Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other.
Interpretation
Fame and success are not the same; one can be famous without being truly successful.
This quote emphasizes the distinction between fame and true success. Fame often comes from public recognition or popularity, while success is more about personal achievements and contributions that lead to meaningful outcomes in life. Erma Bombeck contrasts Madonna, who is widely known for her celebrity status, with Helen Keller, whose enduring legacy is marked by her extraordinary accomplishments and impact on society, illustrating that true success lies in the depth and substance of one's contributions rather than in mere visibility or recognition.
In practice
During a motivational speech about personal values and life goals.
We've got a generation now who were born with semiequality. They don't know how it was before, so they think, this isn't too bad. We're working. We have our attache' cases and our three piece suits. I get very disgusted with the younger generation of women. We had a torch to pass, and they are just sitting there. They don't realize it can be taken away. Things are going to have to get worse before they join in fighting the battle.
You hear a lot of dialogue on the death of the American family. Families aren't dying. They're merging into big conglomerates.
Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It's the only thing "real" men do that doesn't seem to threaten their masculinity. To women, it's on the same domestic entry level as putting the spring back into the toilet-tissue holder or taking a chicken out of the freezer to thaw.
Not everyone is comfortable with the kissing ritual. My husband is one of them. Her refuses to press lips with anyone except his wife, mother, and dog. If someone wanted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, he would refuse until he had been formally introduced.
There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.
Maybe age is kinder to us than we think. With my bad eyes, I can't see how bad I look, and with my rotten memory, I have a good excuse for getting out of a lot of stuff.
If you do everything that everyone else does in business, you're going to lose. The only way to really be ahead, is to 'be different'.
If you look at any successful professional - a salesperson, a marketer, a real estate agent, a trader - they all have the same qualities as the con man. The only difference is that one side uses their talents in the right direction and the con man is taking the easy way out.
My stage successes have provided me with the greatest moments outside myself, my film successes the best moments, professionally, within myself.
The pleasure of work is open to anyone who can develop some specialised skill, provided that he can get satisfaction from the exercise of his skill without demanding universal applause.
People like us are afraid to leave ball. What else is there to do? When baseball has been your whole life, you can't think about a future without it, so you hang on as long as you can.
There's nothing more satisfying than having an idea and seeing it through to find out that, not only did you like it, but the audience and critics all seemed to agree.
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