According to Rabbi Daniel Lapin, author of Thou Shalt Prosper, the four human motivations are 1) wisdom, 2) wealth, 3) power, and 4) the esteem of others. The author states that Jewish tradition teaches that the river which flows out of the Garden of Eden to water the garden, which splits into four heads, is actually not a real river at all, but is symbolic of the four motivations of mankind that drives him.
"10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates."-Genesis 2:10-14
The author states that in order to live a full life, one must balance each of the motivations that they follow after without trying to specialize in any one. He states that wealth is the product of a life well-lived, not the purpose of living life. As well, he states that money should not be sought after directly, but indirectly, so as to achieve the goal morally. And wealth enough to feed and clothe yourself may be enough but it does not offer one satisfaction in the need for power. Fulfill your four needs by doing that which is necessary to receive them through moral means. Remember the four: 1) wisdom, 2) wealth, 3) power, and 4) the esteem of others.
Though this is only a brain teaser, forgive me for not elaborating further. Therefore, I highly recommend reading this book, so much so, that I will place a link on this page to get the book from Amazon.com or the audio book from Audible.com.
The audio book is 18 hours long, but as a Christian I can honestly say that I have gleaned so many insights about business and wealth from the book from the first 1/3 of the book that I see money in a completely different way, and I definitely see life in a different way. If you take the time to listen to it, you will too. It's very politically correct in so many ways that it's surprising.
The biggest theme of the book is that if you follow the wisdom of the Bible to know the way the world really works, then you too, may become a financial success like many Jews are all over the world. Another theme which stood out to me is that you will gain financially according to the level which you meet the needs of the world. Another was, that business (no matter how big) is not "evil" but it is "spiritual" because it is something that only humans do.
In my opinion, every person who desires to go into business should listen to this book. It's worth "millions". Peace and grace my friends.
