Source identified
Read & copy the quotation
“A ploughman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees.”
- Source
- The Way to Wealth
- Date
- 1758
- Local voice
- Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham
Meaning of “A ploughman on his legs is higher than…”
Financial independence earned through ordinary work is valued above status maintained through borrowing, dependence, or costly appearance.
Where does it come from?
The Way to Wealth, frugality section; Project Gutenberg #43855. Father Abraham contrasts industrious people with those reduced to borrowing by extravagance.
Why the local voice matters
The Way to Wealth is framed as Father Abraham’s address compiling maxims Franklin had published through the Poor Richard / Richard Saunders persona. This record therefore preserves the framed authorial-persona layer instead of treating the maxim as unmediated Franklin narration.
