As a child, my dad often told us that the Japanese were aware of three powers: The power of the sword, the jewel, and the mirror. The sword symbolizes the power of weapons. America has spent trillions of dollars on weapons and, because of this, is a powerful military presence in the world. The jewel symbolizes the power of money. There is some degree of choose to do saying, “Remember the golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules.” The mirror symbolizes the power of self-knowledge. This self-knowledge, according to Japanese legend, was the most trusted treasure of the three. All too often, the poor and middle class allow the power of money to control them. My simply getting up and working harder, failing to ask themselves if what they do make sense, they shoot themselves in the foot as a leave for work every morning. By not fully understanding money, the vast majority of people allow its awesome power to control them. If they use the power of the mirror, they would have asked themselves, "Does this make sense?" All too often, instead of trusting their inner wisdom, that genius inside, most people follow the crowd. They do things because everybody else does them. They conform, rather than question.
- From "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert T. Kiyosaki