Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.
Read & copy the quotation
“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

Benjamin Franklin

Download image (JPG)

Source
Poor Richard’s Almanack
Date
1740s
Meaning

Meaning of “Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

Work becomes harder to control when it is left unmanaged; the maxim favors deliberate direction, priorities, and active stewardship over reactive pressure.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about managing work before accumulated demands begin managing you.

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

BusinessCalmDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortGoalsHard WorkInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityLeadershipMoneyMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceProductivityResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortSuccessActionControlEntrepreneurMotivation For WorkWork Ethic
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
I would concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in that.
Read & copy

“I would concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in that.”

Andrew Carnegie · Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie · 1920
Meaning & context

Focused specialization can create depth of knowledge and execution by directing limited attention toward mastering one field instead of scattering effort across many ventures.

Source details

Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie; Carnegie describes his decision to concentrate his business attention on iron and steel.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business.
Read & copy

“Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business.”

P. T. Barnum · The Art of Money Getting · 1880
Meaning & context

The sentence presents business success as a compound result of sustained energy and persistence rather than a single clever idea or fortunate moment.

Source details

The Art of Money Getting, in Barnum’s discussion of thorough work and business effort.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
Read & copy

“Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”

Benjamin Franklin · Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin · 1791
Meaning & context

Resolution becomes useful only when followed by execution; the maxim links deliberate standards with the habit of carrying them through.

Source details

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part II, thirteen-virtue table: Resolution. Project Gutenberg #148 (Charles W. Eliot / Harvard Classics, 1909) preserves the represented wording; the reviewed direct locator is Wikisource Section Thirty Six.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
he must work and be industrious to live.
Read & copy

“he must work and be industrious to live.”

Benjamin Franklin · Information to Those Who Would Remove to America · 1784
Meaning & context

Franklin tells prospective emigrants without inherited wealth that livelihood would depend on work and industry, directly countering expectations of effortless advancement after arrival.

Source details

Information to Those Who Would Remove to America, before March 1784; Founders Online. The lowercase opening is retained because this is a clause from Franklin’s longer sentence about strangers, law, liberty and industry.

↓ Download image (JPG)