--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Too much success gets you resting on your…" description: "\"Too much success gets you resting on your laurels and creates a kind of quicksand that you can't get out of.\" — Colin Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e81/colin-wilson-8331_kind_too-much-success-gets-you-resting-on-you_1435366.jpg" --- # Too much success gets you resting on your laurels and… ![“Too much success gets you resting on your laurels and creates a kind of quicksand that you can't get out of.” quote by Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e81/colin-wilson-8331_kind_too-much-success-gets-you-resting-on-you_1435366.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e81/colin-wilson-8331_kind_too-much-success-gets-you-resting-on-you_1435366.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e81/colin-wilson-8331_kind_too-much-success-gets-you-resting-on-you_1435366.jpg) > “Too much success gets you resting on your laurels and creates a kind of quicksand that you can't get out of.” [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success can lead to complacency, making it hard to stay motivated and progress further. **In simple terms:** Success may cause complacency and stagnation. Key Takeaway Avoid complacency after success. Themes complacency motivation success stagnation Mood reflective cautious Type advisory motivational When to use this quote - career advancement - personal projects - creative work - entrepreneurship Key Concepts psychology self‑discipline growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - What habits keep you moving after a win? - How do you recognize early signs of stagnation? A Different Perspective Complacency can be overcome with deliberate goal‑setting and new challenges. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Laurels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laurels/) [Quicksand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quicksand/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [I've grown tired of resting on my laurels and have decided to start resting on my failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-gould/i-ve-grown-tired-of-resting-on-my-laurels-and-have-decided-to-start/) [Dana Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-gould/) > [I'm always hungry for the next thing. I'm never resting on my laurels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-wu/i-m-always-hungry-for-the-next-thing-i-m-never-resting-on-my-laurels/) [Constance Wu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-wu/) > [Resting on your laurels is as dangerous as resting when you are walking in the snow. You doze off and die in your sleep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-wittgenstein/resting-on-your-laurels-is-as-dangerous-as-resting-when-you-are/) [Ludwig Wittgenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-wittgenstein/) > [I don't like resting on my laurels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-coughlan/i-don-t-like-resting-on-my-laurels/) [Nicola Coughlan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-coughlan/) > [I don't like to look back, and I'm always worried about the next thing rather than resting on the laurels or the degradations of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/i-don-t-like-to-look-back-and-i-m-always-worried-about-the-next-thing/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [You can't be afraid of failure and you can't be afraid of success, because either one gets in the way of your work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-van-ronk/you-can-t-be-afraid-of-failure-and-you-can-t-be-afraid-of-success/) [Dave Van Ronk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-van-ronk/) > [I just felt it was my job to show that there is no easy way to success, and that anyone who gets even just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/casey-kasem/i-just-felt-it-was-my-job-to-show-that-there-is-no-easy-way-to/) [Casey Kasem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/casey-kasem/) > [Success is when the whole gets enlightened. When you become one with the whole, that's the real success. To be one with the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/success-is-when-the-whole-gets-enlightened-when-you-become-one-with-2/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mo-zee/a-man-is-a-success-if-he-gets-up-in-the-morning-and-goes-to-bed-at/) [MO'zee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mo-zee/) > [Whats money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/whats-money-a-man-is-a-success-if-he-gets-up-in-the-morning-and-goes/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Success is when the whole gets enlightened. When you become one with the whole, that's the real success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/success-is-when-the-whole-gets-enlightened-when-you-become-one-with/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/a-man-is-a-success-if-he-gets-up-in-the-morning-and-gets-to-bed-at/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [“Islanzadi sighed, and suddenly appeared tired. “Ormomis may have been your proper teacher, but you have proved yourself to be Brom’s heir, not Oromis’s.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-paolini/islanzadi-sighed-and-suddenly-appeared-tired-ormomis-may-have-been/) [Christopher Paolini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-paolini/) > [You should climb around inside my brain, Dan. It's like this dark room surrounded by quicksand." "I know what you mean," her brother said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lerangis/you-should-climb-around-inside-my-brain-dan-it-s-like-this-dark-room/) [Peter Lerangis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lerangis/) > [The boys had asked why, if it acted slowly, was it called quicksand. The Mollusks had replied that, as far as they were concerned,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ridley-pearson/the-boys-had-asked-why-if-it-acted-slowly-was-it-called-quicksand-the/) [Ridley Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ridley-pearson/) ## More by Colin Wilson > [“Man is not a 'fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant'. He changed drastically when he developed 'divided consciousness' to cope with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-not-a-fixed-and-limited-animal-whose-nature-is-absolutely/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“As to Gurdjieff's power to renew his own energies, its essence had been understood by psychologists of the nineteenth century, decades before the age…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/as-to-gurdjieff-s-power-to-renew-his-own-energies-its-essence-had/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The mystical impulse in men is somehow a desire to possess the universe. In women, it's a desire to be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-mystical-impulse-in-men-is-somehow-a-desire-to-possess-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The exploration of oneself is usually also an exploration of the world at large, of other writers, a process of comparison with oneself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-exploration-of-oneself-is-usually-also-an-exploration-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“There is in Shaw, as in Gurdjieff and Nietzsche, a recognition of the immense effort of Will that is necessary to express even a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/there-is-in-shaw-as-in-gurdjieff-and-nietzsche-a-recognition-of-the/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [I was aggressively nonpolitical. I believed that people who make a fuss about politics do so because their heads are too empty to think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/i-was-aggressively-nonpolitical-i-believed-that-people-who-make-a/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Christianity was an epidemic rather than a religion. It appealed to fear, hysteria and ignorance. It spread across the Western world, not because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/christianity-was-an-epidemic-rather-than-a-religion-it-appealed-to/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [When I open my eyes in the morning, I am not confronted by a world, but by a million possible worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/when-i-open-my-eyes-in-the-morning-i-am-not-confronted-by-a-world-but/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Religion, mysticism and magic all spring from the same basic 'feeling' about the universe: a sudden feeling of meaning, which human beings sometimes 'pick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/religion-mysticism-and-magic-all-spring-from-the-same-basic-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Man is brilliant at solving problems; but solving them only makes him the victim of his own childishness and laziness. It is this recognition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-brilliant-at-solving-problems-but-solving-them-only-makes-him/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [It was Rousseau who was largely responsible for the problem by giving currency to the idea that freedom can exist without responsibility and discipline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/it-was-rousseau-who-was-largely-responsible-for-the-problem-by-giving/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If I'd stayed on in London and carried on going to literary parties, it would have wrecked me as a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-i-d-stayed-on-in-london-and-carried-on-going-to-literary-parties/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [Imagination should be used, not to escape reality but to create it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/imagination-should-be-used-not-to-escape-reality-but-to-create-it/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [If you asked me what is the basis of all my work, it's the feeling there's something basically wrong with human beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/if-you-asked-me-what-is-the-basis-of-all-my-work-it-s-the-feeling/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [The sheer volume of evidence for survival after death is so immense that to ignore it is like standing at the foot of Mount…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/the-sheer-volume-of-evidence-for-survival-after-death-is-so-immense/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) [Explore all 81 Colin Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) ## More Kind quotes > [Money is the kind of instrument which is very speedily produced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/money-is-the-kind-of-instrument-which-is-very-speedily-produced/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [Since I worked with Danny Boyle before on Slumdog Millionaire, we have great success and everything. 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Sometimes you know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-davis/i-always-step-on-the-plane-with-my-right-foot-and-touch-the-outside/) [Hope Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-davis/) > [Every time I finish a song... most of the time it's in my own head, like this sounds too much like a Townes Van…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/every-time-i-finish-a-song-most-of-the-time-it-s-in-my-own-head-like/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [I did not know that the planning for biological and chemical warfare was so widespread in England, and even in France before France fell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholson-baker/i-did-not-know-that-the-planning-for-biological-and-chemical-warfare/) [Nicholson Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholson-baker/) > [I'm not a huge social media kind of guy, so I don't really know, I don't really ever get... at least in real life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/i-m-not-a-huge-social-media-kind-of-guy-so-i-don-t-really-know-i-don/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [The bigger the canvas, the better I do. I'm not so good at understated, kitchen-sink kinds of parts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/the-bigger-the-canvas-the-better-i-do-i-m-not-so-good-at-understated/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [If we accept being talked to any kind of a way, then we are telling ourselves we are not quite worth the best. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/if-we-accept-being-talked-to-any-kind-of-a-way-then-we-are-telling/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [You're getting into some kind of shape, cop." Aw, come on, now." Butch grinned. "Don't let that shower we took go to your head."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-r-ward/you-re-getting-into-some-kind-of-shape-cop-aw-come-on-now-butch/) [J.R. 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