“Fulfillment’s desolate attic…”
~ Philip Larkin / Courtesy Jennifer Senior, NYT
Tabitha Soren on a Meaningful Life
“… and the central American fantasy that says we have to do something extraordinary to lead a meaningful life.”
~ Tabitha Soren / Fantasy Life
Viktor Frankl on Success
“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater.”
~ Viktor Frankl
Buddha on Vigilance
Well now, bhikkhus, my counsel is: experience is disappointing; through vigilance you succeed.
~ Buddha
Charlie Munger on Expectations
“This modern world is radically different and I’m not sure if I were starting out in your world how well I would do,” he said. “It would be a lot harder than it was to get ahead in the world the way it was when I came up. My best advice, I think you would be happier if you reduced your expectations.”
Charlie Munger / FT, February 12 2020
Albert Einstein on Success
“Try not to become a person of success but a person of value.”
~ Albert Einstein
Malcolm Cowley on Success
“They tell me that success is a terrible test of people. Thank God I’ve never had to undergo it.”
~ Malcolm Cowley
Karine Polwart on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
Ambition without purpose is empty. Talent without focus is often squandered. A lot of what matters is turning up, being persistent and taking opportunities. And believing you’re entitled to try.
~ Karine Polwart / Financial Times, August 16th 2019
David Brooks on Work
Furthermore, living a great life is more important than producing great work. A life devoted to one thing is a stunted life, while a pluralistic life is an abundant one.
~ David Brooks / New York Times, 29 July 2019
Professor Green on Success
I thought success would bring me happiness – fuck me, was I wrong. Attaching your happiness to your goals is like a game of pin the tail on the donkey. You’re happy for a second, then you pin your happiness on something or, worse, someone else.
~ Professor Green / Guardian, 27th July 2019
Charlie Munger on Learning
I constantly see people rise in life who are not the smartest, sometimes not even the most diligent, but they are learning machines. They go to bed every night a little wiser than they were when they got up and boy does that help, particularly when you have a long run ahead of you.
~ Charlie Munger
Christopher P. Jones on Success
“…always balanced against what I perceive as a perennial threat to well-being: that of wanting success too desperately.”
~ Christopher P. Jones / Medium
Gyles Brandreth on Success in Business
“I asked Alan Sugar for the secret of success in business. He said: ‘Do something you love and something you know.’ ”
~ Gyles Brandreth
Francis Spufford on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
I suppose there must be an irreducible minimum of talent required to make things with words, but after that a lot of it is learnt skills, and a willingness to go on playing with patterns. You also need, if not ambition, then chutzpah: an unreasonable determination to do it because you want to. You can’t be authorised to write books. You have to appoint yourself to it.
~ Francis Spufford / Financial Times, October 13, 2017
Chris Riddell on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
My friend Neil Gaiman says that, as a freelance, you need talent, you need to be dependable and you’ve got to be likeable. Neil says two out of the three will lead to success.
~ Chris Riddell
Randy Newman on Ambition
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
Ambition. People I’ve met who’ve been enormously successful, mainly in music, have really wanted it a great deal. They also had talent, but I think it was their drive that propelled them forward.
~ Randy Newman / Financial Times, August 04, 2017
Jools Holland on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
People who are successful have a certain sort of determination. You need a bit of luck as well. And a little bit of couldn’t-care-less-ness.
~ Jools Holland / Financial Times, July 27, 2018
Rona Munro on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
Graft and talent are the two things you need. Ambition can lead you to some false summits.
~ Rona Munro / Financial Times, May 03, 2019
Lena Headey on Success
Ambition or talent: which matters more to success?
I think it’s resilience. Ambition can trip you up, talent doesn’t always get recognised.
~ Lena Headey / Financial Times, April 12 2019
Plutarch on Success
“Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.”
~ Plutarch
Sophocles on Honour
“Rather fail with honour than succeed by fraud.”
~ Sophocles
Simon Kuper on Success
” … once you correct for high birth, success goes to the people who want it most.”
~ Simon Kuper
Winston Churchill on Work
“Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.”
~ Winston Churchill