"I am more fond of achieving than striving. My theories must prove to be facts or be discarded as worthless. My efforts must soon be crowned with success, or discontinued"
About this Quote
Achievement, for Carolyn Wells, is not a trophy; its a filter. She draws a hard line between romanticized effort and the colder business of results, and the chill is the point. "Striving" carries the glow of virtue with no obligation to deliver. "Achieving" insists on closure: either something happens, or you stop spending your life performing ambition.
The most revealing move is her impatience with theory. "My theories must prove to be facts or be discarded as worthless" reads like a private manifesto against the parlor-room intellectualism of her era, when ideas could circulate as social currency long after theyd failed the world. Wells is writing from a moment when women who worked professionally still had to justify their seriousness; pragmatism becomes a kind of armor. If youre already fighting for legitimacy, you cant afford the luxury of being "interesting" without being right.
"Must soon be crowned with success, or discontinued" brings in the tempo of industrial modernity: deadlines, markets, measurable payoff. Its also self-discipline bordering on self-threat, the sort of internal contract a prolific writer makes to outrun doubt. The subtext is less self-help than self-triage: treat effort like a hypothesis, not a personality. If the work doesnt move, pivot. Wells makes productivity sound austere, almost moral, but its also liberating. She refuses to sanctify suffering as proof of worth, and in doing so, she quietly rejects a culture that often demanded women be patient, grateful, and perpetually "trying."
The most revealing move is her impatience with theory. "My theories must prove to be facts or be discarded as worthless" reads like a private manifesto against the parlor-room intellectualism of her era, when ideas could circulate as social currency long after theyd failed the world. Wells is writing from a moment when women who worked professionally still had to justify their seriousness; pragmatism becomes a kind of armor. If youre already fighting for legitimacy, you cant afford the luxury of being "interesting" without being right.
"Must soon be crowned with success, or discontinued" brings in the tempo of industrial modernity: deadlines, markets, measurable payoff. Its also self-discipline bordering on self-threat, the sort of internal contract a prolific writer makes to outrun doubt. The subtext is less self-help than self-triage: treat effort like a hypothesis, not a personality. If the work doesnt move, pivot. Wells makes productivity sound austere, almost moral, but its also liberating. She refuses to sanctify suffering as proof of worth, and in doing so, she quietly rejects a culture that often demanded women be patient, grateful, and perpetually "trying."
Quote Details
| Topic | Success |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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