What fueled me was the desperation of knowing that unless I found a way around my lack of capital, unless I could pour my energy into a venture of my own, I would be condemned to a life of wage slavery. A job for the rich-in-training is merely something to keep you ticking over, to put food on your plate and wine in your glass. And the less you care what the neighbors think, the more likely you are to take the plunge and exploit an opportunity.

As the author so sagely and frequently points out, almost all of the other self-help book authors have no basis for the advice they give. Getting rich is not a path to happiness, it is just another neurotic drive much like that of the politician that all entrepreneurs (including Dennis) affect to despise. True happiness, once a modicum of security is achieved, is about who you are and how you relate to the world regardless of how many things you have. He has a very clear-eyed view of his subsequent journey to multi-millionaire status, and shares valuable insight about both the things he did right and the things he did wrong.This is a great book for magazine publishers and very interesting for budding and mature entrepreneurs in any business. This isn't a perfect book - parts of it could probably be condensed, and I'm not sure he really succeeded in his attempt to explain that key point of how to know when you need to persevere and when it's really time to throw in the towel - but despite these flaws, I think it's quite useful reading for anyone who is thinking about starting or who has recently started a business. Not knowing that something cannot be done, you are likely to waltz into uncharted minefields where angels before you have feared to dance. It's the methodology employers use to shackle useful employees to their desks without having to pay them too much. Because if you have a losing strategy and think it’s a slow-burn winning strategy, you can waste years continuing along a path that won’t yield the fruit you’re looking for.

On Page 73 is a great bit of business wisdom which is a simple as it is obvious and is great pure practical advice. The assumption that you might be able to achieve some goal if you only wished hard enough is not just a f***-up. Worse still, by continually wishing and never delivering, you risk denting your confidence, beginning a vicious downward spiral that appears to draw misfortune like a magnet. But either you control and develop such ideas or the ideas will come to dominate your waking thoughts.On the other side of the "glamorous" coin, very few of those who want their picture on the front cover of Vogue, or wish to become a movie director or to run the coolest PR company in the world, get to achieve anything. It is because of this and the wisdom found within Dennis’s book, that How to get Rich is so unique in the way it explains the methods and consequences of obtaining capital. It can provide you with comfort and possessions, but it also often comes with the stress of protecting your wealth and the guilt of figuring out what to do with it.