What makes this wisdom sting is that Franklin isn't merely warning against overwork—he's identifying a reversal of power that happens almost without notice. Most of us begin as captains of our ventures, but through small surrenders (responding to one more email, chasing one more opportunity), we gradually become passengers. A restaurant owner I know discovered this the hard way: after fifteen years of success, she realized she'd stopped choosing her menu based on what delighted her and had become enslaved to what the market demanded, working seventy-hour weeks to serve customers whose tastes had nothing to do with her original vision. The real insight here is that you must occasionally close the door, refuse the demand, and remember that your business exists to serve your life—not the reverse.