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.
If you're successful in the market, it should be because you have the best products. Then your customers like you, not because then you cut corners, or you get a tax break, or you don't inform authorities about how things actually are.
I was probably born a scorer, but I was made a winner. Whatever works, whatever wins championships, wins games, that's what I do.
The day I stopped worrying about stats is the day I started winning
Success is won by those who believe in winning and then prepare for that moment.
Success has a great tendency to conceal and throw a veil over the evil deeds of men.
If you add the value, you will become the brand. Find a way to add more value than anyone else does
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.