Success Quote by Joe Eszterhas

There is a bruised honesty hiding inside the swagger of Eszterhas's line: the idea that you can outgrow the band, the scene, the youthful mess of it all, yet still crave the aesthetics of the hit. "Fact is" lands like a shrug and a defense attorney's opening statement, clearing the throat for a confession he knows will sound petty. The sentence admits what grown-up ambition rarely admits in public: we may change jobs, partners, even values, but we often keep the same hunger for being seen winning.

The key phrase is "do our success". Success isn't something that happens; it's a performance you stage, an identity you costume. Eszterhas isn't talking about artistry so much as the choreography of fame: the attitude, the volume, the insinuation that the world is lucky to witness you. "Like rock'n'roll stars" functions as cultural shorthand for a specific kind of winning - loud, reckless, adored, exempt from ordinary consequences. It's not just about money or acclaim; it's about the permission structure celebrity seems to grant.

Context matters because Eszterhas is a screenwriter who became a symbol of blockbuster-era excess, a public figure as much as a behind-the-scenes craftsman. The subtext reads like Hollywood self-diagnosis: even when the work changes, the fantasy doesn't. You can leave the stage and still want the spotlight's heat - and you can feel ridiculous for wanting it, which is why the line is both boast and self-own.