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he must work and be industrious to live.
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“he must work and be industrious to live.”

Benjamin Franklin

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Source
Information to Those Who Would Remove to America
Date
1784
Meaning

Meaning of “he must work and be industrious to live.”

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

Source context

Where does it come from?

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.

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Themes

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BusinessCalmDiscipline Quotes About Habits, Practice & ConsistencyEffortHard WorkInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMoneyMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistencePatiencePeaceProductivityResponsibilitySelf-Control Quotes About Restraint & JudgmentShortSuccessHistoryMotivation For WorkWork Ethic
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Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.
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“Drive thy business, or it will drive thee.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack · 1740s
Meaning & context

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

Source details

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

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

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The master-word is Work
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“The master-word is Work”

William Osler · The Master-Word in Medicine · 1903
Meaning & context

Osler makes sustained work the organizing principle of his address to medical students, emphasizing disciplined practice over brilliance without application.

Source details

The Master-Word in Medicine, address delivered October 1, 1903 at the opening of the new buildings of the University of Toronto Medical Faculty; reviewed against the represented 1903 John Murphy pamphlet, Internet Archive identifier b28060805. ‘The master-word is Work’ is Osler’s organizing refrain and is followed by his appeal to write the word on the heart and forehead. This remains historical professional rhetoric rather than an endorsement of unsafe working hours or workaholism.

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