Quotes About Success

If meritocracy is an aspiration, those who fall short can always blame the system; but if meritocracy is a fact, those who fall short are invited to blame themselves.

there is one path to ultimate happiness—having money—that in turn comes from attending prestigious colleges.

by making clear what is true in any case, that those who land on top do not make it on their own but owe their good fortune to family circumstance and native gifts that are morally akin to the luck of the draw.

Meritocratic sorting taught us that our success is our own doing, and so eroded our sense of indebtedness.

What matters for a meritocracy is that everyone has an equal chance to climb the ladder of success; it has nothing to say about how far apart the rungs on the ladder should be. The meritocratic ideal is not a remedy for inequality; it is a justification of inequality.

For why do the successful owe anything to the less advantaged members of society? The answer to this question depends on recognizing that for all our striving, we are not self-made and self-sufficient. Finding ourselves in a society that prices our talents is our good fortune, not our due. A lively sense of the contingency of our lot can inspire a certain humility.

Frank's mention of a "moral judgment handed down by the successful" touched on something important. Encouraging more people to go to college is a good thing. Making college more accessible to those of modest means is even better. But as a solution to inequality and the plight of workers who lost out in the decades of globalization, the single-minded focus on education had a damaging side effect: eroding the social esteem accorded those who had not gone to college.

La capacidad de ascender, al parecer, no depende tanto del deseo de salir de la pobreza como del acceso a la educación, la sanidad y otros recursos que preparan a las personas para tener éxito en el mundo laboral.

hubris among the winners and humiliation among the losers.

But it is also because, having worked hard to achieve a modicum of success, they had accepted the harsh verdict of the market in their own case, and were invested in it, morally and psychologically.

Of those born poor in America, few make it to the top. In fact, most do not even make it to the middle class.

But our disagreements about merit are not only about fairness. They are also about how we define success and failure, winning and losing—and about the attitudes the winners should hold toward those less successful than themselves. These are highly charged questions, and we try to avoid them until they force themselves upon us.

En una sociedad desigual, quienes aterrizan en la cima quieren creer que su éxito tiene una justificación moral. En una sociedad meritocrática, eso significa que los ganadores deben creer que se han «ganado» el éxito gracias a su propio talento y esfuerzo.

Tenemos que preguntarnos si la solución a nuestro inflamable panorama político es llevar una vida más fiel al principio del mérito o si, por el contrario, debemos encontrarla en la búsqueda de un bien común más allá de tanta clasificación y tanto afán de éxito.

Of those born poor in America, few make it to the top. In fact, most do not even make it to the middle class. Studies of upward mobility typically divide the income ladder into five rungs. Of those born on the bottom rung, only around 4 to 7 percent rise to the top, and only about a third reach the middle rung or higher. Although the exact numbers vary from one study to the next, very few Americans live out the "rags to riches" story celebrated in the American dream.37

In an unequal society, those who land on top want to believe their success is morally justified. In a meritocratic society, this means the winners must believe they have earned their success through their own talent and hard work.

Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.

I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it... I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it's an illusion to me.

I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be agressive. I had to get out there and go for it... I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it's an illusion to me.

I have failed over and over gain in my life and that is why I succeed.

I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

I've always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.