“Rather hang thyself than belong to the horde of successful imitators.”
Thoughts and Aphorisms (1913), Karma
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Sri Aurobindo 224
Indian nationalist, freedom fighter, philosopher, yogi, gur… 1872–1950Related quotes

2.37
History of the Peloponnesian War
“For maturity is marked by the preference to be defeated rather than have a subjective success.”
Source: The Meaning of God in Human Experience (1912), Ch. XII : The Will as a Maker of Truth, p. 140.
Context: For maturity is marked by the preference to be defeated rather than have a subjective success. We as mature persons can worship only that which we are compelled to worship. If we are offered a man-made God and a self-answering prayer, we will rather have no God and no prayer. There can be no valid worship except that in which man is involuntarily bent by the presence of the Most Real, beyond his will.

“I'd rather be a failure at something I enjoy than a success at something I hate.”
Source: Star Maker (1937), Chapter V: Worlds Innumerable; 2. Strange Mankinds (p. 61)

The Need for Transcendence in the Postmodern World (1994)
Context: Periods of history when values undergo a fundamental shift are certainly not unprecedented. This happened in the Hellenistic period, when from the ruins of the classical world the Middle Ages were gradually born. It happened during the Renaissance, which opened the way to the modern era. The distinguishing features of such transitional periods are a mixing and blending of cultures and a plurality or parallelism of intellectual and spiritual worlds. These are periods when all consistent value systems collapse, when cultures distant in time and space are discovered or rediscovered. They are periods when there is a tendency to quote, to imitate, and to amplify, rather than to state with authority or integrate. New meaning is gradually born from the encounter, or the intersection, of many different elements.

“Humility is a rarity that belongs exclusively to successful people.”
Original: (it) L'umiltà è una rarità che appartiene esclusivamente alle persone di successo.
Source: prevale.net

Bill Whittle's Keynote speech https://vimeo.com/145285384 at the David Horowitz Freedom Center's 2015 Restoration Weekend on Nov. 6, 2015.
2010s