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DISCOURSE 57
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to her, “Dear daughter, as you say we were wrong; you were right in not sending money to us. You did a good thing. If you had sent money we would have spent it away. I have not been able to save anything and I do not know how to save money. I have been experiencing a great worry for a year. Dear child ! you have done a very sensible thing". All the members of the family were steeped in great joy. Now, the father and the son made a determination to save two thousand rupees a month. They stopped all unnecessary and wasteful expenditure. To-day the father is not alive but his family is happy and prosperous.
The principle relating to expenditure expounded in the Nithishastra is undoubtedly sound. Of course, you may deviate from that principle a little but you must conform strictly to che principle of saving.
Mr. Davidson Rockfeller is one of the richest men of the world. Do you know how he began his life ? His father died when he was young. He and his mother used to work as labourers earning only one and a quarter rupee every day. They were working as labourers. Even out of that meagre amount Davidson's mother used to save something every day. His mother impressed upon Davidson the importance of saving money. Later, with the money thus saved, Davidson began a petty business. By the time he was fifty years of age, he was a multimillionaire. Once Rockfeller said, "I have full confidence in my discretion and efforts. I always keep a careful account of what I save every day, every month and every year. I will never spend and I will never waste money on such addictions as drinking, gambling and smoking. I despise wasteful extravagance and meaningless splendour. I consider it the greatest weakness in man to desire to show off his wealth. I never touched either liquor or tobacco". You can save money only when you cut off all your wasteful expenditure. You spend more money on such superfluities as tea, coffee, betel leaves, cigarrettes and cinemas than upon your food and absolute necessities. How much money do you spend on hair oils and soap ? How much money do you spend on various devices of decoration ? How much money do you spend on such un
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