The secret of success is that it is not the absence of failure, but the absence of envy.
Interpretation
Success comes from focusing on one's own journey rather than feeling envious of others' achievements.
This quote by Herodotus suggests that the true key to success is not merely avoiding failures, but rather maintaining a mindset free from envy. It emphasizes the importance of being content with one's own progress and achievements, rather than comparing oneself to others, which can distract and detract from personal growth and fulfillment.
In practice
In a motivational speech to encourage students before their exams.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
Don't take action with a trade until the market, itself, confirms your opinion. Being a little late in a trade is insurance that your opinion is correct. In other words, don't be an impatient trader.
The game is my wife. It demands loyalty and responsibility, and it gives me back fulfillment and peace.
As I see it, the thing that hurt my putting most when it was bad, was thinking too much about how I was making the stroke and not enough about getting the ball in the hole.
A good reputation for yourself and your company is an invaluable asset not reflected in the balance sheets.
I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.
Men weren't always happy for me. It was very challenging to watch a woman be so successful.
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