Robert Toru Kiyosaki (b.1947) is an American self-styled personal wealth guru and the author of the bestselling Rich Dad, Poor Dad book series.
In Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2000,) Kiyosaki contended that becoming rich isn’t about money itself, but the freedom to call time one’s own, and having one’s choices unrestrained by financial or societal pressures. According to Kiyosaki, the critical thing that separates the rich from the poor is that they make money work for them rather than working for money.
Rich Dad, Poor Dad sold over 32 million copies in 51 languages and remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for more than six decades. Written as a set of parables, seemingly based on his own life, Kiyosaki described how his father was a socialist and a loser, while a friend’s father taught him everything about making money. Kiyosaki’s father is the “poor dad” of the book’s title—highly educated but a slave to his salary and always griping about not having enough money. On the contrary, the friend’s father, the rich dad, had little formal education but plenty in terms of financial cunning.
Kiyosaki’s other popular books include Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant (2011,) The Business of the 21st Century (2012,) and Retire Young Retire Rich (2015.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Robert Kiyosaki
You’re only poor if you give up. The most important thing is that you did something. Most people only talk and dream of getting rich. You’ve done something.
—Robert Kiyosaki
A lot of people are afraid to tell the truth, to say no. That’s where toughness comes into play. Toughness is not being a bully. It’s having backbone.
—Robert Kiyosaki
The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most.
—Robert Kiyosaki
Topics: Unhappiness
The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.
—Robert Kiyosaki
Topics: Desire
If you’re the kind of person who has no guts, you just give up every time life pushes you. If you’re that kind of person, you’ll live all your life playing it safe, doing the right things, saving yourself for something that never happens. Then, you die a boring old man.
—Robert Kiyosaki
Rule One. You must know the difference between an asset and a liability and buy assets. Poor and middle class acquire liabilities, but they think they are assets. An asset is something that puts money in my pocket. A liability is something that takes money out of my pocket.
—Robert Kiyosaki
Topics: Money
Whenever you feel ‘short’ or in ‘need’ of something, give what you want first and it will come back in buckets. That is true for money, a smile, love, friendship. I know it is often the last thing a person may want to do, but it has always worked for me. I just trust that the principle of reciprocity is true, and I give what I want.
—Robert Kiyosaki
As I said, I wish I could say it was easy. It wasn’t, but it wasn’t hard either. But without a strong reason or purpose, anything in life is hard.
—Robert Kiyosaki
We were not taught financial literacy in school. It takes a lot of work and time to change your thinking and to become financially literate.
—Robert Kiyosaki
Topics: Change, Work, Thinking
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