“Waste neither Time nor Money, but make the best Use of both.”
Franklin compresses practical discipline into stewardship of two limited resources: time and money.
Advice to a Young Tradesman, 21 July 1748; concluding advice on industry and frugality.
“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.
Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about managing work before accumulated demands begin managing you.
“Ambition, energy, industry, perseverance, are indispensable requisites for success in business.”
The sentence presents business success as a compound result of sustained energy and persistence rather than a single clever idea or fortunate moment.
The Art of Money Getting, in Barnum’s discussion of thorough work and business effort.
“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.
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.
“This was, in truth the secret of his success”
Smiles uses Bianconi’s minute-conscious working habits to illustrate how disciplined use of time contributed to practical business success.
Men of Invention and Industry, Chapter IX, “Charles Bianconi: A Lesson of Self-Help in Ireland”; Project Gutenberg #725. This excerpt is Smiles’s narrative conclusion immediately after an anecdote about saving time.
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
The proverb links routine and self-discipline with health, productivity, and practical judgment.
Poor Richard’s Almanack; proverb on routine, work and practical discipline.
“I would concentrate upon the manufacture of iron and steel and be master in that.”
Focused specialization can create depth of knowledge and execution by directing limited attention toward mastering one field instead of scattering effort across many ventures.
Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie; Carnegie describes his decision to concentrate his business attention on iron and steel.
