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“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 note: Poor Richard’s Almanack; a compact maxim about managing work before accumulated demands begin managing you.
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“He that can have patience can have what he will.”
The proverb presents patience as a practical advantage in goals that require time rather than immediate reward.
Source note: Poor Richard’s Almanack.
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“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.
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“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.
Source note: Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie; Carnegie describes his decision to concentrate his business attention on iron and steel.
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“My race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner.”
Distinctive success can come from doing ordinary work unusually well, emphasizing thoroughness and indispensable usefulness rather than status.
Source note: Up from Slavery, Chapter XVI, “Europe,” Project Gutenberg #2376. While discussing Henry O. Tanner and recognition for excellent work, Washington restates his Tuskegee principle that advancement depends on doing useful work so thoroughly that its value becomes difficult to ignore.
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“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.
Source note: The Art of Money Getting, in Barnum’s discussion of thorough work and business effort.