On Success and Glory, Good and Bad
We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
—Jean Cocteau, 1955
It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.
—Gore Vidal, 1976
Modest successes are better known as failures.
—Frederic Raphael, 2001
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
—Anonymous
1
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the
obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
—Booker T. Washington, 1901
There is only one success […] - to be able to spend your life in your own way.
—Christopher Morley, 1922
***
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark
glasses to avoid being recognized.
—Fred Allen, 1954
The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.
—Daniel J. Boorstin, 1961
People seldom become famous for what they say, until after they are famous for what
they’ve done.
—Cullen Hightower
2
1
Frequently misattributed to Henry David Thoreau.
2
As quoted, without a date, in several generally reliable sources, including Wikipedia.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Likharev (ed.), Essential Quotes for Scientists and Engineers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63332-5_20
191
We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?
—Jean Cocteau, 1955
It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.
—Gore Vidal, 1976
Modest successes are better known as failures.
—Frederic Raphael, 2001
Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
—Anonymous
1
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the
obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
—Booker T. Washington, 1901
There is only one success […] - to be able to spend your life in your own way.
—Christopher Morley, 1922
***
A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark
glasses to avoid being recognized.
—Fred Allen, 1954
The celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.
—Daniel J. Boorstin, 1961
People seldom become famous for what they say, until after they are famous for what
they’ve done.
—Cullen Hightower
2
1
Frequently misattributed to Henry David Thoreau.
2
As quoted, without a date, in several generally reliable sources, including Wikipedia.
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. K. Likharev (ed.), Essential Quotes for Scientists and Engineers,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63332-5_20
191