Benjamin Franklin — "If you're going through hell, keep going."
If you're going through hell, keep going.
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More from Benjamin Franklin
"Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom to a man in the course of his life."
"Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are."
"He that is content, has enough."
"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."
"God heals, and the doctor takes the fees."
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
When you're deep in hardship, the worst move is to stop. Persisting through pain is itself the path to relief—quitting mid-crisis leaves you stranded at the worst possible point. Forward motion, however painful, carries you out the other side. Endurance isn't about enjoying the suffering; it's about refusing to let a temporary low become a permanent state. Keep moving and you'll eventually clear it.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin embodied relentless forward motion. Born the 15th of 17 children in poverty, he built himself into a printer, scientist, diplomat, and founding father through sheer persistence. He failed countless experiments before harnessing electricity and navigated brutal colonial politics to secure the French alliance that won independence. His Poor Richard's Almanack maxims consistently preached that adversity yields only to those who press forward rather than retreat.
The era
Franklin lived through the 18th-century crucible of revolution, war, and colonial hardship. The American colonies faced existential threats—British taxation, military occupation, and uncertain independence. Enlightenment philosophy championed reason and resilience over fatalism. In a world where disease, poverty, and political upheaval were constants, perseverance wasn't motivational rhetoric—it was the literal difference between survival and collapse for individuals and an entire emerging nation trying to hold together under pressure.
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