What Is Success?

What Is Success?
by Ralph Waldo Emerson


To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;

To find the best in others;

To give of one's self;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -

This is to have succeeded.

Not a single word about money or material wealth. This makes me wonder: was he naive or was he right?