Benjamin Franklin — "Rather go to bed supperless, than rise in debt."
Rather go to bed supperless, than rise in debt.
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More from Benjamin Franklin
"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."
"God helps them that help themselves."
"Shrewdness can turn one penny into two, but wisdom can turn a horse into a boy."
"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."
"Never ruin an apology with an excuse."
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
It's better to skip a meal and go to bed hungry than to borrow money and start tomorrow already in debt. The quote champions voluntary sacrifice over financial obligation. Forgoing immediate comfort—even something as basic as dinner—is smarter than owing someone. Debt compounds; hunger passes. This is a direct call to live within your means no matter how small those means are.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin was born into poverty as the 15th of 17 children and built wealth through printing, discipline, and relentless frugality. His Poor Richard's Almanack (1732–1758) was a vehicle for exactly these maxims, and his essay "The Way to Wealth" compiled them into a philosophy. He believed debt enslaved the borrower to the lender, famously writing that a debtor gives another power over his liberty.
The era
In colonial America and 18th-century Britain, debt carried severe legal consequences including debtor's prison. Cash was scarce in the colonies; barter and credit were common, and interest rates were punishing. Creditors held real power over borrowers' lives and livelihoods. Franklin's era also carried strong Puritan and Protestant work-ethic values equating frugality with virtue and debt with moral failure. Self-sufficiency was survival, not preference.
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