Why did John Smith say that "who will not work shall not eat?"

John Smith allegedly said this because many of the Jamestown colonists had come to Virginia in search of adventure and riches and were unwilling to do the hard work necessary for the colony to survive. This, along with shortsightedness and a failure to cultivate the good will of area natives, nearly led to the colony's extinction more than once. When Smith was elected head of the colony in 1608, he attempted, with some success, to impose discipline on the settlers through edicts like the one he described in his book. People who were not willing to contribute their labor to the success of the colony would not be fed by the others who were willing to labor. Smith was wounded by a gunpowder explosion, and after he left, the colony nearly fell apart again, experiencing war with the neighboring Indians and the so-called "starving times" which led to the deaths of dozens of colonists.