--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to succeed, limit yourself." description: "\"If you want to succeed, limit yourself.\" — Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png" --- # If you want to succeed, limit yourself. ![“If you want to succeed, limit yourself.” quote by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png) > “If you want to succeed, limit yourself.” [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self-imposed limits focus effort, fostering depth and mastery in a chosen field. **In simple terms:** Limits sharpen focus and success. Key Takeaway Set clear boundaries to excel. Themes focus discipline mastery goal setting productivity Mood reflective determined Type practical inspirational When to use this quote - career planning - skill development - creative projects Key Concepts Philosophy self-regulation achievement Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance restriction with growth? - What limits have helped you succeed? A Different Perspective Over‑limiting can stifle potential. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Limits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limits/) [Specialization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specialization/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [You want everyone to succeed in your family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-olsen/you-want-everyone-to-succeed-in-your-family/) [Elizabeth Olsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-olsen/) > [If you really want to succeed, you'll have to go for it every day like I do. The big time isn't for slackers. Keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/if-you-really-want-to-succeed-you-ll-have-to-go-for-it-every-day-like/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [People like me have to have the discipline only to work for clients, corporations, political people, products, services, networks that we believe in and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-luntz/people-like-me-have-to-have-the-discipline-only-to-work-for-clients/) [Frank Luntz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-luntz/) > [“If you want to succeed more than you want to breathe, then you will be successful.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chachi-gonzales/if-you-want-to-succeed-more-than-you-want-to-breathe-then-you-will-be/) Chachi Gonzales > [Giving up is not an option if you want to succeed. If you really want to be in business, and it's something you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellee-stewart/giving-up-is-not-an-option-if-you-want-to-succeed-if-you-really-want/) Kellee Stewart > [If you want to succeed there is no choice between move on or give up, but move on or die](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-want-to-succeed-there-is-no-choice-between-move-on-or-give-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you want to succeed, learn from your mistakes, live for today & strive for success, hope for tomorrow & positive things will come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/if-you-want-to-succeed-learn-from-your-mistakes-live-for-today-strive/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [A limit is a myth created by those who are not willing to try new things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-limit-is-a-myth-created-by-those-who-are-not-willing-to-try-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every time someone tried to explain to me there are limits to what one man can do, I pointed to the boundless sky and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaiprakash-gaur/every-time-someone-tried-to-explain-to-me-there-are-limits-to-what/) Jaiprakash Gaur > [You know, as somebody who writes op-eds and appears on the television, I appreciate as well as anybody that... there is a limit to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bolton/you-know-as-somebody-who-writes-op-eds-and-appears-on-the-television/) [John Bolton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bolton/) > [Music is there for us to explore. To intentionally limit yourself to one, two, or three genres is limitation at its worst. Music is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/music-is-there-for-us-to-explore-to-intentionally-limit-yourself-to/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [My size should not define who I am and nor can it limit me to achieve my goals. I am limitless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-adeniyi/my-size-should-not-define-who-i-am-and-nor-can-it-limit-me-to-achieve/) [Faith Adeniyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-adeniyi/) > [The American people reject the idea of giving Washington a blank check to increase the debt limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-roby/the-american-people-reject-the-idea-of-giving-washington-a-blank/) [Martha Roby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-roby/) > [The stars are not the limit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanna-bonta/the-stars-are-not-the-limit/) [Vanna Bonta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanna-bonta/) > [There's no limit to God's love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lucado/there-s-no-limit-to-god-s-love/) [Max Lucado](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lucado/) ## More by Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve > [Most celebrated men live in a condition of prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/most-celebrated-men-live-in-a-condition-of-prostitution/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [What signifies the ladder, provided one rise and attain the end?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/what-signifies-the-ladder-provided-one-rise-and-attain-the-end/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [“Nothing is more painful to me than the disdain with which people treat second-rate authors, as if there were room only for the first-raters.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nothing-is-more-painful-to-me-than-the-disdain-with-which-people/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [One is always of his age and especially he who least appears so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/one-is-always-of-his-age-and-especially-he-who-least-appears-so/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [“Tell me who loves, who admires you, and I will tell you who you are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/tell-me-who-loves-who-admires-you-and-i-will-tell-you-who-you-are/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [The nearest approach to the infallible in literary judgment is represented in the colossal work of the teacher of all these three \[Edmund Gosse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/the-nearest-approach-to-the-infallible-in-literary-judgment-is/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Since it is necessary to have enemies, let us endeavour to have those who do us honour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/since-it-is-necessary-to-have-enemies-let-us-endeavour-to-have-those/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [If I had a device, it would be the true, the true only, leaving the beautiful and the good to settle matters afterwards as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-i-had-a-device-it-would-be-the-true-the-true-only-leaving-the/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [In most men there exists a poet who died young, whom the man survived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/in-most-men-there-exists-a-poet-who-died-young-whom-the-man-survived/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Despair itself if it goes on long enough, can become a kind of sanctuary in which one settles down and feels at ease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/despair-itself-if-it-goes-on-long-enough-can-become-a-kind-of/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [A philosophical thought has probably not attained all its sharpness and all its illumination until it is expressed in French.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/a-philosophical-thought-has-probably-not-attained-all-its-sharpness/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [The greatest of all French critics, and possibly the greatest European critic since Aristotle .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/the-greatest-of-all-french-critics-and-possibly-the-greatest-european/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [There are people whose clocks stop at a certain point in their lives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/there-are-people-whose-clocks-stop-at-a-certain-point-in-their-lives/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [Nature wants us to enjoy life to the full and die without giving it a second thought; Christianity wants the opposite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/nature-wants-us-to-enjoy-life-to-the-full-and-die-without-giving-it-a/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) > [With everyone born human, a poet - an artist - is born, who dies young and who is survived by an adult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/with-everyone-born-human-a-poet-an-artist-is-born-who-dies-young-and/) [Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/) [Explore all 17 Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve quotes 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If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-helgoe/if-you-ask-an-introvert-a-question-wait-until-she-thinks-about-it/) [Laurie Helgoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-helgoe/) > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. 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And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. 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Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you want to succeed, limit yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0c/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve_ifs_if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself-14_1442328.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you want to succeed, limit yourself.” — Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you want to succeed, limit...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-augustin-sainte-beuve/if-you-want-to-succeed-limit-yourself/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```