"Self-made men often worship their creator"
About this Quote
The line lands like a small, polished blade: it flatters the American myth of bootstrap heroism while quietly gutting it. “Self-made” is already a brag disguised as biography; McGill’s twist is to point out the theological structure hiding inside that brag. If you insist you made yourself, you also get to appoint a god. Conveniently, the god is you.
The phrasing is doing several jobs at once. “Often” keeps it from sounding like a scold aimed at every success story; it’s a diagnosis of a pattern. “Worship” is the key verb, upgrading simple pride into ritual devotion. This isn’t just confidence or healthy self-regard. It’s reverence: the kind that demands admiration, immunity from critique, and a narrative where obstacles exist mainly to certify greatness. “Creator” completes the trap. It’s a word associated with divinity, authorship, and origin myths. By choosing it, McGill exposes the quasi-religious certainty that can attach to individualist success: the self-made man doesn’t merely succeed; he becomes proof of his own righteousness.
Context matters: in late-20th/early-21st-century motivational culture, “self-made” is currency, especially in entrepreneurial and influencer ecosystems where personal branding depends on heroic origin stories. The subtext is class and luck. Worshiping the “creator” is also a way to erase the scaffolding - family support, timing, networks, policy, labor - and to recast privilege as virtue.
It’s a critique of ego, but also of an economy of storytelling: when society rewards the self-made myth, it shouldn’t be surprised when people start believing they’re divine.
The phrasing is doing several jobs at once. “Often” keeps it from sounding like a scold aimed at every success story; it’s a diagnosis of a pattern. “Worship” is the key verb, upgrading simple pride into ritual devotion. This isn’t just confidence or healthy self-regard. It’s reverence: the kind that demands admiration, immunity from critique, and a narrative where obstacles exist mainly to certify greatness. “Creator” completes the trap. It’s a word associated with divinity, authorship, and origin myths. By choosing it, McGill exposes the quasi-religious certainty that can attach to individualist success: the self-made man doesn’t merely succeed; he becomes proof of his own righteousness.
Context matters: in late-20th/early-21st-century motivational culture, “self-made” is currency, especially in entrepreneurial and influencer ecosystems where personal branding depends on heroic origin stories. The subtext is class and luck. Worshiping the “creator” is also a way to erase the scaffolding - family support, timing, networks, policy, labor - and to recast privilege as virtue.
It’s a critique of ego, but also of an economy of storytelling: when society rewards the self-made myth, it shouldn’t be surprised when people start believing they’re divine.
Quote Details
| Topic | Success |
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