QuoteProject
Above all, recognize that if you have had success, you have also had luck — and with luck comes obligation. You owe a debt, and not just to your Gods. You owe a debt to the unlucky.
Michael Lewis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Success often involves a degree of luck, and with that luck comes a responsibility to help those who are less fortunate.

In this quote, Michael Lewis emphasizes that success is not solely the result of personal effort or talent, but also heavily influenced by luck. This implies that those who achieve success have an obligation to support and uplift others who may not have had the same fortunate circumstances, recognizing the interconnected nature of society where privilege can be a result of random chance.

Themes

SuccessLuckObligationDebtResponsibility

In practice

Example use cases

During a charity event discussing the importance of giving back to the community.

More from Michael Lewis

That's what happens when you're thirty-seven years old: you do the things you always did but the result is somehow different.
Michael LewisRead
People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.
Michael LewisRead
Commitment, by its nature, frees us from ourselves and, while it stands us in opposition to some, it joins us with others similarly committed. Commitment moves us from the mirror trap of the self absorbed with the self to the freedom of a community of shared values.
Michael LewisRead
The men on the trading floor may not have been to school, but they have Ph.D.’s in man’s ignorance.
Michael LewisRead
A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.
Michael LewisRead
That was how a Salomon bond trader thought: He forgot whatever it was that he wanted to do for a minute and put his finger on the pulse of the market. If the market felt fidgety, if people were scared or desperate, he herded them like sheep into a corner, then made them pay for their uncertainty. He sat on the market until it puked gold coins. Then he worried about what he wanted to do.
Michael LewisRead

Similar quotes

To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings.
Rosabeth Moss KanterRead
When you're 0-2 in the Super Bowl, they say unkind things about you. They say, 'He can't win the big one.' And that's the worst thing that can be said about you.
Don ShulaRead
The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
Vince LombardiRead
I didn't fail 1000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1000 steps.
Thomas A. EdisonRead
If the grass is greener on the other side it`s probably getting better care. Success is a matter of sticking to a set of common sense principles anyone can master.
Earl NightingaleRead
When all of a sudden you're successful and sought after overnight, you are instantly opened to a lot of sides of humanity that the average person is never going to see. And those can often be pretty disheartening, and it can make somebody pretty lonely.
Chris CornellRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.