--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's undeserved success that people are…" description: "\"It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way, themselves, of ever getting it back again.\" — Mar..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg" --- # It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid… ![“It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way, themselves, of ever getting it back again.” quote by Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg) > “It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way, themselves, of ever getting it back again.” [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People fear losing unearned success because they doubt they can regain it, leading to anxiety. **In simple terms:** Fear of losing unearned success causes anxiety. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty and build true competence. Themes fear success self‑doubt Mood reflective cautious Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career setbacks - financial loss - relationship breakups Key Concepts psychology achievement insecurity Questions to Reflect On - What can you do to create lasting value? - How do you define true success? A Different Perspective Success can be fragile and dependent on external factors. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [Besides, nowadays, almost all capable people are terribly afraid of being ridiculous, and are miserable because of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/besides-nowadays-almost-all-capable-people-are-terribly-afraid-of/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“I don’t think that people accept the fact that life doesn’t make sense. I think it makes people terribly uncomfortable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lynch/i-don-t-think-that-people-accept-the-fact-that-life-doesn-t-make/) [David Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lynch/) > [Now, more than ever, I realize just how illusory my undeserved success has been. I still hold out some hope of doing better, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-monet/now-more-than-ever-i-realize-just-how-illusory-my-undeserved-success/) [Claude Monet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-monet/) > [On the one hand, undeserved success gives no satisfaction... but, on the other hand, well-deserved failure gives no satisfaction either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/on-the-one-hand-undeserved-success-gives-no-satisfaction-but-on-the/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [I'm terribly afraid of failure. When your identity is wrapped up in writing and you've written something that doesn't work, it's a tough pill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-sorkin/i-m-terribly-afraid-of-failure-when-your-identity-is-wrapped-up-in/) [Aaron Sorkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-sorkin/) > [Most people are terribly afraid of their own sexuality, and one has to respect another person's sadhana, another person's path.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/most-people-are-terribly-afraid-of-their-own-sexuality-and-one-has-to/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [It's not that I'm afraid to die, but I'm terribly, terribly afraid not to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-noyes-hart/it-s-not-that-i-m-afraid-to-die-but-i-m-terribly-terribly-afraid-not/) [Frances Noyes Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-noyes-hart/) > [“there are no valid generalizations to be made about sex and women’s lives except for the central fact that we are all hungry for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/there-are-no-valid-generalizations-to-be-made-about-sex-and-women-s/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [He is terribly afraid of dying because he hasn’t yet lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/he-is-terribly-afraid-of-dying-because-he-hasn-t-yet-lived/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [The things that stress me out haven't changed. But I don't wanna lose anything. So I thought that at least I would change. I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-yazawa/the-things-that-stress-me-out-haven-t-changed-but-i-don-t-wanna-lose/) [Ai Yazawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-yazawa/) > [I'm afraid to lose you...But I can promise you that you don't have to be afraid of losing me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-afraid-to-lose-you-but-i-can-promise-you-that-you-don-t-have-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was always so afraid of losing you, but I never thought I'd be the one to let you go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-mary-rosales/i-was-always-so-afraid-of-losing-you-but-i-never-thought-i-d-be-the/) Sheena Mary Rosales > [Just for once, I want someone to be afraid of losing me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-for-once-i-want-someone-to-be-afraid-of-losing-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm not afraid of losing you anymore, because I've realised that I never had you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-leah/i-m-not-afraid-of-losing-you-anymore-because-i-ve-realised-that-i/) [Jamie-Leah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-leah/) > [Like for once I just want someone to be even the smallest bit afraid of losing me and to be someone's first choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/like-for-once-i-just-want-someone-to-be-even-the-smallest-bit-afraid/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Mary Deasy > [someone had tried to warn me of the kind of catastrophe that is likely to occur when you involve yourself too closely in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/someone-had-tried-to-warn-me-of-the-kind-of-catastrophe-that-is/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) > [I could remember the house on Lexington Street, where the mortgage hung over our heads almost as tangibly as the roof, and we still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/i-could-remember-the-house-on-lexington-street-where-the-mortgage/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) > [That's the way it is with influence, you know; if you don't use it all the time, people will forget you have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/that-s-the-way-it-is-with-influence-you-know-if-you-don-t-use-it-all/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) > [“You may have noticed there are three things an Irishman always puts his soul in: his religion, his sports, and his politics. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/you-may-have-noticed-there-are-three-things-an-irishman-always-puts/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) > [“An Irish wedding is a tame thing to an Irish funeral.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/an-irish-wedding-is-a-tame-thing-to-an-irish-funeral/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) > [“The Irish are never at peace but when they're fighting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/the-irish-are-never-at-peace-but-when-they-re-fighting/) [Mary Deasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) [Explore all 7 Mary Deasy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/) ## More Back again quotes > [Too long have the workers of the world waited for some Moses to lead them out of bondage. I would not lead you out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-v-debs/too-long-have-the-workers-of-the-world-waited-for-some-moses-to-lead/) [Eugene V. Debs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-v-debs/) > [Don´t be unnecessarily burdened by the past. Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/don-t-be-unnecessarily-burdened-by-the-past-go-on-closing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [You look out into the audience and you see so much joy on people's faces. You make eye contact with people who are almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-mcvie/you-look-out-into-the-audience-and-you-see-so-much-joy-on-people-s/) [Christine McVie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-mcvie/) > [Sometimes people hurt us unintentionally. We may view that they've hurt us intentionally and want revenge. But sometimes when we really look back again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-wright/sometimes-people-hurt-us-unintentionally-we-may-view-that-they-ve/) [Cindy Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-wright/) > [If we with earnest effort could succeed To make our life one long, connected prayer, As lives of some, perhaps, have been and are;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-chenevix-trench/if-we-with-earnest-effort-could-succeed-to-make-our-life-one-long/) [Richard Chenevix Trench](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-chenevix-trench/) > [In a sermon entitled “God's Providence,” C. H. Spurgeon said, “Napoleon once heard it said, that man proposes and God disposes. 'Ah,' said Napoleon,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-bridges/in-a-sermon-entitled-god-s-providence-c-h-spurgeon-said-napoleon-once/) [Jerry Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-bridges/) > [You can take my factories, burn up my buildings, but give me my people and I'll build the business right back again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/you-can-take-my-factories-burn-up-my-buildings-but-give-me-my-people/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [How long were the stretches of toilsome tacking back and forth, of being blocked, of being thrown back again and again. But all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathe-kollwitz/how-long-were-the-stretches-of-toilsome-tacking-back-and-forth-of/) [Kathe Kollwitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathe-kollwitz/) > [I watched them from the window, thy children at their play, And I thought of all my own dear friends, who were far, oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-hugh-clough/i-watched-them-from-the-window-thy-children-at-their-play-and-i/) [Arthur Hugh Clough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-hugh-clough/) > [ \[My advice\] will one day be found With other relics of 'a former world,' When this world shall be former, underground, Thrown topsy-turvy, twisted,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/my-advice-will-one-day-be-found-with-other-relics-of-a-former-world/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [I laugh, that there's a certain kind of cyclical nature to life and that I don't have to worry because whatever isn't there right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-mosley/i-laugh-that-there-s-a-certain-kind-of-cyclical-nature-to-life-and/) [Walter Mosley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-mosley/) > [Home, I learned, can be anywhere you make it. Home is also the place to which you come back again and again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/home-i-learned-can-be-anywhere-you-make-it-home-is-also-the-place-to/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [To ask for power is forcing uphill a stone which after all rolls back again from the summit and seeks in headlong haste the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/to-ask-for-power-is-forcing-uphill-a-stone-which-after-all-rolls-back/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [Nostalgia is the aching realization that you can't go back again. The longing, no matter how intense, can never be met.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-jr/nostalgia-is-the-aching-realization-that-you-can-t-go-back-again-the/) [R. C. Sproul, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-jr/) Browse all 160 Back again quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way, themselves, of ever getting it back again.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Deasy" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are-so-terribly-afraid-of-losing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Back again" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are-so-terribly-afraid-of-losing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9c1/mary-deasy-52464_back-again_it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are_246435.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It's undeserved success that people are so terribly afraid of losing; they know they haven't any way…” — Mary Deasy", "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": "Mary Deasy", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-deasy/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It's undeserved success that people are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are-so-terribly-afraid-of-losing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-deasy/it-s-undeserved-success-that-people-are-so-terribly-afraid-of-losing/#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 } } ] } ```