What does politeness and civility have to do with earning money?
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This is the question we are considering as we work through P.T. Barnum’s book The Art of Money Getting.
This book was originally published in 1880 and is therefore no longer subject to nor protected by U.S. copyright law because the copyrights have expired.
Therefore, this book is found freely available online and the reuse of it here is permitted and may trigger content detection on the excerpts that are included for discussion.
The plan is to include excerpts and discussion through a series of posts, so there will be new content provided by me that include my thoughts on the reading to promote discussion in the comments.
Index of related Barnum Book Review posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
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We will pick up this session with BE POLITE AND KIND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS:
THE ART OF MONEY GETTING or GOLDEN RULES FOR MAKING MONEY
By P.T. Barnum
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.
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.
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.
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 it--which 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 disposal--for 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."
My Thoughts:
“Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business.”
What more can I say, other than that I agree with that wholly?
Besides being the right thing to do, I do my best to always be charitable and civil when I interact with others.
Everyone you meet has hopes, dreams, fears, goals, pet peeves, rough days, and deep desires
The last thing we need to do to each other is to forget our humanity.
I have not always lived up to this standard, but have this as a goal to “treat others the way I would like to be treated.”
This civility goes a long way, especially with people you come in contact with on a daily basis.
But don’t let the proximity of your relationships limit you either.
You never know when you may cross paths with someone again in this “small world”.
And for better or for worse, people remember you.
Usually.
Especially if you wronged them.
But back to Barnum…
“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.”
No kidding!
This ties directly into the next section on charity which basically says the same thing in another way.
“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.”
True, true.
The need to be careful with your time and giving has long been a concern of the good use of resources, yet also do not go so far as neglect to do good just out lack of trying to find a good cause.
P.T.’s “Don’t Blab” seems well-meaning, but a bit dated.
Or at least a great contrast to the Social MediaTM world we live in where everyone tells everything to all at all times.
Perhaps a scaled-back version would be better?
Many times, not saying what was on my mind went well and further than saying every passing thought with “no filter”.
Yet, here I am pouring my thoughts out as if anyone cared…
Lastly we part ways with the final section with the admonition to “Preserve Your Integrity”:
Barnum reminds us that your integrity “is more precious than diamonds or rubies.”
Although not the greatest, I try to uphold and keep my word and integrity in all that I do.
I tend to do this by being open and honest about what I am doing and why.
It still is true 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.”
Let me just say that I have seen this to be true.
This too bears repeating:
“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 it—which no amount of money, or houses and lands can purchase.”
What wisdom of the ages!
Although seemingly trite, nevertheless it is still true that “honesty is the best policy.”
Let us not forget the lessons we knew as children.
Just because we have aged does not mean the truth has changed.
P.T. follows this with a fastball that stings if you crowd the plate, “To get rich, is not always equivalent to being successful.”
How many I see chasing wealth all around, searching for what they think will make them, happy, better, more able to fulfill their passing desires, only to be frustrated without and with alike.
Your perspective with a little will shape your perspective with a lot.
“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.”
I believe this is why cryptocurrency is such a draw for a future of hope and creative production to improve the world.
A timely reminder, not to commit the fallacy of composition:
“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.”
Alas, we have reached the end and will leave with this parting shot:
“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."”
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
That’s all for now!
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