P.T. Barnum’s Three Tips for Building Wealth

P. T. Barnum (1810 – 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and entertainer, who founded what became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He became a very wealthy man and he shares some advice on how to acquire wealth in his book “The Art Of Money Getting”. Here are three of the tips he shares in his book:

Be Frugal

“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.”

Choose Work You Enjoy

“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 . . . We are all, no doubt, born for a wise purpose . . . Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed.”

Be Cautious and Bold

“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 will eventually fail.”