Benjamin Franklin — "If you would have your business done, go; if not, send."
If you would have your business done, go; if not, send.
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More from Benjamin Franklin
"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."
"He that waits upon fortune, is never sure of a dinner."
"He that is content, has enough."
"When you're good to others, you are best to yourself."
"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
About Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Polymath Founding Father, diplomat, and Poor Richard's Almanack author who helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Closely associated with John Adams (fellow Founder, Massachusetts statesman) and Thomas Jefferson (fellow Declaration drafter). For an intellectual contrast, see Thomas Hutchinson, last royal governor of colonial Massachusetts — Franklin leaked Hutchinson's loyalist correspondence to Boston in 1772 to inflame revolutionary sentiment — Hutchinson represented the colonial-aristocrat crown-loyalty that Franklin's revolution was organized to dismantle.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
If something matters enough to care about the outcome, handle it personally. Sending a surrogate—a messenger, middleman, or agent—introduces gaps: misunderstandings, reduced urgency, half-measures. Direct involvement ensures accountability and full attention. The quote is a blunt efficiency principle: personal presence is the only reliable guarantee when results truly count. Proxy action is acceptable only when you're comfortable accepting whatever outcome your stand-in delivers, good or bad.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin built his career on personal engagement. He ran his print shop hands-on before carefully franchising it. He sailed to England and France personally to negotiate, knowing no letter could substitute for his presence in diplomatic rooms. His Poor Richard's Almanack preached self-reliance and diligence above all. Franklin's biography is essentially a demonstration that showing up, directly managing outcomes, and trusting yourself over intermediaries defines the difference between success and disappointment.
The era
In Franklin's era, delegating meant handing instructions to a messenger who might take weeks to arrive—if he arrived at all. No telegraph, no telephone, no reliable postal infrastructure existed in colonial America. Contracts were honored through personal reputation and physical presence. Courts required appearance in person. A missing proxy could forfeit a land claim, collapse a negotiation, or lose a contract entirely. Personal presence wasn't merely preferred; it was often the only mechanism that actually worked.
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