16/07/2026
If you can, skip a meal, but not a book.
Great wisdom.
Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book.
My friend, let me tell you something that took me too long to learn.
When I was 25 years old, I was broke. Not just short on money — broke in every sense. Broke financially, broke intellectually, broke spiritually. I had a high school education and a long list of excuses for why things weren't working out.
Then my mentor, Mr. Earl Shoaff, handed me a book and said, "Jim, this will change your life — but only if you read it."
I almost didn't. I had a dozen reasons not to. Too busy. Too tired. Didn't see the point. I was a reader of the sports page and the comic strips, not books about personal philosophy.
But I read it. And then I read another. And another.
Within a few years, the books had done something my formal education never did — they rewired how I thought about everything. About money, about relationships, about what was possible for someone like me.
Here's what I discovered: a book costs a few dollars. But what it can deposit into your mind is priceless. And what it costs you NOT to read it — well, that's the real expense. You pay for ignorance with your life.
I used to tell my audiences, "Miss a meal if you have to, but don't miss a book." Some of them laughed. But I wasn't joking. Your body can skip a meal and recover by tomorrow. Your mind, if you starve it of ideas, falls further behind every single day.
This week, we're exploring why Jim believed books and learning were the foundation of everything. Not just career success — everything. Relationships, health, happiness, purpose.
Let me ask you this: what book is sitting on your shelf right now that you haven't opened? Maybe this is the week to pick it up.
www.jimrohn.com
