Success: Triumph of the Human Spirit
EXECUTIVE Read “Success” Edited by J. Pincott Random House, 2005
Let me begin by paraphrasing a saying: “Success has many fathers, and failure is an orphan.” Many will claim to have fathered or sired your success—and plenty, too, are people who abandon you when you go down a dismal failure.
I have read many books of quotations—chiefly those thick volumes courtesy of Oxford, not to mention other enterprising publishing efforts from Bartlett’s, Safire, Auden and many more—covering a variety of subjects.
This book, simply titled “Success,” is one of a very few books of quotations assembling over 400 quotes from over 300 celebrities that focus on one topic. William Safire assembled quotes on “Leadership,” but the quotes are only over a hundred, with very few celebrities.
In this book, sub-titled “Advice for Achieving Your Goals from Remarkably Accomplished People,” really lives up to its promise. Editor Pincott brings together a gallery of famous—very few infamous—folks speaking about only one thing: Success!
Naturally, those quoted have “claim to fame” as successful people—those who got so rich with funds, those who got so wealthy with fans, and those who simply have the pinnacle of fun. That’s my attempt at alliteration and rhyme, dear readers.
With over 400 quotes, it is good that the editor clustered them under 17 categories, speaking well of organizing efforts:
First off we ask: What is success? The simple definition given is “accomplishing something one is set out to do.” For others, “finding meaning and magnitude” is success. For something loftier, some say, “becoming what God has planned for you to become.”
Oprah Winfrey, very successful talk show host, shares this thought: “If you were to ask me what is the secret to my success, it is because I understand that there is a power greater than myself that rules my life… I call it God.” Intriguingly, Oprah addresses God as “it.”
Is success a “destination” or the journey?
“Success is a consequence and must not be a goal,” says Gustave Flaubert.
Athletes know what it takes to succeed in a demanding world like sports. Manny Pacquiao is quoted in the papers a couple of days back saying, “you need discipline.”
A baseball star in America, Ted Williams, has this to say about fixing goals for success:
“A man has to have goals—for a day, for a lifetime—and that was mine, to have people say, ‘There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.’”
Founder of J. C. Penney, James Cash, speaks well of a goal-driven individual: “Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I’ll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I’ll give you a stock clerk.”
Benjamin Disraeli, former prime minister of England is succinct in his statement: “The secret of success is constancy of purpose”—pointing to the need for concentration.
An aphorism expert, Diana Scharf Hunt, is more succinct: Goals are dreams with deadlines.”
How do celebrities drive themselves toward success? Some are really success-driven, while others laughed their way to the bank.
Golf erstwhile wonder kid has this to say: “Go out there, you’re supposed to enjoy the game… I think that’s one of the things I’ve learnt from my father and what I try to instill in all of my clinics is yes, go out there and give it all you have, but more importantly, enjoy what you’re doing.”
Money isn’t the thing that drives me. When I look at a project, I’m not thinking about the paycheck. I only look at the character I would play, the script, and whether I think it could work out to be a good film. Thus says, Keanu Reeves, actor.
Most celebrities agree that one must invest in blood, sweat, and tears.
Amelia Earhart, the brave pilot who went around the world, says: “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.
What about that multi-faceted in history? How does he view success?
“Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind. That’s Leonardo da Vinci—scientist, inventor, and artist.
Kofi Anan advises: “‘Follow your own inner compass,’ I said to myself, ‘listen to your own drummer.’ To who you are, what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there. My anxieties slowly began to dissolve.”
That basketball shooting sensation, Larry Bird, has some thoughts on this theme: “A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals.
What is needed to be a success? It is Discipline, according to personalities in varied professions.
David Ogilvy, speaking for need for discipline says: “Shakespeare wrote his sonnets within a strict discipline, fourteen lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming in three quatrains and a couplet. Were his sonnets dull? Mozart wrote his sonatas within an equally rigid discipline—exposition, development, and other recapitulation. Were they dull?”
The faint-hearted and the loser may have difficult succeeding. You need the X-factors of audacity or courage—or that lovely word: valor.
“Success is the child of audacity,” says a former prime minister of Great Britain.
Writer Anais Nin couldn’t agree more, when she says: “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”
Famous General George S. Patton Jr. of Desert Storm speaks of a rebound in success: “Success is how high you bounce when you’ve hit rock bottom.”
And yet such bravery must not be linked with arrogance. It must connect itself to such values as Integrity and Humility.
“Integrity is so perishable in the summer months of success,” says accomplished Madam Vanessa Redgrave. The many sad stories are those about successful people spoiled by their fabulous fortunes.
For success to last, you need to listen to other people. “It takes humility to seek feedback. It takes wisdom to understand it, analyze it, and appropriately act on it,” Stephen Covey points out.
We conclude this review with two highly successful people.
Living legend in basketball Michael Jordan shares his success journey: “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game-winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s precisely why I succeeded.”
“I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one finds many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me. But I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended yet.” That’s Nelson Mandela of South Africa speaking, a great man of this century.
Success? It has many faces. And yet it tells one common thing: It speaks well of the triumph of the human spirit. And that’s worth having. [email protected]
