One was highly educated and intelligent; he had a Ph.D. and com- pleted four years of undergraduate work in less than two years. He then went on to Stanford University, the Univer- sity of Chicago, and Northwestern University to do his ad- vanced studies, all on full financial scholarships. The other father never finished the eighth grade. Both men were successful in their careers, working hard all their lives. Both earned substantial incomes. Yet one struggled financially all his life. The other would become one of theTichest men in Hawaii. One died leaving tens of millions of dollars to his family, charities and his church. The other left bills to be paid. Both men were strong, charismatic and influential. Both men offered me advice, but they did not advise the same things. Both men believed strongly in education but did not recommend the same course of study. If I had had only one dad, I would have had to accept or reject his advice. Having two dads advising me offered me the choice of contrasting points of view; one of a rich man and one of a poor man. 20 Rich Dad, Poor Dad stops working. By asking the question "How can I afford it?" your brain is put to work. He did not mean buy every- thing you wanted. He was fanatical about exercising your mind, the most powerful computer in the world. "My brain gets stronger every day because I exercise it. The stronger it gets, the more money I can make." He believed that au- tomatically saying "I can't afford it" was a sign of mental laziness. Although both dads worked hard, I noticed that one dad had a habit of putting his brain to sleep when it came to money matters, and the other had a habit of exercising his brain. The long-term result was that one dad grew stronger financially and the other grew weaker. It is not much different from a person who goes to the gym to ex- ercise on a regular basis versus someone who sits on the couch watching television. Proper physical exercise in- creases your chances for health, anTproperjnental exer- cise increases you7Fahce?ToT'wearth. laziness decreases both health and wealth.--"~ My two dads had opposing attitudes in thought. One dad thought that the rich should pay more in taxes to take care of those less fortunate. The other said, "Taxes punish those who producejmd reward those who don't produce." One dad recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to work for." The other recommended, "Study hard so you can find a good company to buy." One dad said, "The reason I'm not rich is because I have you kids." The other said, "The reason I must be rich is be- cause I have you kids." One encouraged talking about money and business at the dinner table. The other forbade the subject of money to be discussed over a meal. Rich Dad, Poor Dad 21 One said, "When it comes to money, play it safe, don't take risks." The other said, "Learn to manage risk." One believed, "Our homejsour largest investment and our greatest asset.