Success Essay
R. Michael Gosselin
English 101-10
11/6/2012
Success
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
― Bill Cosby What is success? By definition it is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose or the attainment of popularity or profit, but is that how we really measure success. Or do we measure it by our happiness and self-content? When I was younger my mother used to ask me “what is being successful”, my reaction was near instant, as if it was a reflex. I quickly said “having more money than you can count!” She would always just smirk and pat my head. I always bothered me how she would ask me the same question over and over again knowing that she is going to receive the same answer. When I realized I had the opportunity to research and learn more about this topic/word I jumped on the chance. During my studies I stumbled across the history of this word. According to (www.etymology.com}) the word success was first recorded in 1580’s, and back then the word meant "an advance, succession, happy outcome," from succedere "come after". As I meditated on this definition the only thing that truly caught my eye was the words “happy outcome”. Is being happy also mean being successful? Can the two possibly intertwined with each other? My research did not stop there. While still on the etymology site stumbled across something which I found extremely interesting. “The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease.” [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]. The man who spoke this (William James) thought that the way the word “success” was being perceived to be is killing us as a nation. He thought that the word success no longer meant striving and working hard and attaining your goals with a good set of morals, but instead dirty politics and lying and cheating so you can a obtain your goals. I always there was one way to
English 101-10
11/6/2012
Success
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
― Bill Cosby What is success? By definition it is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose or the attainment of popularity or profit, but is that how we really measure success. Or do we measure it by our happiness and self-content? When I was younger my mother used to ask me “what is being successful”, my reaction was near instant, as if it was a reflex. I quickly said “having more money than you can count!” She would always just smirk and pat my head. I always bothered me how she would ask me the same question over and over again knowing that she is going to receive the same answer. When I realized I had the opportunity to research and learn more about this topic/word I jumped on the chance. During my studies I stumbled across the history of this word. According to (www.etymology.com}) the word success was first recorded in 1580’s, and back then the word meant "an advance, succession, happy outcome," from succedere "come after". As I meditated on this definition the only thing that truly caught my eye was the words “happy outcome”. Is being happy also mean being successful? Can the two possibly intertwined with each other? My research did not stop there. While still on the etymology site stumbled across something which I found extremely interesting. “The moral flabbiness born of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS. That -- with the squalid interpretation put on the word success -- is our national disease.” [William James to H.G. Wells, Sept. 11, 1906]. The man who spoke this (William James) thought that the way the word “success” was being perceived to be is killing us as a nation. He thought that the word success no longer meant striving and working hard and attaining your goals with a good set of morals, but instead dirty politics and lying and cheating so you can a obtain your goals. I always there was one way to