In order to get as much fame as one's father one has to much more able than he.
Interpretation
Achieving equal fame to one's predecessor requires greater ability and effort.
Denis Diderot suggests that inheriting fame or success from a parent is not sufficient; one must possess greater talent, skill, or determination to reach or surpass that level of recognition. This quote highlights the pressure of living up to a legacy and emphasizes the necessity of personal growth and hard work.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to pursue their own paths distinct from their parents.
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
This root [the potato], no matter how much you prepare it, is tasteless and floury. It cannot pass for an agreeable food, but it supplies a food sufficiently abundant and sufficiently healthy for men who ask only to sustain themselves. The potato is criticized with reason for being windy, but what matters windiness for the vigorous organisms of peasants and laborers?
Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world.
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
What is a monster? A being whose survival is incompatible with the existing order.
With the Supremes I made so much money so fast all I wanted to do was buy clothes and pretty things. Now I'm comfortable with money and it's comfortable with me.
If you are going to be successful, you need to give up the phrase, "I can't" & all of its cousins, such as "I wish I were able to.
Nothing limits achievement like small thinking; nothing expands possibilities like unleashed imagination.
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.
Don't become a seeker of success. Become a person of value.
I have seen business moguls achieve their ultimate goals but still live in frustration, worry, and fear. What's preventing these successful people for being happy? The answer is they have focused only on achievement and not fulfillment. Extraordinary accomplishment does not guarantee extraordinary joy, happiness, love, and a sense of meaning. These two skill sets feed off each other, and make me believe that success without fulfillment is failure.
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