In order to get as much fame as one's father one has to much more able than he.
Interpretation
Achieving equal fame to one's predecessor requires greater ability and effort.
Denis Diderot suggests that inheriting fame or success from a parent is not sufficient; one must possess greater talent, skill, or determination to reach or surpass that level of recognition. This quote highlights the pressure of living up to a legacy and emphasizes the necessity of personal growth and hard work.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to pursue their own paths distinct from their parents.
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
This root [the potato], no matter how much you prepare it, is tasteless and floury. It cannot pass for an agreeable food, but it supplies a food sufficiently abundant and sufficiently healthy for men who ask only to sustain themselves. The potato is criticized with reason for being windy, but what matters windiness for the vigorous organisms of peasants and laborers?
Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world.
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
What is a monster? A being whose survival is incompatible with the existing order.
Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don't settle for them.
"...piling up zeros in your bank account, or cars in your driveway, won't in and of itself make you successful. Rather, true success is based on a constant flow of giving and recieving. In fact, if you look up affluence in the dictionary, you'll see its root is a Latin phrase meaning "to flow with abundance". So in order to be truly affluent, you must always let what you have recieved flow back into the world."
When you want success as badly as you want the air, then you will get it. There is no other secret of success.
Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success.
As long as people are clear on what they need to do and what's going on, you're very likely to succeed. When nobody is clear, then you're guaranteed to fail.
Most of what you hear about entrepreneurshi p is all wrong. It's not magic; it's not mysterious; and it has nothing to do with genes. It's a discipline and, like any discipline, it can be learned.
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