Bernard Baruch was a young man who started his career as a messenger boy on Wall Street when he was 15. His starting salary was $3.50 per week. By practicing some of the principles we are discussing here, especially by becoming an expert in the field of investing, he eventually became one of the wealthiest men in America and an advisor to six presidents, including Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Baruch‘s approach to value and investing was simple and direct. He once said, —the first requisite for making a lot of money is to want to make a lot of money.“ The first requirement was to make a clear decision and then to back that decision with will and determination. There are an enormous number of people who have never sat down and thought through whether or not they want to make a lot of money. They may wish and hope and pray about making a lot of money, but they have never decided to do so. The truth is that you must really, really want it if you’re going to achieve it.
