Benjamin Franklin — "To cross the sea takes naught but a pair of legs and the will to swim."
To cross the sea takes naught but a pair of legs and the will to swim.
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More from Benjamin Franklin
"A small leak will sink a great ship."
"He that speaks much is much mistaken."
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"It is a grand mistake to think of being great without ever being good."
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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.
Details
From 'Poor Richard's Almanack' (lesser-known wisdom)
Date: Unknown, likely 18th century
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Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote strips away all excuses, arguing that overcoming vast challenges—symbolized by the open sea—requires nothing beyond physical readiness and sheer determination. It rejects the idea that resources, wealth, or circumstance are decisive. Stop waiting for perfect conditions; commitment and willpower are sufficient to accomplish what looks impossible. The simplicity is the point: naught but legs and will.
Relevance to Benjamin Franklin
Franklin crossed the Atlantic multiple times—sailing to England and France as colonial agent and wartime diplomat. His Poor Richard's Almanack brimmed with pragmatic maxims championing self-reliance. A self-made man who climbed from printer's apprentice to founding father through relentless effort, Franklin lived the belief that determined action outweighs circumstance. The quote echoes his lifelong philosophy: will and initiative are the only true prerequisites.
The era
Colonial Americans were literally ocean-dependent—trade, immigration, diplomacy, and correspondence all required Atlantic crossings taking weeks with real mortality risk. The sea was not metaphor but lived reality. In an era when European naval powers controlled global commerce, an ordinary person's capacity to simply choose to cross resonated powerfully. The quote democratizes ambition at a moment when the Atlantic defined who could act on the world stage.
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