have a strong dislike for machinery. Let a dozen children of ten gather together, and you will soon see that two or three of them are carving out some ingenious device or tinkering with locks and complicated mechanisms. When they were only five, no toy pleased them like a puzzle. They are natural mechanics, but the other children have different talents. I belong to the latter class: I never had the slightest love for mechanics; on the contrary, I have always had a sort of aversion to complicated machinery. I never had ingenuity enough to carve a cider tap that would not leak. I could never make a pen I could write with, nor understand the principle of a steam engine. If someone had taken a child like me and tried to make a watchmaker of him, he might, after five or seven years of apprenticeship, have learned to take apart and reassemble a watch; but all his life he would have been working uphill, seizing every excuse to leave his bench and idle away his time. Watchmaking would simply have been repugnant to him.

Unless a person enters the vocation best suited to their natural abilities and particular talents, they cannot truly excel. I am glad to believe that most people do eventually find the work that suits them. Yet we still see many who have mistaken their calling, from the blacksmith to the clergyperson. You may find, for example, the extraordinary linguist known as the "learned blacksmith," who ought to have been teaching languages, while some lawyers, doctors, and ministers seem far better fitted by nature for the anvil or the workbench.

SELECT THE RIGHT LOCATION

After finding the right vocation, you must be equally careful to choose the right location. You may be perfectly suited to run a hotel, and indeed people say it takes special talent to know how to keep one well. You might manage a hotel with clockwork precision and provide successfully for five hundred guests each day; yet if you place it in a small village with no railroad connection or public travel, the location will ruin you. It is just as important not to begin business where enough people already exist to meet all demand in the same line of work. I remember a case that illustrates this point. When I was in London in 1858, I was walking down Holborn with an English friend and came upon the "penny shows." Immense cartoons outside advertised the wonderful curiosities to be seen "all for a penny." Being somewhat in the show business myself, I said, "let us go in here." We soon found ourselves in the presence of the proprietor, and he proved to be one of the sharpest people in that line I had ever met. He told us extraordinary stories about his bearded ladies and his armadillos that we could hardly believe, though we thought it better to accept them than to demand proof. He finally directed our attention to some wax figures, which were among the dirtiest and most neglected I had ever seen. They looked as though they had not seen water since the Flood.

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

"I beg you not to speak so sarcastically," he replied. "These are not Madame Tussaud’s wax figures, all covered with gilt and tinsel and imitation diamonds, copied from engravings and photographs. Mine, sir, were taken from life. Whenever you look upon one of these figures, you may consider that you are looking upon the living person."

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 during the summer. Today he is worth sixty thousand dollars, simply because he chose the right vocation and also found the proper location. The old proverb says, "Three moves are as bad as a fire," but when someone is already in the fire, it matters little how soon or how often they move.

AVOID DEBT

People starting out in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt. It is a burdensome position to be in, yet we often find someone hardly out of their teens already buying on credit. They may proudly say, "Look at this: I got credit for a new suit of clothes." They seem to look on the clothes as though they had been given to them; but if they manage to pay for them and then immediately seek more credit, they are forming a habit likely to keep them poor through life. Debt robs a person of self-respect and makes them feel diminished. They labor for what has already been consumed or worn out, and when the bill comes due, they have nothing to show for the money. I do not speak of merchants buying and selling on credit in order to turn a profit, but of borrowing for needless consumption.

Mr. Beecher advised young people to take on a small debt, if necessary, in order to buy land in the country. "If a young person," he says, "will only get into debt for some land and then get married, these two things will keep him straight, or nothing will." This may be safe within limits, but getting into debt for what you eat, drink, and wear is to be avoided. Some families have the foolish habit of buying on credit at the stores and thus frequently purchase many things they could easily do without.

It is easy enough to say, "I have credit for sixty days, and if I do not have the money then, the creditor will think nothing of it." But no class of people in the world has a better memory than creditors. When the sixty days are up, you will have to pay. If you do not, you will have broken your promise and may be tempted to make excuses or even false statements. You may borrow elsewhere to cover it, but that only draws you deeper in.

An idle apprentice named Horatio was once asked by his employer, "Did you ever see a snail?" "I think I have," he replied slowly. "Then you must have met one, because I am sure you never overtook one," said the employer. Your creditor may meet you in much the same way and remind you of what you promised to pay. If you sign a note with interest, that obligation begins working against you at once. While the creditor sleeps, the debt grows in value; while you sleep, the interest accumulates against you.

Money is, in some respects, like fire: a very good servant but a terrible master. When it masters you—when interest is steadily piling up against you—it will keep you down in the worst kind of bondage. But let money work for you, and you have one of the most faithful servants in the world. It is no mere eye-servant. Nothing, living or not, works as steadily as money placed at interest and well secured. It works night and day, in all weather.

I was born in the blue-law state of Connecticut, where the old Puritans were said to have laws so strict that they fined a man for kissing his wife on Sunday. Yet these same prosperous Puritans would have thousands of dollars earning interest, and on Saturday night they would be worth a certain sum. On Sunday they would go to church and perform all the duties of a Christian. But when they awoke on Monday morning, they would find themselves considerably richer than they had been on Saturday night, simply because their money had been working faithfully for them all day Sunday according to law.

Do not let money work against you. If you do, there is little chance of financial success. John Randolph, the eccentric Virginian, once exclaimed in Congress, "Mr. Speaker, I have discovered the philosopher’s stone: pay as you go." This indeed comes closer to the philosopher’s stone than any alchemist ever found.

PERSEVERE

When a person is on the right path, they must persevere. I say this because some people are inclined to discouragement, low confidence, or passivity, and may seem to lack self-reliance and perseverance. Yet these qualities can be cultivated, as Davy Crockett said:

"This thing remember, when I am dead: Be sure you are right, then go ahead."

It is this spirit of moving forward—this determination not to let gloom or discouragement take hold of you and weaken your effort in the struggle for independence—that 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 often simply another name for self-reliance. Many people naturally look on the dark side of life and borrow trouble. They are inclined that way from the start. Then they ask for advice, only to be swayed first one way and then another, never relying on themselves. Until you can trust your own judgment, you need not expect to succeed.

I have personally known people who suffered financial reverses and, believing they could never recover, took their own lives. But I have known others who faced even more serious difficulties and overcame them by simple perseverance, helped by a firm belief that they were acting justly and that Providence would ultimately bring good out of evil. You can see this principle illustrated in every walk of life.

Take two generals: both understand military tactics, both may have been educated at West Point, and both may be equally gifted. Yet if one possesses perseverance and the other lacks it, the first will succeed in the profession while the second will fail. One may hear the cry, "The enemy are coming, and they have cannon."

"Got cannon?" says the hesitating general.

"Yes."

"Then halt every man."

He wants time to reflect, but his hesitation is his ruin. The enemy passes unchallenged or overwhelms him. By contrast, the general with courage, perseverance, and self-reliance goes into battle with resolve, and amid the clash of arms, the booming of cannon, the cries of the wounded, and the groans of the dying, you see that person pressing steadily onward with unwavering determination, inspiring the troops to acts of endurance, bravery, and victory.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT

Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, leaving no stone unturned, and never putting off for a single hour what can just as well be done now. The old proverb is full of truth: "Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." Many a person acquires a fortune by doing their business thoroughly, while a neighbor remains poor for life because they only half do it. Ambition, energy, industry, and perseverance are indispensable to success in business.

Fortune favors the brave and never helps those who will not help themselves. It will not do to spend your time like Mr. Micawber, waiting for something to "turn up." For such people one of two things usually does turn up: the poorhouse or the jail. Idleness breeds bad habits and clothes a person in rags. The spendthrift says to a rich person:

"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 recently read in a London paper about a similarly philosophical pauper who was thrown out of a cheap boarding house because he could not pay his bill. Yet he had a roll of papers sticking out of his coat pocket which, upon examination, turned out to be his plan for paying off the national debt of England without a penny. People must 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, while encamped one night in the desert, overheard one of his tired followers say, "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 yourself, and then trust to Providence, or luck, or whatever you choose 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. By nature, an agent cannot be as faithful to the employer’s interest as to their own. Many employers can recall cases where even their best workers overlooked important points that would not have escaped the owner’s notice. No one has a right to expect success in life unless they understand their business, and nobody can understand it thoroughly without learning it through personal effort and experience. A manufacturer, for example, must learn the many details of the business firsthand. They will learn something every day, and they will make mistakes almost every day. Yet those very mistakes become valuable lessons if they are heeded. Such a person is like the Yankee tin peddler who, after being cheated on the quality of his goods, said, "All right, there is a little information to be gained every day; I will never be cheated in that way again." In this sense, a person buys experience, and it is the best kind, if not purchased at too high a price.

I hold that every person should, like Cuvier, the French naturalist, know their business thoroughly. He was so skilled in natural history that if you brought him a bone, or even a section of a bone, from an animal he had never seen described, he could reason by analogy and sketch the creature from which it came. On one occasion, his students tried to deceive him. They wrapped one of their number in a cowhide and placed him under the professor’s table as a new specimen. When the philosopher entered the room, some of the students asked what sort of animal it was. Suddenly the creature said, "I am the devil and I am going to eat you." It was natural that Cuvier should wish to classify it, and after examining it closely, he said:

"Divided hoof; graminivorous! It cannot be done."

He knew that an animal with a split hoof must live on grass, grain, or other vegetation, and would not be inclined to eat flesh, dead or alive, so he considered himself perfectly safe. A thorough knowledge of your business is absolutely necessary for success.

Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one apparent paradox: "Be cautious and bold." It sounds contradictory, but it is not, and there is great wisdom in it. In fact, it neatly sums up what I have already said: exercise caution in making your plans, but be bold in carrying them out. A person who is all caution will never dare to take hold and succeed; a person who is all boldness is merely reckless and must eventually fail. Someone may go onto the exchange and make fifty or one hundred thousand dollars by speculating in stocks in a single move. But if that person has boldness without caution, it is only chance, and what is gained today may be lost tomorrow. You must have both caution and boldness to succeed.

The Rothschilds had another maxim: "Never have anything to do with an unlucky man or place." That is to say, avoid attaching yourself to a person or venture that repeatedly fails. Someone may appear honest and intelligent, yet if everything they attempt ends badly, there is likely some flaw, weakness, or bad judgment at work, even if you cannot immediately identify it.

There is no such thing as luck in the long run. A person may go out one morning and happen to find a purse of gold in the street, but that is no basis for a life. What is found by chance can just as easily be lost. Like causes produce like effects. If a person adopts the proper methods for success, supposed "luck" will not prevent it. If they do not succeed, there are reasons for it, whether or not those reasons are immediately visible.

USE THE BEST TOOLS

When hiring employees, be careful to choose the best. You cannot have tools that are too good, and no tools require more care than living ones. If you find a good employee, it is better to keep that person than to keep changing. They learn something every day, and you benefit from the experience they gain. They are worth more to you this year than last, and, provided their habits are good and they remain faithful, they should be among the last people you let go. If, as they become more valuable, they demand an excessive increase in salary on the assumption that you cannot do without them, then it may be best to part ways. Whenever I have had such an employee, I have dismissed them: first, to show that their place can be filled, and second, because a person is of little use once convinced they are beyond replacement.

But if possible, I would still keep such a person in order to benefit from the results of their experience. An important element in any employee is the mind. You often see signs reading "Hands Wanted," but hands are not worth much without heads. Mr. Beecher illustrated this point in the following way:

An employee offers services by saying, "I have a pair of hands, and one of my fingers thinks." "That is very good," says the employer. Another person comes along and says they have "two fingers that think." "Ah, that is better." But a third says that "all my 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 person." "You are the one I want," says the delighted employer.

People who have both intelligence and experience are therefore the most valuable, and they should not be lightly let go. It is better for them, as well as for you, to keep them, with reasonable increases in salary from time to time.

DON'T GET ABOVE YOUR BUSINESS

After completing training or an apprenticeship, some people, instead of continuing in their vocation and advancing in it, remain idle. They say, "I have learned my business, but I am not going to work for someone else; what is the use 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 for a young person to believe they will succeed with borrowed money. Why? Because nearly everyone’s experience agrees with Mr. Astor, who said it was more difficult to accumulate his first thousand dollars than all the millions that followed. Money is of little use unless you know its value through experience. Give a young person twenty thousand dollars and place them in business, and the chances are high that they will lose every dollar within a year. Like drawing a prize in a lottery, it is easy come, easy go. They do not know its value, because nothing is truly valued unless it has cost effort. Without self-denial, economy, patience, and perseverance, and if you begin with capital you have not earned, you cannot be sure of success in building wealth. Young people, instead of waiting for inheritances, should be up and doing, for there is no class of people so unaccommodating about dying as the rich elderly, and it is fortunate for expectant heirs that this is so. Nine out of ten wealthy people in our country today began life poor, with determined wills, industry, perseverance, economy, and good habits. They advanced gradually, made their own money, and saved it; and this is the best way to acquire a fortune. Stephen Girard began as a poor cabin boy and died worth nine million dollars. A.T. Stewart was a poor Irish boy and at one time paid taxes on a million and a half dollars of annual income. John Jacob Astor was a poor farmer’s boy and died worth twenty million. Cornelius Vanderbilt began by rowing a boat from Staten Island to New York; he later presented our government with a steamship worth a million dollars and died worth fifty million. The proverb says, "There is no royal road to learning," and the same is true of wealth. But there is a noble road to both: the road by which a person steadily expands the mind, adds daily to knowledge, and through the pleasing process of growth becomes able to solve profound problems, count the stars, analyze the world, and measure the heavens. That is a regal highway, and the only road worth traveling.

So it is with wealth. Go forward with confidence, study the rules, and above all study human nature. As your understanding and experience grow, you will become better able to build resources and independence over time. As a general rule, people who begin with fewer advantages often learn resourcefulness and discipline, while those who inherit comfort without effort may fail to value it. When a large estate is left to a family, the older children who helped earn or manage it may understand its value and add to it. Younger heirs, however, may be told from childhood that they will never need to work and may therefore grow up without discipline or appreciation for money. Surrounded by flattery and indulgence, they may become careless, extravagant, and self-important. In that way, inherited wealth is often wasted, while those who build steadily from modest beginnings are more likely to preserve and increase what they have.

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

He might more truthfully say, "if you cannot make a fool of yourself," but he is reckless, dislikes restraint, and does not see the danger. Young people loaded down with other people’s money are almost sure to lose what they inherit, and they acquire all kinds of bad habits which in most cases ruin health, finances, and character. In this country one generation follows another, and the poor of today may be rich in the next or the one after. Their experience leads them onward, and they become wealthy, only to leave large fortunes to their young children. Those children, having been raised in luxury, often lack experience and become poor; then after long experience another generation rises and gathers wealth again in turn. Thus history repeats itself, and fortunate is the person who listens to the experience of others and avoids the rocks and shoals on which so many have been wrecked.

"In England, the business makes the person." If someone there is a mechanic or laborer, they may not be recognized socially as a gentleman. On the occasion of my first appearance before Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington asked me what position in life the parents of General Tom Thumb occupied. Readers may wish to understand that this reference reflects a historical entertainment context that is often regarded differently today.

"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 person makes the business. Whether one is a blacksmith, shoemaker, farmer, banker, or lawyer, if the work is legitimate, one may still be a gentleperson. Any honorable business is a double blessing: it supports the person engaged in it and also benefits others. The farmer supports a family and also serves the merchant and mechanic who need farm products. The tailor makes a living and also serves the farmer, the minister, and others who cannot make their own clothing. All these occupations may be pursued with dignity.

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 at the top. Wherever you find the most honest and capable merchant or banker, the best lawyer, doctor, teacher, craftsperson, or worker of any kind, that person is the one most sought after and always has enough to do. As a nation, Americans are often too superficial: they strive to get rich quickly and do not always conduct their business as thoroughly as they should. But whoever excels in their own line, if their habits are sound and their integrity undoubted, will secure abundant patronage and the prosperity that naturally follows. Let your motto, then, always be "Excelsior"; strive for excellence and persistence.

LEARN SOMETHING USEFUL

Every parent should see that each son or daughter learns some useful trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortune—rich today, poor tomorrow—they may have something solid to fall back upon. Such preparation might save many people from misery when some unexpected turn of events has taken away their means.

LET HOPE PREDOMINATE, BUT BE NOT TOO VISIONARY

Many people remain poor because they are too visionary. Every project appears certain to succeed, and so they keep changing from one business to another, always in difficulty and always under strain. Counting the chickens before they are hatched is an old mistake, and it has not improved with age.

DO NOT SCATTER YOUR POWERS

Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed or until experience shows you should leave it. A constant hammering on one nail will usually drive it home at last so that it can be clinched. When a person’s full attention is fixed on one object, the mind will keep suggesting useful improvements that would be missed if it were occupied with a dozen subjects at once. Many a fortune has slipped through someone’s fingers because they were engaged in too many things at the same time. There is real wisdom in the old caution against having too many irons in the fire at once.

BE SYSTEMATIC

People should be systematic in their business. A person who works by rule, with a time and place for everything and who does work promptly, will accomplish twice as much with half the trouble of someone who works carelessly and without order. By introducing system into all your transactions, doing one thing at a time, and always keeping appointments punctually, you make room for rest and recreation. By contrast, the person who only half does one thing and then turns to something else, only to half do that as well, keeps business in confusion and never really finishes the day’s work. Of course, there is a limit to every rule. We must preserve a happy medium, for it is possible to be too systematic. Some people put things away so carefully that they can never find them again. That is too much like bureaucratic red tape and Dickens’s Circumlocution Office—plenty of theory, but no result.

When the Astor House was first opened in New York City, it was undoubtedly the best hotel in the country. The proprietors had learned a good deal in Europe about hotel management, and they were proud of the rigid system that governed every department of the establishment. When midnight arrived and a number of guests were still gathered around, one of the proprietors would say, "Touch that bell, John," and in two minutes sixty servants, each carrying a bucket of water, would present themselves in the hall. "This," the landlord would say to the guests, "is our fire bell; it shows you that we are quite safe here; we do everything systematically." This was before Croton water was introduced into the city. But sometimes they carried their system too far. On one occasion, when the hotel was crowded with guests, one of the waiters suddenly became ill, and although there were fifty waiters in the hotel, the landlord felt he must have his full complement or his system would be disturbed. Just before dinner, he rushed downstairs and said, "There must be another waiter; I am one short; what can I do?" He happened to see Boots, the Irishman. "Pat," he said, "wash your hands and face, take that white apron, and come into the dining room in five minutes." Presently Pat appeared as instructed, and the proprietor said, "Now Pat, you must stand behind these two chairs and wait on the gentlemen who will sit there. Have you ever acted 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, "I know every rock in the channel."

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

"Ah! and that is one of them," 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! I understand perfectly the virtues of system."

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 you have eaten your soup!"

Of course that was carrying "system" entirely too far.

READ THE NEWSPAPERS

Always read a trustworthy newspaper and keep yourself well informed about the transactions of the world. A person without a newspaper is cut off from much of human activity. In these days of telegraphs and steam, important inventions and improvements are being made in every branch of trade, and anyone who does not follow the news will soon find both self and business left behind.

BEWARE OF "OUTSIDE OPERATIONS"  

We sometimes see people who have made fortunes suddenly become poor. In many cases this results from intemperance, gambling, or other destructive habits. Frequently it happens because someone has become involved in outside ventures of one kind or another. After growing rich in a legitimate business, a person is approached with some grand speculation promising tens of thousands in profit. Friends flatter them, saying they were born lucky and that everything they touch turns to gold. If they forget that their success came from economy, upright conduct, and close attention to a business they understood, they may begin listening to those seductive promises. Then they say:

"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 pass, and it is discovered that another ten thousand dollars must be added. Soon after, they are told that everything is all right, but certain unforeseen matters require an additional twenty thousand, which is sure to bring a rich return. Yet before the time comes to realize that return, the bubble bursts. They lose everything they own, and then learn what should have been understood from the start: however successful a person may be in their own business, if they leave it for a business they do not understand, they are like Samson after his hair was cut off—their strength is gone, and they become like everyone else.

If a person has ample means, they may wisely invest something in ventures that appear promising and likely to benefit humanity. But let such investments be moderate, and never let anyone foolishly risk a fortune honestly earned in a legitimate way on matters in which they have no experience.

DON'T ENDORSE WITHOUT SECURITY

I hold that no one ought ever to endorse a note or become surety for another person—not even a father or brother—beyond the amount they can afford to lose without concern, unless they have good security. Here is someone worth twenty thousand dollars, doing a thriving manufacturing or mercantile business, while you are retired and living on your means. He comes to you and says:

"You know that I am worth twenty thousand dollars and do not owe a dollar. If I had five thousand dollars in cash, I could buy a certain lot of goods and double my money in a couple of months. Will you endorse my note for that amount?"

You reflect that this person is worth twenty thousand dollars, and so you imagine there is no risk in endorsing the note. Wanting to be helpful, you lend your name without taking the precaution of obtaining security. Shortly afterward, he shows you the note with your endorsement canceled and tells you—perhaps truthfully—that he made the profit he expected. You think you have done a good deed, and the thought pleases you. Before long the same thing happens again, and you do it again; by then you have fixed the impression in your mind that it is perfectly safe to endorse this person’s notes without security.

But the trouble is that this person is getting money too easily. He has only to take your endorsed note to the bank, have it discounted, and collect the cash. For the time being he gets money without effort and without inconvenience. Now observe the result. He sees a chance for speculation outside his business. Only ten thousand dollars is needed for a temporary investment, and it is sure, he thinks, to be returned before a bank note would come due. He places a note for that amount before you. You sign it almost mechanically. Firmly convinced that your friend is responsible and trustworthy, you endorse the notes as a matter of course.

Unfortunately, the speculation does not come to fruition as soon as expected, and another ten-thousand-dollar note must be discounted to pay the first one when it falls due. Before this note matures, the speculation has proved an utter failure and all the money is gone. Does the loser tell the friend who endorsed the note that half the fortune has been lost? Not at all. He does not even mention that he speculated. But now he is 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 many speculators, he looks for his money where he lost it. He tries again. By now, endorsing notes has become habitual with you, and at every loss he obtains your signature for whatever amount he wants. At last you discover that your friend has lost all of his property and all of yours as well. You are overwhelmed with astonishment and grief and say, "It is a hard thing; my friend has ruined me." But you should add, "I have also ruined him." If at the beginning you had said, "I will accommodate you, but I never endorse without ample security," he could not have gone beyond his means, and he would not have been tempted away from his legitimate business. It is therefore a very dangerous thing to let people obtain money too easily; if nothing else, it tempts them into hazardous speculation. Solomon truly said, "he that hateth suretiship is sure."

So it is with a young person starting in business: let them learn the value of money by earning it. Once they understand that value, you may ease the wheels a little in helping them get started, but remember that those who get money too easily do not usually succeed. The first dollars must be earned through effort and some sacrifice in order to be truly appreciated.

ADVERTISE YOUR BUSINESS

We all depend, more or less, on the public for support. Lawyers, doctors, shoemakers, artists, blacksmiths, showmen, opera managers, railroad presidents, and college professors all do business with the public in one way or another. Those who serve the public must make sure their goods or services are valuable, genuine, and satisfying. When you have an article you know will please your customers, and they will feel they have received full value for their money, then make that fact known. Be careful to advertise it in some way, because even the best article will bring no return if no one knows it exists. In a country like this, where nearly everybody reads, and where newspapers circulate in editions from five thousand to two hundred thousand, it would be unwise not to use that channel to reach the public. A newspaper enters the home and is read by the whole family, not only the head of the household; thus hundreds and even thousands may read your advertisement while you attend to your regular business, and many may read it while you sleep. The whole philosophy of life is first to sow and then to reap. That is what the farmer does: planting potatoes and corn, sowing grain, and then turning to other work until harvest comes. No one reaps first and sows afterward. This principle applies to all kinds of business, and to nothing more clearly than advertising. If a person has a genuine article, there is no better way to reap than by sowing information to the public in this way. Of course, the article must truly be good and pleasing to customers; anything spurious will not succeed for long, because the public is wiser than many suppose. People are naturally self-interested, and all of us prefer to buy where we get the most for our money.

You may advertise a poor or deceptive article and persuade many people to buy it once, but they will denounce you as dishonest, and your business will gradually die out and leave you poor. That is only right. Few people can safely depend on chance customers alone. You need customers to return and buy again. Someone once 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 notice the first appearance of an ordinary advertisement; the second time they notice it but do not read it; the third time they read it; the fourth time they look at the price; the fifth time they mention it at home; the sixth time they are ready to buy; and the seventh time they do buy. Your aim in advertising is to make the public understand what you have to sell, and if you do not keep advertising until that information has taken hold, then all the money spent is wasted. You are like the person who said to a gentleman that if he would give him ten cents, he could 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," the man replied, "fully determined to get drunk, and I have spent my only dollar trying to accomplish it, but it has not quite done the job. Ten cents’ worth more of whiskey would finish it, and in that way I would save the dollar already spent."

So anyone who advertises at all must keep at it until the public knows who they are, what they do, and what they have to offer, or the money spent on advertising is lost.

Some people have a special gift for writing an advertisement that catches the reader’s attention at once, and this naturally gives them a great advantage. Sometimes a person makes a business widely known by a distinctive sign or an unusual display in the window. I once noticed a swinging sign extending over the sidewalk in front of a store with this plain inscription:

"DON'T READ THE OTHER SIDE"

Of course I did read the other side, and so did everyone else, and I learned that the man had built his independence by first drawing the public to his business in that way and then treating his customers well afterward.

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 do not say that everyone should advertise exactly as Mr. Genin did. But I do say that if a person has goods for sale and does not advertise them in some way, the chances are that someday the sheriff will do it instead. Nor do I say that everyone must advertise in a newspaper, or even use printer’s ink at all. In many cases it is indispensable, but doctors and clergy, and sometimes lawyers and others, may reach the public more effectively in other ways. Still, it is obvious that they must become known somehow, or how else could they be supported?

BE POLITE AND KIND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

Politeness and civility are among the best forms of capital ever invested in business. Large stores, gilt signs, and flashy advertisements will all prove useless if you or your employees treat patrons abruptly. The truth is that the kinder and more generous a person is, the more generous the patronage they are likely to receive. Like begets like. The one who gives the greatest amount of goods or service of fair quality for the lowest price, while still reserving 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." People will treat you better in return than if you always act as though you want to get the most out of them for the least possible return. Those who drive hard bargains with customers, acting as though they never expect to see them again, will not be mistaken. They will never see them again as customers. People do not like to pay and be mistreated as well.

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.

BE CHARITABLE

Of course people should be charitable, because it is both a duty and a pleasure. But even as a matter of practical wisdom, if you possess no higher motive, you will find that a generous person attracts support, while the selfish and uncharitable miser is 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. Careless giving, without any effort to understand the circumstances of the person asking, can do harm in every sense. But to seek out and quietly assist those who are striving to improve their own condition is the kind of generosity that truly multiplies. At the same time, do not fall into the habit of offering pious words where practical help is needed. It is easier to encourage people when their basic needs are met than when they are hungry.

DON'T BLAB

Some people have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If they make money, they enjoy telling neighbors how it was done. Nothing is gained by this, and often much is lost. Say nothing about your profits, your hopes, your expectations, or your intentions. This should apply to letters as well as conversation. Goethe makes Mephistopheles say, "Never write a letter nor destroy one." Businesspeople must, of course, write letters, but they should be careful what they put into them. If you are losing money, be especially cautious about saying so, or you may lose your reputation as well.

PRESERVE YOUR INTEGRITY

Integrity is more precious than diamonds or rubies. An old miser once said to his sons, "Get money; get it honestly if you can, but get money." This advice was not only wicked, but foolish in the extreme. It was as much as saying, "If honest money is hard to obtain, then get it dishonestly." Poor fool—not to understand that one of the hardest things in life is to make money dishonestly and keep it. Our prisons are full of people who tried to follow that advice. No one can be dishonest for long without being found out, and once a person’s lack of principle is known, nearly every avenue to success is closed forever. The public very properly avoids those whose integrity is in doubt. No matter how polite, pleasant, or accommodating someone may be, none of us dares to deal with them if we suspect false weights and measures. Strict honesty lies at the foundation not only of financial success, but of success in every other respect. Uncompromising integrity of character is invaluable. It secures to its possessor a peace and joy that cannot be reached without it—something no amount of money, property, or land can buy. A person known to be strictly honest may be very poor, yet the purses of the whole community are at that person’s disposal, for everyone knows that if they promise to repay what they borrow, they will not disappoint. Even as a matter of self-interest, therefore, if one had no higher reason for being honest, it would still be true, as Dr. Franklin said, 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."

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