The Richest Man in Babylon
I just finished this book, I think it's just fantastic. Originally written as a set of pamphlets carrying stories written in the old style of the King James bible, it tells a story of the ancient city of Babylon, and how a few inhabitants were able to rise to great wealth. The pamphlets were distributed through insurance brokers, and became so popular they were eventually assembled into this book.

The story is inspirational. It begins with how important it is to always pay yourself first, that is, spend less than you earn, then put that money to work for you earning more money. The value of hard work, to not take shortcuts, and invest safely, to manipulate luck into your own favor, and it talks about debt as slavery. I loved it, I think you should all read it.

The original book was comiled around 1920, and I understand that the version I have is a revised edition written in more modern english. Sort of like the new world version of the bible I suppose. At any rate, it's a great parable, and everything still applies in these modern times.