“Industry pays debts, while despair increaseth them.”
- Source
- The Way to Wealth
- Date
- 1758
- Attribution
- Source identified
- Voice / speaker
- Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham
What does this quote mean?
Franklin contrasts productive effort with passive discouragement, presenting earned income and continued work as practical ways to reduce obligations.
Where does it come from?
The Way to Wealth / Poor Richard Improved, industry section; represented by Project Gutenberg #43855. Father Abraham is compiling maxims from Franklin’s earlier Almanacks.
Who voices the line?
Authorial persona / framed maxim · Poor Richard maxim, repeated through Father Abraham. 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.
The source author and the local speaker can be different, especially in fiction, drama, dialogue and poetry.
How should this attribution be read?
This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.