The Advantage of Being Born Poor

Book excerpt: When you're born poor, you quickly learn the difference between needs and wants. You want a new pair of shoes, but your parents can't afford them. Instead, you need to make the old shoes last. So, your mother cuts out a piece of cardboard to fit inside the shoes you have. The cardboard covers a hole in the sole and the lesson sticks with you for the rest of your life.Ernie Buresh wore those shoes more than 80 years ago. While the shoes are long gone, Ernie's memories of them provided the foundation for building his own soul thanks to many similar examples given to him by his mother.Now 88, Ernie reflects on a life that turned out to be more adventurous, more successful and more rewarding than he ever imagined. More than a biography, "The Advantage of Being Born Poor" not only examines one man's life, but passes on the valuable advantages of hard work, learning from other people's examples and making your own luck.From a poor childhood where earning a quarter to mow a lawn seemed unbelievably fortunate, Ernie forged a successful 52-year career in banking that has allowed him to give away millions of dollars to causes close to his heart. But, more importantly, this shy and quiet child grew up to embrace the notion that giving of yourself can come back two-fold, that a positive attitude makes you look forward to waking up every morning and that developing hundreds of friendships along the way is the real secret to success.Yes, follow Ernie Buresh as he makes a few false career starts, learns that risk can lead to reward, builds his own house so he can live mortgage free and mourns the death of a daughter who needed special attention after her heart surgeries as a child. In the end, the ups and downs of "The Advantage of Being Born Poor" will give you an appreciation for the opportunities in your own life.