Franklin argues that happiness depends less on rare and dramatic strokes of good fortune than on the smaller benefits that appear regularly in everyday life. Major successes may be memorable, but they occur infrequently. By contrast, modest comforts, conveniences, relationships and improvements can influence wellbeing repeatedly and therefore have a substantial cumulative effect.

The saying does not deny that major events can greatly affect a person’s happiness. Its broader point is about frequency and accumulation: benefits that seem minor in isolation may matter greatly because they are experienced day after day. Franklin therefore presents felicity as something often built through ordinary conditions rather than exceptional luck. The remark encourages attention to the recurring features of life that make daily experience easier, safer or more satisfying.