--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Constant success shows us but one side of…" description: "\"Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png" --- # Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For… ![“Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies from whom alone we can learn our defects.” quote by Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png) > “Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies from whom alone we can learn our defects.” [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success blinds us to criticism, surrounding us with praise and muting those who could reveal our flaws. **In simple terms:** Success hides criticism. Key Takeaway Seek honest feedback. Themes humility self-awareness growth Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - career advancement - personal relationships - leadership - self-improvement Key Concepts Ego feedback loops Questions to Reflect On - Who are the honest critics in your life? - How can you invite constructive criticism? A Different Perspective Praise can create complacency and blind spots. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achievement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) [Defects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defects/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Silence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/silence/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-adversity-brings/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [One of the best sources of perspective is enemies. If we can learn from them, then we can profit from anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-b-allender/one-of-the-best-sources-of-perspective-is-enemies-if-we-can-learn/) [Dan B. Allender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-b-allender/) > [Memo to extreme partisans: If you can't bring yourselves to love your enemies, can you at least learn to hate your friends?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/memo-to-extreme-partisans-if-you-can-t-bring-yourselves-to-love-your/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [If rulers learn to undervalue the lives of their own subjects by the custom of war, how much more do they undervalue the lives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noah-worcester/if-rulers-learn-to-undervalue-the-lives-of-their-own-subjects-by-the/) Noah Worcester > [Like pictures, men should be judged by their merits and not by their defects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bainbridge-colby/like-pictures-men-should-be-judged-by-their-merits-and-not-by-their/) [Bainbridge Colby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bainbridge-colby/) > [We know our friends by their defects rather than their merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/we-know-our-friends-by-their-defects-rather-than-their-merits/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“Then the voice - which identified itself as the prince of this world, the only being who really knows what happens on Earth -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/then-the-voice-which-identified-itself-as-the-prince-of-this-world/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“Whoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/whoever-desires-constant-success-must-change-his-conduct-with-the/) [Niccolò Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/whosoever-desires-constant-success-must-change-his-conduct-with-the/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Painful deed towards your goal is directly proportional to the level of perfection with a universal constant, success in between them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vivek-yadav/painful-deed-towards-your-goal-is-directly-proportional-to-the-level/) [Vivek Yadav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vivek-yadav/) > [I'm not doing my work for constant success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-taylor/i-m-not-doing-my-work-for-constant-success/) [Rod Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-taylor/) > [Emulation has been termed a spur to virtue, and assumes to be a spur of gold. But it is a spur composed of baser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/emulation-has-been-termed-a-spur-to-virtue-and-assumes-to-be-a-spur/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It would be amazing if we were just basically judged on the merits of what we do, but we're not. That's not part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aspen-ladd/it-would-be-amazing-if-we-were-just-basically-judged-on-the-merits-of/) [Aspen Ladd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aspen-ladd/) > [Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/well-just-that-there-would-be-somebody-in-the-office-and-the-voters/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/even-the-most-abject-have-a-sense-of-superiority-based-on-powerful/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) ## More by Charles Caleb Colton > [Villainy that is vigilant will be an overmatch for virtue, if she slumber at her post.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/villainy-that-is-vigilant-will-be-an-overmatch-for-virtue-if-she/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [A beautiful woman, if poor, should use double circumspection; for her beauty will tempt others, her poverty herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/a-beautiful-woman-if-poor-should-use-double-circumspection-for-her/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Were the life of man prolonged, he would become such a proficient in villainy, that it would become necessary again to drown or to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/were-the-life-of-man-prolonged-he-would-become-such-a-proficient-in/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [To dare to live alone is the rarest courage; since there are many who had rather meet their bitterest enemy in the field, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/to-dare-to-live-alone-is-the-rarest-courage-since-there-are-many-who/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [It is doubtful whether mankind are most indebted to those who like Bacon and Butler dig the gold from the mine of literature, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/it-is-doubtful-whether-mankind-are-most-indebted-to-those-who-like/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Be very slow to believe that you are wiser than all others; it is a fatal but common error. Where one has been saved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/be-very-slow-to-believe-that-you-are-wiser-than-all-others-it-is-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [None are so fond of secrets as those who do not mean to keep them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/none-are-so-fond-of-secrets-as-those-who-do-not-mean-to-keep-them/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Mental pleasures never cloy; unlike those of the body, they are increased by reputation, approved by reflection, and strengthened by enjoyment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/mental-pleasures-never-cloy-unlike-those-of-the-body-they-are/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Ignorance lies at the bottom of all human knowledge, and the deeper we penetrate, the nearer we arrive unto it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/ignorance-lies-at-the-bottom-of-all-human-knowledge-and-the-deeper-we/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/heroism-self-denial-and-magnanimity-in-all-instances-where-they-do/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We ought not to be over-anxious to encourage innovation in cases of doubtful improvement, for an old system must ever have two advantages over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ought-not-to-be-over-anxious-to-encourage-innovation-in-cases-of/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [We owe almost all our knowledge not to those who have agreed, but to those who have differed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-owe-almost-all-our-knowledge-not-to-those-who-have-agreed-but-to/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Metaphysicians have been learning their lessons for the last four thousand years, and it is high time that they should now begin to teach…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/metaphysicians-have-been-learning-their-lessons-for-the-last-four/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [Faith and works are necessary to our spiritual life as Christians, as soul and body are to our natural life as men; for faith…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/faith-and-works-are-necessary-to-our-spiritual-life-as-christians-as/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [When all moves equally (says Pascal), nothing seems to move as in a vessel under sail; and when all run by common consent into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/when-all-moves-equally-says-pascal-nothing-seems-to-move-as-in-a/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Explore all 778 Charles Caleb Colton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) ## More Achievement quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [It's tragic what America has become because there is a great segment of society that now resents luxury and success and achievement by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-leach/it-s-tragic-what-america-has-become-because-there-is-a-great-segment/) [Robin Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-leach/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute rather than to generate wealth and income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-main-substantive-achievement-of-neoliberalism-has-been-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [“If you find a way where there seems to be no way, that’s what we call miracle, not personal achievement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkwachukwu-ogbuagu/if-you-find-a-way-where-there-seems-to-be-no-way-that-s-what-we-call/) [Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkwachukwu-ogbuagu/) > [The Baseball Hall of Fame is something every player dreams about, but being a member of God's Hall of Fame is the greatest achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-carter/the-baseball-hall-of-fame-is-something-every-player-dreams-about-but/) [Gary Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-carter/) > [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) Nicholas Roerich > [Every scene is a challenge. There are technical challenges, but often it's the simplest challenge where you feel a sense of achievement when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-deakins/every-scene-is-a-challenge-there-are-technical-challenges-but-often/) [Roger Deakins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-deakins/) [Browse all 3,867 Achievement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies from whom alone we can learn our defects.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Caleb Colton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Achievement" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ca/charles-caleb-colton-270_achievement_constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-o_579122.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us…” — Charles Caleb Colton", "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 Caleb Colton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Constant success shows us but one...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/constant-success-shows-us-but-one-side-of-the-world-for-as-it/#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 } } ] } ```