“Criticism is directly proportional to success. Therefore, it's almost impossible to wish for success without tasting the former attribute.”

Essay on the Principle of Population (1798; rev. through 1826)

Fooled by Randomness (2001)

Rules 2 Rule

Source: Success! (1977), p. 145
Context: Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you derive from what you do. If you are in a job you hate, face the fact squarely and get out. You may earn a good living, you may have a safe career, but you will never be a success. Find out what you enjoy doing, and your chances of succeeding will be dramatically better. We play the game every day, sometimes without even recognizing that we're doing it. We compete with other people, or other teams, or other companies, not only because it is essential to business survival, but because we frankly enjoy competition. It's fun to be in the game, and it's even more fun to win.

2010s, 2014, U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Spousal Program (August 2014)

Variant: The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.

As quoted in The Films of Barbra Streisand (2001) by Christopher Nickens and Karen Swenson
Variant: Success makes so many people hate you. I wish it wasn't that way. It would be wonderful to enjoy success without seeing envy in the eyes of those around you.