Henry Hazlitt on Marxism

The whole gospel of Karl Marx can be summed up in a single sentence: Hate the man who is better off than you are.  Never under any circumstances admit that his success may be due to his own efforts, to the productive contribution he has made to the whole community.  Always attribute his success to the exploitation, the cheating, the more or less open robbery of others.  Never under any circumstances admit that your own failure may be owing to your own weakness, or that the failure of anyone else may be due to his own defects - his laziness, incompetence, improvidence, or stupidity.

~ Henry Hazlitt

Hyman Minsky on success

Success breeds a disregard of the possibility of failure.

~ Hyman Minsky

Bill Walton on the role of luck in success

There are no guarantees in life.  The simple twists of fate and the breaks of the game are the two maxims that define so much of the success and failure in life.

~ Bill Walton

Thomas Edison on success

The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary.

~ Thomas Edison, inventor

Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett on the keys to success

Munger: It's so simple: You spend less than you earn and invest shrewdly and avoid toxic people and toxic activities and try and keep learning all your life, etc., etc.  And do a lot of deferred gratification because you prefer life that way.  And if you do all those things, you are almost certain to succeed.  And if you don't, you're going to need a lot of luck, a lot of luck.  And you don't want to need a lot of luck; you want to go into a game where you're very likely to win without having any unusual luck.

Buffett: I'd add one more thought, though: You need to know how people can manipulate other people and you need to resist the temptation to do it yourself.

Munger: Oh yes!  The toxic people who are trying to fool you or lie to you, who aren't reliable in meeting their commitments, the great lesson of life is get them the hell out of your life.

Buffett: Yep.

Munger: And do it fast!

~ Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, May 6, 2023

(video posted by Vitaliy Katsenelson, see here)

Alvin Toffler on survival and change

The first rule of survival is clear: Nothing is more dangerous than yesterday's success. 

~ Alvin Toffler

Pelé on success

Success is no accident.  It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do. 

~ Pelé, 1940-2022

Henry Ward Beecher on failure

One's best success comes after his greatest disappointments.

~ Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and writer

Frank Lloyd Wright on success

I know the price of success: dedication, hard work and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.

~ Frank Lloyd Wright

Thomas Edison on persistence

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

~ Thomas Edison

Charlie Munger on success and failure

It's a good habit to trumpet your failures and be quiet about your successes.

~ Charlie Munger

The Christophers: "Winning isn't everything

Winning isn't Everything

Few people knew more about winning than the late Chuck Noll, coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1969 to 1991.  The team won four Super Bowls under his leadership.  But people tend to forget that in each of his first three years, Noll lost more games than he won.  In fact, one year, he lost 13 of 14 games.

Before the 1979 Super Bowl, Noll observed, "If you structure your life on winning every time, then you are in for a lot of frustration."

Yet, isn't it true that many of us structure our lives on winning - winning the race, winning the girl or guy, winning the contract?  And when we don't win, we are left with the hollow feeling of those who have set impossible goals.

Yes, there is more to life than winning.  What we are called to do is "run with perseverance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).  In that, everyone can be a winner, regardless of the order of the finish.

~ The Christophers, Three Minutes a Day, Volume 56 (2021)

Agatha Christie on success

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. 

~ Agatha Christie

Frank Herbert on success

Ideas are a dime a dozen.  It's execution that counts. 

~ Frank Herbert

Tom Bernhardt on uncertainty and success

People naturally hate uncertainty, but the ability to deal with it is critical to success.  And it’s not just about business; it’s a pervasive attitude and discipline. 

The ability to say “I don’t know” or “it’s probably this, but might be that” is a vital component of critical thinking.  It’s also a prerequisite to having a constructive discussion with others, especially those having a different view. 

When people fall into a cognitive gravity well of certain belief, the intractability makes them unable to listen and evaluate contrary information and perspectives.  They become less than useless.  Unfortunately that’s where most people increasingly are these days.

~ Tom Bernhardt, September 29, 2021

Nick Saban on setting high standards

Q: Why are you so tough on people?

A: Well, I don't know if that's fair that I'm really "tough" on people.  We create a standard for how we want to do things.  And everybody has got to buy into that standard or you really can't have any team chemistry.  You know, mediocre people don't like high achievers and high achievers don't like mediocre people.

~ Nick Saban, 60 Minutes interview, "The Perfectionist," 2:00 mark, November 1, 2013

John Templeton on success

Success is a process of continually seeking answers to new questions.

~ John Templeton

Jonathan Goldsmith on success late in life

If I’m being honest, I wish this all hadn’t taken so long.  But, then again, maybe if success had come earlier it wouldn’t have meant as much as it does now…  The harder knocks, disappointments, and travails one has, the more opportunity one has to gain awareness of who the devil we really are.  I’m still trying.

~ Jonathan Goldsmith

(As quoted by Chris Mayer, "The First Rule of Compounding," Woodlock House Family Capital blog, September 7, 2021.)

Jordan Peterson on self improvement

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.  See, that's a game you can win.  The possibility that you can make yourself slightly better on a continual basis... I think that's something that's accessible to everyone.  I think that's equivalent to leading a virtuous life.  There's something to be said for virtue and truth.  That's another thing I've noticed about people who have been phenomenally successful, is that they really do everything they can to live a truthful life.  You get a bloody long ways by being honest.

~ Jordan Peterson, speech on YouTube, 3:30 mark, July 26, 2021

Confucius on achieving long-term goals

Do not wish for quick results, nor look for small advantages.  If you seek quick results, you will not reach the ultimate goal.  If you are led astray by small advantages, you will never accomplish great things.

~ Confucius