The Definition of Success Essay - 523 Words

What is success? How does one succeed in life? A few moments thought will convince us that the question is by no means an easy one to answer. We say this, that, or the other man is successful, but what do we mean by it? One man has houses and lands, has a large bank account, drives fast horses and has many apparent friends, such a man is accounted successful. Yet all of these things that minister to his pleasure have been acquired by unremitting labor, by hard, avaricious dealings with his fellow-men, by trampling upon the hearts and affections of thousands; in the face of these facts is the man a successful one? The question will be answered differently, according; to the views of life of the one answering it. Some think wealth is the†¦show more content†¦The man who becomes wealthy is in a measure successful, but only so far as the acquirement sharpens his intellect, broadens his powers, and develops him into a self-reliant, powerful member of society for its good. Selfish wealth is never good. One may be a millionaire, but if with it comes greed, avarice, oppression of others, the success is small indeed. Scattered along the path of life we find examples of men whose success brought them fame and glory and proved an unqualified blessing to all mankind. . . . [Scientist Louis] Aggasiz was at one time importuned to go upon the lecture platform and make money out of his vast knowledge as a naturalist. His reply will be ever memorable: â€Å"I have no time to make money.† Such a man would be hooted at on Wall Street by the men who speculate in the earnings of others and imagine themselves the great business men of this age. Yet whose success is greatest, that of Louis Agassiz standing among his pupils . . . teaching them the secrets of nature, or that of Jay Gould heaping together millions wrung from the failure of thousands of his fellows? One rests secure in a pure fame, the other is hated and feared by his neighbors and at the last will have been simply notorious. There is one criterion by which success can be fairly measured,Show MoreRelatedDefinition of Success1195 Words   |  5 PagesKristen Campbell ENGL 1302 Kimberly Dill 3/7/2012 Standards of Success Success, as described by Winston Churchill, is â€Å"†¦going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.† This has taken on greater meaning in our modern day, as the path to success has seemingly become more complex. Is the American dream still valid? I would say yes, considering that we are currently in a recession. The term â€Å"American Dream† is used in a number of ways, but really the American Dream is an idea thatRead More The Definition of Success Essay801 Words   |  4 PagesThe Definition of Success   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What is success? Is it the process of doing a task and receiving a positive result acceptable amongst the community, or is it simply achieving ones own personal goals? Success to me can mean many things. Although I am successful in school, that does not necessarily mean I will lead a successful life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to The American Heritage Dictionary success is, the achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted. Even over the course of history, theRead MoreThe Definition of Success Essay1897 Words   |  8 PagesMost people commonly describe success, as being wealthy in life. This is not the meaning entirely, the definition of success is simple. A person is successful, if he or she has very good payment at his or her work and if he or she is happy with the job, they are doing. Education really leads to success. If a person has good education, he or she can choose their careers and be successful at it. Education is a form of learning in which the knowledge and skills is being transferred from a group of peopleRead MoreMy Definition of Success Essay933 Words   |  4 Pagespersonality and duplicate it. – Bruce Lee – What is success? Society is always striving for a definition to define it and how others can and have achieved it. This paper will illustrate the definition of success, what makes society success or not success, and what my personal definition of success is. This will show how twisted and materialistic people can really be in today’s world. In the dictionary.com definition success is the achievement of something desired, planned, or attemptedRead MoreMy Definition of Success Essay1399 Words   |  6 Pagesthat person confident, popular, and joyful all of the time—the epitome of mainstream success? Or, on the other hand, is the person stressed, having second thoughts about his life choices, and unsure about the meaning of his life? I am willing to bet that it is the second one. Mainstream marketing and media have effectively brainwashed our society into accepting a false, even potentially dangerous definition of success. Marketers want us to believe that having lots of money, living in a big house, andRead MoreEssay on My Definition of Success1046 Words   |  5 Pages In his poem, â€Å"What is Success,† Ralph Waldo Emerson gave priceless insight when he wrote: To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have livedRead MoreDefinition Essay. Defining Success644 Words   |  3 PagesDefining Success The definition of success is in the eye of the beholder. More than three-fourths of your life is spent working to become successful. People are told during childhood to work as hard as they can so they can grow up and make lots of money. But the word success can be taken in many different ways. Everyone has a different understanding of what success means to them. Generally, success means fulfilling the goals that you set for yourself. For some, success is measured by popularityRead MoreMy Definition of Success Essays2239 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"Success is the peace that comes with knowing your accomplishments have purpose.† – Hutch Putnam – Success is a word that really hard to define, because everyone will have a different definition for this word. In fact, there no exact definition for the word success. For a student, maybe the success means to pass all courses of the semester; for a business man, signing a importance contract and get a lot of money are successes; and for a president, leading the country to develop and make theRead MorePersonal Expectations And Definitions Of Success3135 Words   |  13 PagesProfessor Waren 11/01/14 Success: Gendered Expectations and Definitions Oscar Wilde once said, Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result. I propose to study the science of success in that I further study the definitions of success by gender. It is an in-depth study of success itself and what drives men and women to their successes and how they have succeeded. The value of this research is that it will show how people think of success without researcher biasRead MoreMy Definition of Success Essays499 Words   |  2 Pages When I think of success, I think of a bumper sticker I saw once which read, â€Å"He who dies the most toys wins†. That has always stuck with me because I have never thought of material possessions as the yard stick of my success in life. As everyone wishes, I would like to be comfortable and not always worrying about bills but, extravagance for the sake of status is not success. I think success in a person is defined by happiness and people’s pride in being a good person.