Ancient Wisdom & Virtues

Proverbs on Wealth & Diligence

The Book of Proverbs contains concentrated wisdom on money, work, and prosperity. Themes include the dangers of debt, the value of diligent labor, and the importance of planning.

Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14-30 presents a parable about stewardship and investment. Servants are entrusted with capital and judged on how they deploy it - a foundational text for understanding productive use of resources.

Ecclesiastes on Contentment

Ecclesiastes offers reflections on the meaning of wealth and the limitations of material pursuits. A sobering counterbalance to the endless accumulation mindset.

On Lawful Trade

“O you who believe! Do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only in lawful business by mutual consent.”

— Surah An-Nisa 4:29

On Honest Measurement

“Woe to those who give less than due, who, when they take a measure from people, take in full. But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss.”

— Surah Al-Mutaffifin 83:1-3

On Seeking Provision Through Trade

“And when the prayer has been concluded, disperse within the land and seek from the bounty of Allah, and remember Allah often that you may succeed.”

— Surah Al-Jumu'ah 62:10

On the Prohibition of Usury (Riba)

“Those who consume interest cannot stand on the Day of Resurrection except as one stands who is being beaten by Satan into insanity. That is because they say, 'Trade is just like interest.' But Allah has permitted trade and has forbidden interest.”

— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:275

On Recording Contracts & Debts

“O you who believe! When you contract a debt for a specified term, write it down. And let a scribe write it between you in justice.”

— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:282

This verse, the longest in the Quran, establishes detailed principles for documenting financial transactions - anticipating modern contract law and accounting practices by over a millennium.

Bhagavad Gita on Artha & Dharma

The Bhagavad Gita addresses the four pursuits of life (Purusharthas): Dharma (righteousness), Artha (wealth/prosperity), Kama (pleasure), and Moksha (liberation). Artha pursued in alignment with Dharma represents ethical wealth creation.

The Four Purusharthas Framework

This framework suggests that wealth (Artha) is a legitimate pursuit when balanced with ethical conduct (Dharma) and not pursued at the expense of spiritual development. A holistic view of success that integrates material and spiritual dimensions.

Sigalovada Sutra on Wealth

The Sigalovada Sutra provides practical advice on managing wealth, including dividing income into portions for living expenses, savings, and business investment - an ancient framework resembling modern budgeting advice.

Right Livelihood

Part of the Noble Eightfold Path, Right Livelihood encourages earning a living through ethical means that do not harm others. This principle anticipates modern ESG investing by millennia, encouraging investors to consider the broader impact of their capital allocation.

A Bird in the Hand

The proverb “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” originates from Aesop's fable of the hawk and the nightingale. Warren Buffett expanded this into a complete investment framework: the value of any investment depends on how many birds are in the bush, when they will emerge, and the risk-free rate of return.

“The formula for valuing all assets that are purchased for financial gain has been unchanged since it was first laid out by a very smart man in about 600 B.C.”

— Warren Buffett, 2000 Shareholder Letter

The Goose & the Golden Egg

A man owned a goose that laid a golden egg every day. Growing impatient with getting only one egg at a time, he killed the goose to get all the gold at once - and found nothing inside.

Moral: Those who have plenty want more and so lose all they have. A lesson against destroying productive assets for short-term gain - relevant to both corporate raiders and impatient investors.

The Miser & His Gold

A miser buried his gold and visited it daily to admire it. When a thief stole it, a neighbor told him to bury a stone instead and look at that - it would do just as much good, since he never used the gold anyway.

Moral: Wealth unused might as well not exist. Capital must be deployed productively - hoarding is not the same as wealth creation.

Hesiod's Works and Days

~700 BCE

The earliest Greek text on economics and the dignity of labor. Hesiod argues that honest work is the only path to prosperity, distinguishing between good strife (competition that improves) and bad strife (envy that destroys).

“By earnest work one's loved more by the gods above. There's no disgrace in toil; disgrace it is to shirk.”

“If to a little you a little more should add and do this often, with great speed it will expand.”

Aristotle on Oikonomia vs. Chrematistics

Politics, ~350 BCE

Aristotle distinguished between oikonomia (household management for life's necessities) and chrematistics (wealth-getting for its own sake). Natural acquisition has a limit; unnatural chrematistics knows no bounds.

“The art of household management is not identical with the art of getting wealth, for the one uses the material which the other provides.”

Aristotle condemned usury as the most unnatural form of wealth-getting: “money begetting money.” This distinction between productive enterprise and pure financial speculation remains relevant today.

Seneca on Wealth

De Vita Beata (On the Happy Life), ~58 CE

Seneca was one of the wealthiest men in Rome while also being a Stoic philosopher. He defended this apparent contradiction: what matters is your attitude toward wealth, not its possession.

“I deny that riches are a good, for if they were, they would make men good.”

“In my eyes riches have a certain place, in yours they have the highest; in fine, I own my riches, yours own you.”

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations, ~170 CE

The philosopher-emperor ruled the Roman Empire while practicing Stoic detachment. His private journal offers wisdom on maintaining equanimity amid both fortune and adversity.

“Death and life, success and failure, pain and pleasure, wealth and poverty, all these happen to good and bad alike, and they are neither noble nor shameful - and hence neither good nor bad.”

“The only wealth which you will keep forever is the wealth you have given away.”

Epictetus

Discourses, ~108 CE

Born a slave, Epictetus became one of the most influential Stoic teachers. His focus on what is within our control versus what is not provides a framework for managing the emotional challenges of investing.

“Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.”

Cicero on Commerce

De Officiis (On Duties), 44 BCE

Cicero ranked occupations by their suitability for a gentleman. While dismissing small retail as vulgar, he respected large-scale commerce and considered agriculture the most honorable way to build wealth.

“Trade, if it is on a small scale, is to be considered vulgar; but if wholesale and on a large scale, importing large quantities from all parts of the world and distributing to many without misrepresentation, it is not to be greatly disparaged.”

“Of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a freeman.”

On Generosity vs. Hoarding

A royal prince who inherited great treasure was warned against depleting his resources through generosity. He replied:

“God made me possessor of this country, to enjoy and to bestow, not to guard and to retain.”

On Small Tyrannies Compounding

King Nushirvan insisted on paying villagers for salt rather than simply taking it, recognizing a timeless principle:

“The foundation of oppression was small in the world but whoever came augmented it so that it reached its present magnitude.”

A lesson on how small ethical compromises compound over time - equally applicable to personal integrity and corporate governance.

On Independence vs. Service

When asked why he labored instead of serving the sultan for easier wealth, a man replied:

“It is better to eat barley bread and to sit than to gird oneself with a golden belt and to stand in service.”

The value of financial independence over well-compensated servitude.

On True Contentment

One of the most famous passages from the Gulistan, still quoted worldwide:

“I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man who had no feet.”