Energy and persistence conquer all things.

The saying expresses a pragmatic, Enlightenment-era faith in human agency: sustained effort (“energy”) combined with long-term follow-through (“persistence”) can overcome obstacles that talent or luck alone cannot. Read this way, it functions as a maxim about character and method—success is less a sudden breakthrough than the cumulative result of repeated exertion. It also implies a moral dimension: perseverance is a virtue that can “conquer” not by force but by endurance, turning setbacks into eventual progress. Even when attributed to Franklin, the sentiment aligns with the broader tradition of early modern aphorisms that promote industriousness and self-improvement as engines of personal and civic advancement.