--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So few are the easy victories as the…" description: "\"“So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures.”\" — Marcel Proust" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg" --- # So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures. ![“So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures.” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg) > ““So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Successes that seem easy often mask deeper flaws that lead to eventual collapse. **In simple terms:** Easy wins can hide hidden problems. Key Takeaway Beware superficial triumphs. Themes success failure illusion reflection Mood cautious analytical Type philosophical critical. When to use this quote - business decisions - personal relationships - project planning - investment choices Key Concepts epistemology self‑deception long‑term risk Questions to Reflect On - What hidden risks lie behind your recent successes? - How can you test the durability of a win? A Different Perspective Not all apparent victories are sustainable; they may conceal systemic issues. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Definitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitive/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Easy Victories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-victories-996834/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures/) [Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate/) [Ultimate Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ultimate-failures-3200220/) [Victories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victories/) [Victories Ultimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victories-ultimate-5582190/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) ## Related quotes > [Setbacks and fear are inevitable. The thing that distinguishes the ultimate successes from the ultimate failures is this: What do you do with them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-mycoskie/setbacks-and-fear-are-inevitable-the-thing-that-distinguishes-the/) [Blake Mycoskie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-mycoskie/) > [“Glorious failures are often much more wonderful than easy victories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-friesen/glorious-failures-are-often-much-more-wonderful-than-easy-victories/) [Jonathan Friesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-friesen/) > [Tell no lies' claim no easy victories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amilcar-cabral/tell-no-lies-claim-no-easy-victories/) [Amilcar Cabral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amilcar-cabral/) > [We must thoroughly clear away all ideas among our cadres of winning easy victories through good luck, without hard and bitter struggle, without sweat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/we-must-thoroughly-clear-away-all-ideas-among-our-cadres-of-winning/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [“Life is made more of struggle than celebrations. It is made more of failures than victories. It is made less of yes than of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augusto-branco/life-is-made-more-of-struggle-than-celebrations-it-is-made-more-of/) [Augusto Branco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augusto-branco/) > [Some of my biggest victories have come directly after some of my biggest failures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diamond-dallas-page/some-of-my-biggest-victories-have-come-directly-after-some-of-my/) [Diamond Dallas Page](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diamond-dallas-page/) > [It has been said that Today is the first day of the rest of our lives. 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That's the final death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/a-writer-s-definitive-death-is-when-no-one-reads-his-books-anymore/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [I'm not mad about movies, there are too many people involved in the making of them, and they lack a definitive creative focus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bailey/i-m-not-mad-about-movies-there-are-too-many-people-involved-in-the/) [David Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bailey/) > [I don't know that I can give a definitive answer to that, I can only say that if we create the right climate those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-anderson/i-don-t-know-that-i-can-give-a-definitive-answer-to-that-i-can-only/) [John Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-anderson/) > [Many young people now end a discussion with the supposedly definitive and unanswerable statement that such is their opinion, and their opinion is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/many-young-people-now-end-a-discussion-with-the-supposedly-definitive/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [I like shoes that are definitive, and they know exactly what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-tucker/i-like-shoes-that-are-definitive-and-they-know-exactly-what-they-are/) [P. J. Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-tucker/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Definitive quotes > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I like shoes that are definitive, and they know exactly what they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-tucker/i-like-shoes-that-are-definitive-and-they-know-exactly-what-they-are/) [P. J. Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-tucker/) > [Many young people now end a discussion with the supposedly definitive and unanswerable statement that such is their opinion, and their opinion is just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dalrymple/many-young-people-now-end-a-discussion-with-the-supposedly-definitive/) [Theodore Dalrymple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dalrymple/) > [I don't know that I can give a definitive answer to that, I can only say that if we create the right climate those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-anderson/i-don-t-know-that-i-can-give-a-definitive-answer-to-that-i-can-only/) [John Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-anderson/) > [I'm not mad about movies, there are too many people involved in the making of them, and they lack a definitive creative focus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bailey/i-m-not-mad-about-movies-there-are-too-many-people-involved-in-the/) [David Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bailey/) > [A writer's definitive death is when no one reads his books anymore. That's the final death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/a-writer-s-definitive-death-is-when-no-one-reads-his-books-anymore/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [No wishes are silly, no dreams remain dreams, for those committed to clear and definitive goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maximillian-degenerez/no-wishes-are-silly-no-dreams-remain-dreams-for-those-committed-to/) [Maximillian Degenerez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maximillian-degenerez/) > [Never having a definitive style, there is genius in that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-minagar/never-having-a-definitive-style-there-is-genius-in-that/) [Melody Minagar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-minagar/) > [I don't want to be definitive or the last word on anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-worsley/i-don-t-want-to-be-definitive-or-the-last-word-on-anything/) [Lucy Worsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-worsley/) > [“...give a great deal of attention to keeping his managers and his technical people as interchangeable as their talents allow. The barriers are sociological...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-p-brooks-jr/give-a-great-deal-of-attention-to-keeping-his-managers-and-his/) [Frederick P. Brooks Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-p-brooks-jr/) > [Odd that we think definitions are definitive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-wall/odd-that-we-think-definitions-are-definitive/) [Larry Wall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-wall/) > [Amazon is now the definitive source for data about whole sets of products - fungible consumer products. EBay is the authoritative source for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-o-reilly/amazon-is-now-the-definitive-source-for-data-about-whole-sets-of/) [Tim O'Reilly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-o-reilly/) > [It's the swirling river of time that makes our identities, not the monochromatic simplicity of skin colour or the definitive lines of international borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giles-foden/it-s-the-swirling-river-of-time-that-makes-our-identities-not-the/) [Giles Foden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giles-foden/) > [When Rumsfeld gets up on television and says we have definitive intelligence that al Qaeda is working with Iraq, how is an ordinary citizen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/when-rumsfeld-gets-up-on-television-and-says-we-have-definitive/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [A film seeking to create change on a difficult issue should not try to provide a definitive historical overview, nor present an op-ed style…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-bacha/a-film-seeking-to-create-change-on-a-difficult-issue-should-not-try/) [Julia Bacha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-bacha/) [Browse all 36 Definitive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definitive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ultimate-failures/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Definitive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ultimate-failures/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/marcel-proust-114_definitive_so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ult_1514394.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“So few are the easy victories as the ultimate failures.” — Marcel Proust", "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": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“So few are the easy victories...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ultimate-failures/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/so-few-are-the-easy-victories-as-the-ultimate-failures/#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 } } ] } ```