Franklin argues that the amount of risk a person can reasonably take depends partly on the resources available to absorb a loss. A large estate can survive setbacks that might seriously damage someone with limited means. His image of small boats staying near shore suggests that those with fewer resources should be more cautious because they have less protection if circumstances turn against them.

The saying does not imply that wealthy people should take reckless risks or that those with modest means should avoid all uncertainty. Its point is proportionality. The same loss can have very different consequences depending on a person’s financial position, reserves and obligations. Franklin’s broader lesson is that prudence requires judging risk in relation to one’s capacity to withstand failure, rather than copying the behaviour of people whose resources give them a much larger margin for error.