I don't feel like a wealthy person. Other people think of me as a wealthy person, but I don't. I feel the same as when I was a fifth-year associate trying to make partner at Lehman Brothers. I haven't changed.
Interpretation
True wealth is not just about money; it’s about how one perceives themselves and their achievements.
In this quote, Stephen A. Schwarzman expresses the idea that regardless of his financial status or the perception of others, he still feels the same as he did during his early career. It highlights the notion that success does not solely equate to wealth, but rather to a continual journey and the mindset one maintains throughout their life.
In practice
Using this quote in a motivational speech about maintaining humility despite success.
I have a saying: There are no brave old people in finance. Because if you're brave, you mostly get destroyed in your 30s and 40s. If you make it to your 50s and 60s and you're still prospering, you have a very good sense of how to avoid problems and when to be conservative or aggressive with your investments.
Ironically, when a bunch of very smart people are sitting around a table for hours trying to figure out whether they should do something, that tends to not necessarily lead to the best results.
Sometimes, success in life is knowing one's limitations.
The biggest mistake I've seen people make with their careers is, when they're good, after two or three years - and they happen to be smart - they announce that they're going out to start their own firm.
You forget about it whether it was 15-2 or 3-2. It's still a loss. It doesn't matter what the score was if we win tomorrow.
The key to a winning season is focusing on one opponent at a time. Winning one week at a time. Never look back and never look ahead.
Writing a check separates a commitment from a conversation.
I love what I do for a living, it's the greatest job in the world, but you have to survive an awful lot of attention that you don't truly deserve and you have to live up to your professional responsibilities and I'm always trying to balance that with what is really important.
The greatest asset, even in this country, is not oil and gas. It's integrity. Everyone is searching for it, asking, 'Who can I do business with that I can trust?'
A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing.
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