"Success tempts many to their ruin"
About this Quote
Success is seductive because it flatters judgment and loosens restraint. After a victory, caution feels unnecessary, limits look negotiable, and the appetite for more swells. The very qualities that fostered achievement—discipline, patience, respect for risk—are often the first casualties of triumph. Overconfidence invites reckless bets; adulation dulls self-awareness; new power attracts envy and hidden adversaries. The danger is not merely external. Success can warp desire, pushing people to chase a larger stage, a faster gain, or a brighter image, until they topple under the weight of their own momentum.
Phaedrus, the Roman fabulist and former slave who adapted Aesop into terse Latin verse, knew how quickly fortune could turn in the imperial world. Writing under rulers for whom favor and downfall were a hairs breadth apart, he used animals and parable to speak truths that could not be spoken openly. In that climate, success was not a soft cushion but a perilous ledge. The courtier who rose too high threatened the prince and fell; the freedman who flaunted his ascent provoked scorn. Many of his fables play out the same dynamic: a creature emboldened by a small advantage overreaches and pays the price. Think of the dog who, seeing the reflection of his bone, snaps at the mirage and loses the real one. Gain breeds desire, desire blinds, blindness ruins.
The line still cuts close to modern bone. Early wins can tempt a startup to scale beyond its foundations, an athlete to risk the body for one more record, a public figure to believe the story told by applause. Markets, audiences, and rivals can all turn, but the most dangerous pivot happens inside, when success persuades someone that the rules no longer apply. The antidote is not fear of achievement, but a practiced humility and the unglamorous habits that built success in the first place.
Phaedrus, the Roman fabulist and former slave who adapted Aesop into terse Latin verse, knew how quickly fortune could turn in the imperial world. Writing under rulers for whom favor and downfall were a hairs breadth apart, he used animals and parable to speak truths that could not be spoken openly. In that climate, success was not a soft cushion but a perilous ledge. The courtier who rose too high threatened the prince and fell; the freedman who flaunted his ascent provoked scorn. Many of his fables play out the same dynamic: a creature emboldened by a small advantage overreaches and pays the price. Think of the dog who, seeing the reflection of his bone, snaps at the mirage and loses the real one. Gain breeds desire, desire blinds, blindness ruins.
The line still cuts close to modern bone. Early wins can tempt a startup to scale beyond its foundations, an athlete to risk the body for one more record, a public figure to believe the story told by applause. Markets, audiences, and rivals can all turn, but the most dangerous pivot happens inside, when success persuades someone that the rules no longer apply. The antidote is not fear of achievement, but a practiced humility and the unglamorous habits that built success in the first place.
Quote Details
| Topic | Success |
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