Robert Kiyosaki

"A problem with school is that you often become what you study."

"Life is sometimes tough when you do not fit the “standard” profile."

"My real estate strategy, on the other hand, is to start small and keep trading the properties up for bigger properties and, therefore, delaying paying taxes on the gain. This allows the value to increase dramatically. I generally hold real estate less than seven years."

"The poor and middle class buy luxuries with their own sweat, blood and children’s inheritance."

"If you know what you’re talking about, you have a fighting chance."

"When someone sues a wealthy individual they are often met with layers of legal protection, and often find that the wealthy person actually owns nothing. They control everything, but own nothing."

"We all have tremendous potential, and we all are blessed with gifts. Yet, the one thing that holds all of us back is some degree of self-doubt. It is not so much the lack of technical information that holds us back, but more the lack of self-confidence. Some are more affected than others."

"Often in the real world, it’s not the smart that get ahead but the bold."

"The people who get out of the “Rat Race” in the game the quickest are the people who understand numbers and have creative financial minds."

"Limiting your options is the same as hanging on to old ideas."

"That is financial intelligence. It is not so much what happens, but how many different financial solutions you can think of to turn a lemon into millions. It is how creative you are in solving financial problems."

"I’d rather welcome change than cling to the past."

"The idea in anything is to use your technical knowledge, wisdom and love of the game to cut the odds down, to lower the risk."

"Failure is part of the process of success."

"People who avoid failure also avoid success."

"You see with your mind what others miss with their eyes."

"In other words, a majority of people let their lack of money stop them from making a deal."

"Investing is not buying. It’s more a case of knowing."

"It is what you do not know that is your greatest risk."

"There is always risk, so learn to manage risk instead of avoid it."

"In my attempt to be helpful, I found myself defending my suggestion."

"“I am a terrible writer. You are a great writer. I went to sales school. You have a master’s degree. Put them together and you get a best-selling author’ and a ‘best-writing author.’ ”"

"The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. They are all around us."

"The sad truth is, great talent is not enough."

"[...]financial intelligence is a synergy of accounting, investing, marketing and law."

"When it comes to money, the only skill most people know is to work hard."

"[...]schools reward people who study more and more about less and less."

"Job is an acronym for ‘Just Over Broke.’"

"When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little to nothing about business systems."

"The world is filled with talented poor people."

"Getting a good education and making good grades no longer ensures success, and nobody seems to have noticed, except our children."

"And in all my years, I have never met a rich person who has never lost money. But I have met a lot of poor people who have never lost a dime…investing, that is."

"The fear of losing money is real. Everyone has it. Even the rich. But it’s not fear that is the problem. It’s how you handle fear. It’s how you handle losing. It’s how you handle failure that makes the difference in one’s life. That goes for anything in life, not just money. The primary difference between a rich person and a poor person is how they handle that fear."

"“It’s a Texan’s attitude toward risk, reward and failure I’m talking about. It’s how they handle life. They live it big."

"“Winning means being unafraid to lose.”"

"[...]take a loss and make it a win."

"Texans don’t bury their failures. They get inspired by them. They take their failures and turn them into rallying cries. Failure inspires Texans to become winners. But that formula is not just the formula for Texans. It is the formula for all winners."

"All too often, they’re poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of, not because of what they know but because of what they do not know."

"“Today, the most dangerous advice you can give a child is ‘Go to school, get good grades and look for a safe secure job,’ ” he likes to say. “That is old advice, and it’s bad advice. If you could see what is happening in Asia, Europe, South America, you would be as concerned as I am.”"

"It’s bad advice, he believes, “because if you want your child to have a financially secure future, they can’t play by the old set of rules. It’s just too risky.”"

"Education is the foundation of success[...]"

"Remember that financial intelligence is the mental process via which we solve our financial problems."

"As a process, choosing for myself turned out to be much more valuable in the long run, rather than simply accepting or rejecting a single point of view."

"“I can’t afford it.” The other dad forbade those words to be used. He insisted I say, “How can I afford it?” One is a statement, and the other is a question."

"[...]proper mental exercise increases your chances for wealth."

"“The reason I must be rich is because I have you kids.”"

"“There is a difference between being poor and being broke. Broke is temporary, and poor is eternal.”"

"If you can’t make up you mind decisively, then you’ll never learn to make money anyway."

"“But that is not how life teaches you, and I would say that life is the best teacher of all. Most of the time, life does not talk to you. It just sort of pushes you around. Each push is life saying, ‘Wake up. There’s something I want you to learn.’ ”"

"“If you learn life’s lessons, you will do well. If not, life will just continue to push you around. People do two things. Some just let life push them around. Others get angry and push back. But they push back against their boss, or their job, or their husband or wife. They do not know it’s life that’s pushing.”"