The Art of Money Getting · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for The Art of Money Getting by P. T. Barnum.
Chapter 1
The Art of Money Getting
This introductory chapter presents the foundational principles of acquiring wealth, emphasizing that money getting is both an art and a science. It argues that success depends not on luck but on following specific, proven rules such as honesty, perseverance, choosing the right vocation, and avoiding debt. The author sets the stage for a series of practical maxims that will be elaborated in subsequent chapters.
Chapter 2
Don't Mistake Your Vocation
The chapter emphasizes the importance of choosing a vocation that aligns with one's natural talents and inclinations, warning against parents forcing careers upon their children without regard for their innate aptitudes. It argues that success is most likely when a person follows their genuine calling, and that forcing a mismatch leads to lifelong struggle and dissatisfaction.
Chapter 3
Select the Right Location
This chapter emphasizes the importance of choosing the right location for one's business after selecting the proper vocation. Using the example of a talented showman in London who failed due to a poor location, the author illustrates how relocating to America led to the showman's success and wealth.
Chapter 4
Avoid Debt
This chapter warns young men against the dangers of debt, emphasizing that debt robs a person of self-respect and leads to a life of poverty. It contrasts the slavery of owing money with the freedom of having money work for you through interest. The author advises against getting credit for consumption, shares anecdotes about Horatio the lazy apprentice and John Randolph's 'pay as you go' philosophy, and notes that while some debt for productive assets like land may be acceptable, debt for daily expenses is to be avoided.
Chapter 5
Persevere
This chapter emphasizes the necessity of perseverance and self-reliance in achieving success. It warns against laziness, hesitation, and borrowing trouble, and uses examples from generals and proverbs to illustrate that unwavering determination and faith in oneself are crucial to overcoming obstacles and reaching one's goals.
Chapter 6
Whatever You Do, Do It with All Your Might
This chapter emphasizes the importance of thoroughness, ambition, energy, industry, and perseverance in business and life. It warns against idleness and waiting for luck, using proverbs and anecdotes to illustrate that success comes from doing one's part diligently and trusting Providence only after taking action.
Chapter 7
Depend Upon Your Own Personal Exertions
This chapter emphasizes the importance of personal effort, experience, and thorough knowledge of one's business for achieving success. It argues that an employer's own oversight is more valuable than hired help, and that learning through mistakes is essential. Using examples like Cuvier's expertise and Rothschild's maxims, the author advocates for a balance of caution and boldness, and dismisses luck as a factor in success.
Chapter 8
Use the Best Tools
This chapter emphasizes the importance of hiring the best employees, treating them as valuable tools, and retaining them as they gain experience. It warns against yielding to exorbitant salary demands and highlights the superiority of employees who combine thinking with working, using Mr. Beecher's illustration of fingers that think versus a brain that thinks.
Chapter 9
Don't Get Above Your Business
Barnum warns against the folly of young men who, after learning a trade, refuse to work as hirelings and instead wait for inherited wealth or borrowed capital. He argues that money not earned through effort is easily lost, citing examples of self-made millionaires like Astor, Stewart, Girard, and Vanderbilt. He contrasts the poor boy who becomes rich through perseverance and economy with the rich boy who squanders his inheritance. Barnum emphasizes that in America, the man makes the business, not the other way around, and that true success comes from excelling in one's chosen field with honesty and integrity.
Chapter 10
Learn Something Useful
Barnum emphasizes the importance of teaching children a useful trade or profession as a safeguard against the vicissitudes of fortune, ensuring they have a tangible skill to rely on even if they lose their wealth.
Chapter 11
Let Hope Predominate, but Be Not Too Visionary
This chapter warns against excessive vision and constant shifting between businesses, advising that hope should be tempered with practicality to avoid poverty and failure.
Chapter 12
Do Not Scatter Your Powers
This chapter emphasizes the importance of focusing on a single business or occupation, sticking to it faithfully until success is achieved or experience dictates a change. It argues that concentrated attention leads to valuable improvements, while dividing one's efforts among many pursuits often results in lost fortunes.
Chapter 13
Be Systematic
This chapter emphasizes the importance of system and order in business, illustrating how a systematic approach leads to greater efficiency and leisure. It warns against excessive rigidity, using the example of a waiter named Pat who follows the system so literally that he refuses to serve fish to a guest who has not finished his soup.
Chapter 14
Read the Newspapers
This chapter emphasizes the importance of reading a trustworthy newspaper to stay informed about world events, inventions, and improvements in trade. Without a newspaper, one risks being isolated and left behind in business.
Chapter 15
Beware of “Outside Operations”
This chapter warns against the dangers of abandoning one's legitimate business to pursue speculative 'outside operations.' It illustrates how a successful man, flattered by friends and seduced by promises of quick riches, may risk his hard-earned fortune on ventures he does not understand, only to lose everything when the bubble bursts. The key lesson is to remain in one's area of expertise and to invest only modestly in unfamiliar enterprises.
Chapter 16
Don't Endorse Without Security
This chapter warns against endorsing notes or becoming security for others without taking proper security, illustrating how easy access to credit can lead to ruinous speculation and financial loss for both the borrower and the endorser.
Chapter 17
Advertise Your Business
This chapter emphasizes the critical importance of advertising for any business, arguing that even the best product will fail if the public does not know about it. Barnum uses the example of Genin the hatter, who bought the first Jenny Lind ticket at auction for $225 as a brilliant publicity stunt, leading to a massive increase in hat sales. He stresses that advertising must be persistent and consistent, comparing it to sowing before reaping, and warns against spurious goods, as dishonest advertising will ultimately ruin a business.
Chapter 18
Be Polite and Kind to Your Customers
This chapter emphasizes the importance of politeness and civility in business, arguing that treating customers with kindness and respect is more valuable than any advertisement. It illustrates this with an anecdote about an usher who wanted to whip an insulting customer, but the author explains that losing a customer costs more than enduring rudeness.
Chapter 19
Be Charitable
The chapter argues that charity is both a duty and a pleasure, and that even from a practical standpoint, generosity attracts patronage while miserliness repels it. It distinguishes true charity—helping those who help themselves—from indiscriminate almsgiving, and warns against offering prayers instead of material aid to the hungry.
Chapter 20
Don’t Blab
This chapter warns against the foolish habit of revealing business secrets, profits, hopes, and intentions, emphasizing the importance of discretion in both conversation and correspondence to protect one's reputation and financial standing.
Chapter 21
Preserve Your Integrity
This chapter argues that integrity is more valuable than wealth, warning that dishonesty ultimately closes doors to success. It distinguishes between the love of money as a root of evil and the proper use of wealth for human benefit, asserting that honest money-getters are benefactors of civilization.
