Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money
Author: Rabbi Daniel Lapin
List Price: $24.95
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ISBN: 0471218685
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons (13 September, 2002)
Sales Rank: 61,466
Average Customer Rating: 4.74 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Read and Thou Shall Prosper
As a business owner in a service industry I have gained more from this book than almost any other personal finance or business management book that I have read. Unlike so many others, Rabbi Daniel Lapin does not offer any quick tricks or simple solutions. He describes a powerful process of self improvement and real change that I have found to be personally exhilarating as well as already profitable. I can see how my many financially successful Jewish friends seem to follow the rabbi's prescriptions almost subconsciously. Now after seeing the business process through Rabbi Lapin's eyes I find myself finding opportunity where I never saw it before. Through the practical steps that conclude each chapter I have been able to adjust my intuitive response to people and situations and this has allowed me to negotiate more effectively. The most amazing thing is how often during my first read of Thou Shall Prosper, I exclaimed "Wow! He's right!" This stuff isn't rocket science but it is often counterintuitive. I could have used some more diagrams and clarification of some of the more complex principles but with a few rereadings, it was fine. I recommend this book for its practical ability to make you really prosper whereas before you might just have been doing OK. He says that if you want to make different things happen to you it isn't enough to do different things, you must actually become different. If you want to change, this book can help you do so. It is going to be my present of choice for many friends and relatives during this holiday season. You won't regret having it in your business library.
Rating: 5 out of 5
OUTSTANDING!
I have read many of the popular "airport books" that promise to provide the secrets to success in business. They are like candy tidbits compared to the insights and depth of meaning provided by Rabbi Lapin in his "Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money." And how could it be otherwise? He is conveying information and insights drawn from the wisdom found in the Holy Scriptures and the Talmud, the encyclopedia of advice for living. The Talmud, described by Will Durant as "...the most complex and astonishing stories in the history of the human mind..." includes, naturally, true wisdom related to business activities - the economic interaction between men (and women) - seeking success not just in business but success in living.Rabbi Lapin succeeds in both areas. He does not preach from a lofty pulpit, he acknowledges his personal business mistakes and with hindsight clearly sees their cause(s). The reader will benefit as much from those insights as from the other insights of wisdom, for business and for living, found throughout this wonderful book. I am highly confident serious readers of all religious faiths will learn much from Rabbi Lapin's teachings.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Both Entertaining and Useful
Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin is an excellent book that covers three general subject areas: self-help, personal finance and career development. Basically, the author gives advice in a series of commandments on "making money" where he sprinkles in Jewish wisdom. There is a great deal of useful advice that would have proved especially timely for many professionals in 2001. It does not offer a great deal of assistance dealing with short term cash generation. Rather, the author aims to give readers life-long direction with the goal of building wealth.The underlying theme of this book is that wealth creation is fundamentally virtuous because it creates wealth and prosperity for your neighbors. Moreover, he stresses the value of money and why it is such an important element of society. His suggestions range from the subtle such as how to carry yourself to more profound concepts such as never aiming to retire.
The book is filled with interesting stories intended to reinforce his ideas. These include a 70 year old forklift driver who earns a six figure income through extensive overtime only to give the money away to charity. Another is a sales representative relative who likes to drive around to far-flung locations in his Rolls Royce.
While very entertaining, the book has its shortcomings. Rabbi Lapin glosses over how large segments of the economy do in fact operate with minimal honesty. Oddly, he even suggests not being entirely honest as it is not socially acceptable.
Like Evangelical Christian preachers, he draws some pretty far-fetched conclusions about the meaning of specific bible versus. The passages he selects support the virtuousness of earning a living. Any intelligent person can read several different meanings in the selections, so I would have to suggest that this approach won't convince many readers of his arguments. This isn't to mean the general ideas aren't strong, just the supporting passages. He also makes some highly questionable scientific claims. For example, he argues that watching movies instead of reading books is detrimental to your creativity because reading allows one to creatively develop images instead of having a director create them for you.
Despite its flaws, I personally found the book very, very interesting. If you like books such How to Win Friends and Influence People and Daniel Goleman's Primal Leadership, you will probably enjoy Thou Shall Prosper a great deal.
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