--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Success is more dangerous than failure…" description: "\"Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.\" — Graham Greene" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg" --- # Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break… ![“Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg) > “Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## 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 create far‑reaching, unintended consequences, whereas failure’s impact is more limited. **In simple terms:** Success spreads impact widely. Key Takeaway Beware of success’s ripple effects. Themes consequence responsibility risk impact leadership Mood cautious reflective Type proverb cautionary When to use this quote - making a breakthrough product - winning a political campaign - achieving fame - securing a large contract Key Concepts cause and effect scale unintended outcomes Practical Applications - strategic planning - risk assessment Questions to Reflect On - How might success change your priorities? - What safeguards can limit negative ripples? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Ripples](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ripples/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [Success is ever so dangerous. Once you rise to success, it's so easy to stop doing the things that made you successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-s-sharma/success-is-ever-so-dangerous-once-you-rise-to-success-it-s-so-easy-to/) [Robin S. Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-s-sharma/) > [Success is a dangerous element in any endeavor. Embrace the struggle. Beware the achievement. For it steals your caution even as it leads you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-gonzales/success-is-a-dangerous-element-in-any-endeavor-embrace-the-struggle/) [Laurence Gonzales](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-gonzales/) > [As the director, you're meant to be critical and you are, so there are loads of things. But the thing is, the way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-slade/as-the-director-you-re-meant-to-be-critical-and-you-are-so-there-are/) [David Slade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-slade/) > [Success is a very dangerous thing and I think we have to be very careful about when we dictate what success is for somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lupe-fiasco/success-is-a-very-dangerous-thing-and-i-think-we-have-to-be-very/) [Lupe Fiasco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lupe-fiasco/) > [Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/success-is-dangerous-one-begins-to-copy-oneself-and-to-copy-oneself/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/it-must-be-considered-that-there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-carry-2/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Real failure comes when we consider ourselves good enough at something to be able to repeat it rather than to develop it. "Success is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-d-chittister/real-failure-comes-when-we-consider-ourselves-good-enough-at/) [Joan D. Chittister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-d-chittister/) > [The long road to success is dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wale/the-long-road-to-success-is-dangerous/) [Wale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wale/) > [Success is always dangerous. It can make an asshole out of anybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/success-is-always-dangerous-it-can-make-an-asshole-out-of-anybody/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, that to institute a new order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-carry-out-nor-more-doubtful-of/) [Niccolo Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/success-is-as-dangerous-as-failure-hope-is-as-hollow-as-fear/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think failing is the best way to keep you grounded, curious, and humble. Success is dangerous because often you don't understand why you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-pincus/i-think-failing-is-the-best-way-to-keep-you-grounded-curious-and/) [Mark Pincus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-pincus/) > [Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. What does it mean that success is a dangerous as failure? Whether…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/success-is-as-dangerous-as-failure-hope-is-as-hollow-as-fear-what/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niccolo-machiavelli/it-must-be-remembered-that-there-is-nothing-more-difficult-to-plan/) [Niccolò Machiavelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niccolo-machiavelli/) > [It is true that success is the most boring thing, it is tinny and brittle, failure runs deeper. Success is dangerous. I have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/it-is-true-that-success-is-the-most-boring-thing-it-is-tinny-and/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the sexual life is the great test. If we can survive it with charity to those we love and with affection to those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-sexual-life-is-the-great-test-if-we-can-survive-it-with/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Break quotes > [I made, like, five movies while I was in college. I think they just weren't memorable movies. I've taken breaks as the years have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodie-foster/i-made-like-five-movies-while-i-was-in-college-i-think-they-just/) [Jodie Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodie-foster/) > [Things are going well in Germany because the economy is booming and as an export-driven nation, we are profiting from the fact that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-schulz/things-are-going-well-in-germany-because-the-economy-is-booming-and/) [Martin Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-schulz/) > [There were songs that we cut out after we chose the name, because 'Praise Break' turned out to be an underlying concept that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-caesar/there-were-songs-that-we-cut-out-after-we-chose-the-name-because/) [Daniel Caesar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-caesar/) > [“He didn't break my heart. No one can break your heart except you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabrielle-zevin/he-didn-t-break-my-heart-no-one-can-break-your-heart-except-you/) [Gabrielle Zevin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabrielle-zevin/) > [“She couldn't break the orbit.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-schwab/she-couldn-t-break-the-orbit/) [Victoria Schwab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria-schwab/) > [Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/your-pain-is-the-breaking-of-the-shell-that-encloses-your/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I hadn't worked for a year when I had my Prison Break audition and it was the easiest audition I've ever had. I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wentworth-miller/i-hadn-t-worked-for-a-year-when-i-had-my-prison-break-audition-and-it/) [Wentworth Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wentworth-miller/) > [If you strike upon a thought that baffles you, break off from that entanglement and try another, so shall your wits be fresh to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristophanes/if-you-strike-upon-a-thought-that-baffles-you-break-off-from-that/) [Aristophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristophanes/) > [“A hole ain’t nothing either, but you can still break your neck in it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-donati/a-hole-ain-t-nothing-either-but-you-can-still-break-your-neck-in-it/) [Sara Donati](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-donati/) > [“I break things, a lot of things, but I don’t want one of them to be you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/i-break-things-a-lot-of-things-but-i-don-t-want-one-of-them-to-be-you/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) > [Motor racing's less of a sport these days than a commercial break doing 150 mph.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dunne/motor-racing-s-less-of-a-sport-these-days-than-a-commercial-break/) Peter Dunne > [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/) [Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/) > [The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/the-purpose-is-to-be-in-gratitude-forever-live-with-applied/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Never break another man's rice bowl.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akio-morita/never-break-another-man-s-rice-bowl/) [Akio Morita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akio-morita/) Browse all 8,188 Break quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Graham Greene" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Break" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/graham-greene-441_break_success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-t_77030.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.” — Graham Greene", "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": "Graham Greene", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Success is more dangerous than failure,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/#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 } } ] } ```