The Art of Money Getting
Golden Rules for Making Money
P. T. Barnum 1880
This short guide offers practical advice on earning money and running a business. Barnum even treats tobacco as an expensive habit that can undermine success.
49 pages 57 min reading time
- An early classic of American self-help writing about getting ahead with money and business.
- Argues that wealth comes less from luck than from steady habits: choosing work that suits you, avoiding debt, and spending less than you earn.
- Insists that honesty, keeping promises, and treating customers well are smart business, not just good manners.
- Helped shape a lasting American tradition of practical success guides, and it is still reprinted and quoted by writers on personal finance.
Born from bankruptcy
Barnum first gave these talks after a bad investment in a clock company left him nearly broke.
Lectures that paid debts
He delivered it as a paid lecture to crowds in England, and the fees helped him climb out of debt.
A showman preaching honesty
Its call for honest dealing came from a man famous for hoaxes like the fake "Feejee Mermaid."
From stage to page
The lecture was printed in Barnum's own life story before appearing as a short book of its own.