Quotes About Comparison

Graham states, "Because average country income levels do not matter to happiness, but relative distances from the average do, the poor Honduran is happier because their distance from mean income is smaller." And in Honduras, the poor are much closer in wealth to the middle class than the poor are in Chile, so they feel better off.

The school year in the United States is, on average, 180 days long. The South Korean school year is 220 days long. The Japanese school year is 243 days long.

The introduction to the 1 vs. 100 episode pointed out that Einstein had an IQ of 150 and Langan has an IQ of 195. Langan's IQ is 30 percent higher than Einstein's. But that doesn't mean Langan is 30 percent smarter than Einstein. That's ridiculous. All we can say is that when it comes to thinking about really hard things like physics

We form our impression not globally, by placing ourselves in the broadest possible context, but locally, by comparing ourselves to people in the same boat as ourselves.

Tversky Intelligence Test": The faster you realized Tversky was smarter than you, the smarter you were.

The professional hockey player starts out a little bit better than his peers.

relative deprivation

What was the difference between the As and the Cs? Terman ran through every conceivable explanation. He looked at their physical and mental health, their "masculinity-femininity scores," and their hobbies and vocational interests. He compared the ages when they started walking and talking and what their precise IQ scores were in elementary and high school. In the end, only one thing mattered: family background.

Stouffer's point is that we form our impressions not globally, by placing ourselves in the broadest possible context, but locally—by comparing ourselves to people "in the same boat as ourselves." Our sense of how deprived we are is relative. This is one of those observations that is both obvious and (upon exploration) deeply profound, and it explains all kinds of otherwise puzzling observations.

Stouffer's point is that we form our impressions not globally, by placing ourselves in the broadest possible context, but locally—by comparing ourselves to people "in the same boat as ourselves." Our sense of how deprived we are is relative. This is

What matters, in determining the likelihood of getting a science degree, is not just how smart you are. It's how smart you feel relative to the other people in your classroom.

Don't condemn if you see a person has a dirty glass of water, just show them the clean glass of water that you have. When they inspect it, you won't have to say that yours is better. -said by Elijah Muhammad to Malcolm X

Anytime you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you're both engaged in the same business - you know they're doing something that you aren't.

The longing for a very garish kind of success seems as widespread among writers as among investment bankers.

Success serves men as a pedestal. It makes them seem greater when not measured by reflection.

Measure your success by the ladder you set for yourself and not on what somebody achieved or done!

Some people talk about other people's failures with so much pleasure that you would swear they are talking about their own successes.

Success is not what I've done compared with what others have done. Success is what I've done compared with what God has called me to do.

I never fail. It's just that the people around me succeed more than I.

A living dog is better than a dead lion

When you do not have your clear definition of what success looks like, you tend to feel unsuccessful every time other people talk about their success.

the only difference between you and someone you envy is you settled for less

Take time daily to reflect on how much you have. It may not be all that you want but remember someone somewhere is dreaming of what you own.

Some people are each envious of the person they used to be.