"Benjamin Franklin may have discovered electricity, but it was the man who invented the meter who made the money"
About this Quote
Franklin gets the lightning, but the meter gets the invoice. Earl Wilson’s line lands because it flips the familiar story of genius into a story about infrastructure: discovery is glamorous, monetization is methodical, and the latter usually wins. The joke isn’t really at Franklin’s expense; it’s aimed at the culture that treats breakthroughs as moral achievements while quietly rewarding whoever turns them into a system you can’t opt out of.
The “meter” is doing heavy work here. It’s not just a device, it’s a philosophy: measurement, standardization, frictionless billing. In a single object, Wilson captures how modern capitalism prefers predictable revenue streams to heroic one-offs. Electricity is a miracle until you can quantify it, package it, and charge by the unit. The real power, the quote suggests, isn’t in controlling nature; it’s in controlling the terms of access.
Coming from an athlete, the subtext feels especially pointed. Sports are full of Franklins: people who create value with talent, risk, and spectacle. The money, often, flows more reliably to the “metered” side of the ecosystem: owners, broadcasters, leagues, ticketing platforms, data rights, sponsorship metrics. Wilson’s wit is grounded in a locker-room realism about who gets paid for what - and why.
It works because it’s funny, but also because it’s uncomfortably accurate: progress may start with sparks, but wealth accumulates in the counting.
The “meter” is doing heavy work here. It’s not just a device, it’s a philosophy: measurement, standardization, frictionless billing. In a single object, Wilson captures how modern capitalism prefers predictable revenue streams to heroic one-offs. Electricity is a miracle until you can quantify it, package it, and charge by the unit. The real power, the quote suggests, isn’t in controlling nature; it’s in controlling the terms of access.
Coming from an athlete, the subtext feels especially pointed. Sports are full of Franklins: people who create value with talent, risk, and spectacle. The money, often, flows more reliably to the “metered” side of the ecosystem: owners, broadcasters, leagues, ticketing platforms, data rights, sponsorship metrics. Wilson’s wit is grounded in a locker-room realism about who gets paid for what - and why.
It works because it’s funny, but also because it’s uncomfortably accurate: progress may start with sparks, but wealth accumulates in the counting.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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