---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Things went so well for him so often that…"
description: "\"“Things went so well for him so often that no one ever needed to worry about how he behaved when they didn’t go well.”\" — Michael Lewis"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png"
---

#  Things went so well for him so often that no one ever…

![“Things went so well for him so often that no one ever needed to worry about how he behaved when they didn’t go well.” quote by Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png)

> ““Things went so well for him so often that no one ever needed to worry about how he behaved when they didn’t go well.””

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

## 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 mask underlying flaws, leading to complacency about behavior when circumstances worsen.

**In simple terms:** Success hides problems that surface later.

Key Takeaway

Stay vigilant about character despite success.

Themes

success complacency character

Mood

reflective cautious

Type

advisory philosophical

When to use this quote

- career advancement
- leadership
- personal development

Key Concepts

psychology behavioral risk

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you monitor personal growth during good times?
- What signs indicate hidden issues?

A Different Perspective

Success can breed blind spots that later cause failure.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

## Related quotes

> [That was the whole point of being special: You existed to make sure everyone else behaved, but that didn't mean YOU had to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-westerfeld/that-was-the-whole-point-of-being-special-you-existed-to-make-sure/)

[Scott Westerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-westerfeld/)

> [“I went on a date last night and things went well. If you must know, I got lucky. I found a four-leaf clover.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/i-went-on-a-date-last-night-and-things-went-well-if-you-must-know-i/)

[Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/)

> [After Arie ended things with me, I went back to Minnesota, and I didn't really know what to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-kufrin/after-arie-ended-things-with-me-i-went-back-to-minnesota-and-i-didn-t/)

[Becca Kufrin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-kufrin/)

> [I wanted to be all sorts of things. I went through phases. I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be a lawyer.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wes-streeting/i-wanted-to-be-all-sorts-of-things-i-went-through-phases-i-wanted-to/)

[Wes Streeting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wes-streeting/)

> [People change , things went wrong , but just remember , life goes on . &lt;3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ps-i-love-you-3/people-change-things-went-wrong-but-just-remember-life-goes-on-3/)

Ps I Love You &lt;3

> [People left a lot of things behind when they went in the water. Their clothes, their stuff, their makeup, their fixed-up hair, their voices,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/people-left-a-lot-of-things-behind-when-they-went-in-the-water-their-2/)

[Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/)

> [“It went on like that till some guys got together and came up with the one-god thing—him being God, the Father, and male and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-a-meyer/it-went-on-like-that-till-some-guys-got-together-and-came-up-with-the/)

[L.A. Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-a-meyer/)

> [“I was stunned at how easily things went on without me”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/i-was-stunned-at-how-easily-things-went-on-without-me/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [I started with shoes, and with hard work and discipline, the business prospered. I moved to the department store business and again, things went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-sy/i-started-with-shoes-and-with-hard-work-and-discipline-the-business-2/)

[Henry Sy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-sy/)

> [“Then Rhys groaned, “If we’re all here, either things went very, very wrong or very right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/then-rhys-groaned-if-we-re-all-here-either-things-went-very-very/)

[Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/)

> [Things went in a direction that I didn't want to go. I started doing bit parts and things that are pretty much laid out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-yothers/things-went-in-a-direction-that-i-didn-t-want-to-go-i-started-doing/)

[Tina Yothers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tina-yothers/)

> [You can be mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You can Swear and curse the fates. But when it comes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-be-mad-as-a-mad-dog-at-the-way-things-went-you-can-swear-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It'd be nice to have someone who understood some of the things that went on in my head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-mead/it-d-be-nice-to-have-someone-who-understood-some-of-the-things-that/)

[Richelle Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-mead/)

> [“A funny thing happened post-diagnosis. They put him on drugs, things went up and down, but he lived. He lived. It was like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/a-funny-thing-happened-post-diagnosis-they-put-him-on-drugs-things/)

[Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/)

> [I don't think I could have dreamt it up any better than how things went, of being at my peak at just the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rickey-henderson/i-don-t-think-i-could-have-dreamt-it-up-any-better-than-how-things/)

[Rickey Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rickey-henderson/)

## More by Michael Lewis

> [“Crucial decisions are made, today as thousands of years ago, in terms of the intuitive guesses and preferences of a few men in positions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/crucial-decisions-are-made-today-as-thousands-of-years-ago-in-terms/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“You saw someone who reminded you of you, and then you looked for the reasons why you liked him. The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/you-saw-someone-who-reminded-you-of-you-and-then-you-looked-for-the/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“At other places management says, ‘Well, gee, fellas, do we really want to bet the ranch on this deal?’ Lewie was not only willing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/at-other-places-management-says-well-gee-fellas-do-we-really-want-to/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“BILLY WOULD SAY later that his wife left him because she was unnerved by his intensity—that she could even see it in his hands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/billy-would-say-later-that-his-wife-left-him-because-she-was-unnerved/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The great thing about baseball players, from the point of view of personal hygiene, is how seldom they break a sweat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-great-thing-about-baseball-players-from-the-point-of-view-of/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [There was but one question he left unasked, and it vibrated between his lines: if gross miscalculations of a person's value could occur on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/there-was-but-one-question-he-left-unasked-and-it-vibrated-between/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The author refers to a player's affected nonchalance and comments he is, "too young to realize you are what you pretend to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-author-refers-to-a-player-s-affected-nonchalance-and-comments-he/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [A banking system is an act of faith: it survives only for as long as people believe it will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/a-banking-system-is-an-act-of-faith-it-survives-only-for-as-long-as/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [Some coaches believed they could judge a player's performance simply by watching it. In this they were deeply mistaken. The naked eye was an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/some-coaches-believed-they-could-judge-a-player-s-performance-simply/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“No longer were the prices of ordinary mortgage bonds allowed to roam inefficiently, for they were now linked to the CMO market, in much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/no-longer-were-the-prices-of-ordinary-mortgage-bonds-allowed-to-roam/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The difference between Strauss and Ranieri?” says one trader still at Salomon. “That’s easy. Strauss wouldn’t stoop to use the men’s room on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-difference-between-strauss-and-ranieri-says-one-trader-still-at/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“The only inexplicable aspect of the process was that economic theory (which is, after all, what economics students were supposed to know) served almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/the-only-inexplicable-aspect-of-the-process-was-that-economic-theory/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“It's not easy to stand apart from mass hysteria - to believe that most of what's in the financial news is wrong, to believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/it-s-not-easy-to-stand-apart-from-mass-hysteria-to-believe-that-most/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“Dont worry about where i am , i'll let you know when i get there .”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/dont-worry-about-where-i-am-i-ll-let-you-know-when-i-get-there/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

> [“Someone out there was using the fact that stock market orders arrived at different times at different exchanges to front-run orders from one market…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/someone-out-there-was-using-the-fact-that-stock-market-orders-arrived/)

[Michael Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

[Explore all 398 Michael Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/)

## More Behaved quotes

> [Yes, I am not well-behaved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-lieu/yes-i-am-not-well-behaved/)

[Ted Lieu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-lieu/)

> [You can't talk your way out of a problem you behaved your way into!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-talk-your-way-out-of-a-problem-you-behaved-your-way-into/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [It is important to understand the continuing, confused fascination with the Second World War. For most of us, the great unspoken question is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-beevor/it-is-important-to-understand-the-continuing-confused-fascination/)

[Antony Beevor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-beevor/)

> [One Direction. Proper pop band. There has to be a band that people want to scream at. I don't think I've ever behaved like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-lowe/one-direction-proper-pop-band-there-has-to-be-a-band-that-people-want/)

[Chris Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-lowe/)

> [A WELL BEHAVED WOMEN NEVER MAKES HISTORY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/a-well-behaved-women-never-makes-history/)

[MARILYN MONROE](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/)

> [“People behaved mostly well and then they died.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-flynn/people-behaved-mostly-well-and-then-they-died/)

[Gillian Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-flynn/)

> [I was a complete brat but was an angel with my mother. I used to be perfectly behaved, and my mother used to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kajol/i-was-a-complete-brat-but-was-an-angel-with-my-mother-i-used-to-be/)

[Kajol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kajol/)

> [I've behaved badly in my life. I hope I haven't behaved as badly as Dickens! In a way, if you're a woman, you're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-tomalin/i-ve-behaved-badly-in-my-life-i-hope-i-haven-t-behaved-as-badly-as/)

[Claire Tomalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-tomalin/)

> [I am not particularly well-behaved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-welby/i-am-not-particularly-well-behaved/)

[Justin Welby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-welby/)

> [Playing well behaved, pretending to be nice, being two-faced is just…not my thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/playing-well-behaved-pretending-to-be-nice-being-two-faced-is-just/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I wrote books to entertain. I'm not trying to teach anything! If I suspected the author was trying to show me how to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beverly-cleary/i-wrote-books-to-entertain-i-m-not-trying-to-teach-anything-if-i/)

[Beverly Cleary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beverly-cleary/)

> [Post-traumatic stress disorder didn't surface as a condition until 1980... that fact was very relevant when I remember back to how these men behaved.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-nable/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-didn-t-surface-as-a-condition-until/)

[Matthew Nable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-nable/)

> [I've always been told I was extremely well-behaved as a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prince-andrew/i-ve-always-been-told-i-was-extremely-well-behaved-as-a-kid/)

[Prince Andrew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prince-andrew/)

> [Well-behaved: he always speaks as if his mother might be listening.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/well-behaved-he-always-speaks-as-if-his-mother-might-be-listening/)

[Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/)

> [“A well-behaved person is not always well-dressed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hussain-rasheed/a-well-behaved-person-is-not-always-well-dressed/)

[Hussain Rasheed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hussain-rasheed/)

Browse all 69 Behaved quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“Things went so well for him so often that no one ever needed to worry about how he behaved when they didn’t go well.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Michael Lewis"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-that-no-one-ever-needed-to-worry/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Behaved"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-that-no-one-ever-needed-to-worry/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0f7/michael-lewis-705_behaved_things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-tha_2858063.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Things went so well for him so often that no one ever needed to worry about how he behaved when they didn’t…” — Michael Lewis",
                "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": "Michael Lewis",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lewis/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“Things went so well for him...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-that-no-one-ever-needed-to-worry/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lewis/things-went-so-well-for-him-so-often-that-no-one-ever-needed-to-worry/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
