It is not sufficient that I succeed - all others must fail.
Interpretation
Success is not just about personal achievement; it involves competition and the failure of others.
This quote by Genghis Khan reflects a mindset of ruthless ambition where personal success is only meaningful if it is contrasted by the failure of others. It underscores a competitive spirit that sees success as a zero-sum game, where one person's progress is often at the expense of someone else's downfall.
In practice
During a motivational seminar about striving for success and overcoming competition.
Heaven grew weary of the excessive pride and luxury of China... I am from the Barbaric North. I wear the same clothing and eat the same food as the cowherds and horse-herders. We make the same sacrifices and we share.. our riches. I look upon the nation as a new-born child and I care for my soldiers as though they were my brothers.
With Heaven's aid I have conquered for you a huge empire. But my life was too short to achieve the conquest of the world. That task is left for you
I hate luxury. I exercise moderation…It will be easy to forget your vision and purpose one you have fine clothes, fast horses and beautiful women. [In which case], you will be no better than a slave, and you will surely lose everything.
An action comitted in anger is an action doomed to failure.
The strength of a wall is neither greater nor less than the courage of the men who defend it.
If my body dies, let my body die, but do not let my country die.
I remember being on film sets when I was younger, and only men got to do the cool action movies. So I thought, 'Maybe I'll get to produce one day and get to do cool stuff too,' which is what happened when we did 'Charlie's Angels.' Starting my production company was a big turning point for me.
Business is a game, and as with all games, the team that puts the best people on the field and gets them playing together wins. It's that simple.
Laurels grow in the Bay of Biscay, I hope a bed of them may be found in the Mediterranean.
I want people to remember that greatness is not a sports term. It's a life term.
When I first discovered in the early 1980s the Italian espresso bars in my trip to Italy, the vision was to re-create that for America - a third place that had not existed before. Starbucks re-created that in America in our own image; a place to go other than home or work. We also created an industry that did not exist: specialty coffee.
My history has been to grow the roots as deeply as you can before going on to the next thing. That's why it took 10 years to go from Union Square Cafe to Gramercy Tavern, and another 10 years to go from Blue Smoke's first location to its second, and five to go from Shake Shack 1 to Shake Shack 2.
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