Street Smart Prince

Street Smart Prince

There was a prince who enjoyed his life in a Royal palace. The Queen mother wanted him to learn one of the most
important things in life – The value of money.

She decided to educate the Prince in a far off place, outside the kingdom. The Queen mother sent him away with
very little money to meet his basic needs. “She doesn’t understand the cost of living here,” the Prince thought to
himself. He sent a letter asking for more money. The Queen mother expected this to happen. She wrote back on
the value of every penny and why it was important to understand it.

The prince expected a princely sum and didn’t expect this reply. The prince however managed to live his life with
whatever money he had yet it wasn’t easy. He wrote to the Queen mother again. She felt pained to see that the
prince was deprived of his luxury. Yet she wanted him to learn the importance of money for people, at this phase
of his life. That was more important to her than anything else. With a lot of difficulty, she declined and sent exactly
the same paltry sum, the next time. She sent him more tips and advice on managing money. This really bothered
the prince. By this time, he was a little better off than a month ago in managing his money. Still that wasn’t
enough.

The prince then decided that he should do something about it. He wrote another letter asking for money. More
advice with more rationale on managing money followed from the Queen mother. The conscience of the mother
pricked, “Will the prince think I am being too cruel to him?”, she thought to herself. She reconciled that her advice
had a noble intent.

Four months passed. There was no response from the Prince after he received the money. The Queen mother felt
very embarrassed. She grew worried. As the Queen mother was thinking, she got news from her Private Secretary.
It’s a letter from the Prince! She was so happy and relieved that the prince had written back. She knew what to
expect from the letter, as usual.

The unexpected happened!

The prince wrote to her- “Please do not send me more money. I value your care, intent and your experiential
wisdom. Your advice is more helpful than the money you have been sending. I have begun to realize the value of
your advice. Every piece of your advice is so worthy! So, please continue to share more advice on financial
planning.”

The Queen mother was happy that the prince understood her intent. “Thank God!” she said to herself and
continued reading the next paragraph – “I found a friend who owns a publishing house and struck a deal with him.
He has agreed to publish a book titled ‘Queen Mother’s tips to Financial Planning’. I have received an advance
payment of 500,000 bucks!”

Ref Chapter: 7.3 – Desire with limitations