Franklin suggests that good conduct can teach more effectively than verbal instruction alone. A sermon communicates principles through words, while a good example demonstrates those principles in practice. By seeing someone behave with honesty, restraint, generosity or diligence, others are given a concrete model of what those qualities look like in everyday life.

The saying also points to the importance of consistency between what people advocate and how they behave. Advice can lose force when the person giving it does not follow the same standard, whereas conduct can influence others without formal instruction. The quotation therefore applies to teaching, parenting, leadership and other situations in which behaviour shapes expectations. Its central idea is that values become more persuasive when they are embodied in action rather than merely stated. Example does not replace explanation in every case, but Franklin presents it as the strongest form of moral instruction.