Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.

This wry maxim is commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin in connection with his long-running “Poor Richard” persona, through which he published aphorisms and practical advice in Poor Richard’s Almanack in colonial America. Franklin’s almanac sayings often distilled social etiquette into memorable, humorous rules of thumb. The line reflects the realities of 18th-century domestic life—crowded homes, limited privacy, and the burdens of hosting—while also echoing older European proverbial traditions. It circulated widely as a piece of folk wisdom about hospitality and the need for guests to avoid overstaying their welcome.

The comparison of guests to fish uses comic exaggeration to make a social point: even welcome company can become unpleasant if it lingers too long. “Three days” functions as a conventional limit, suggesting that hospitality has a natural boundary beyond which gratitude turns into imposition. The saying also implies a reciprocal ethic: hosts should be generous, but guests should be attentive to the costs—time, space, money, and emotional labor—of being entertained. Franklin’s characteristic humor softens what could be a blunt admonition, turning social critique into a memorable, repeatable proverb.

1) “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”
2) “Fish and guests stink after three days.”
3) “Guests and fish smell after three days.”