What does this quote mean?

“The master-word is Work”

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

Source note: The Master-Word in Medicine, address at the opening of the University of Toronto medical faculty buildings, October 1, 1903. This collection treats the line as historical professional rhetoric and not as an endorsement of excessive working hours.

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

Persistent effort improves the odds of useful results because steady work creates more opportunities for progress than waiting for favorable circumstances.

Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim appears in Franklin’s collected Poor Richard material.

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

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

Source note: Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin; this is Franklin’s fourth listed virtue, Resolution.

“Little strokes fell great oaks.”

Small repeated efforts can accomplish work that seems too large for a single burst of effort, making consistency itself a practical form of strength.

Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about cumulative effort.

“Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure.”

Leisure is easier to protect when working time is used deliberately, linking time management with freedom rather than treating organization as an end in itself.

Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; the maxim connects disciplined use of working time with the ability to gain leisure.

“Never leave that till tomorrow, which you can do to-day.”

The maxim turns prompt action into a habit: work that can reasonably be completed now should not be needlessly transferred to an uncertain tomorrow.

Source note: The Way to Wealth; a Poor Richard maxim on delay and useful employment of time.