---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling…"
description: "\"Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling with inspiration and incitement. But for all except the few who are strong and steadfast, there lurks beneath ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/samuel-hopkins-adams-25112_incitement_success-a-marvelous-stimulant-bubbling-w_263647.jpg"
---

#  Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling with inspiration…

![“Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling with inspiration and incitement. But for all except the few who are strong and steadfast, there lurks beneath the effervescence a subtle poison.” quote by Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/samuel-hopkins-adams-25112_incitement_success-a-marvelous-stimulant-bubbling-w_263647.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/samuel-hopkins-adams-25112_incitement_success-a-marvelous-stimulant-bubbling-w_263647.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/samuel-hopkins-adams-25112_incitement_success-a-marvelous-stimulant-bubbling-w_263647.jpg)

> “Success: a marvelous stimulant, bubbling with inspiration and incitement. But for all except the few who are strong and steadfast, there lurks beneath the effervescence a subtle poison.”

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Inspiration can be intoxicating, but without discipline it becomes a hidden toxin that undermines lasting success.

**In simple terms:** Excitement can hide danger.

Key Takeaway

Balance enthusiasm with steadiness.

Themes

motivation danger balance success

Mood

cautious reflective motivational

Type

advice philosophical

When to use this quote

- Startup launches
- creative projects
- personal goals
- team leadership

Key Concepts

Psychology of inspiration self‑control risk management

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you sustain drive without losing focus?
- What safeguards prevent enthusiasm from becoming harmful?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on hype can lead to burnout.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Inspiration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiration/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Steadfast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/steadfast/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/)

## Related quotes

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[Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/)

> [I'm not bankrupt of effervescence. I'm not bankrupt of craic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-eubank-sr/i-m-not-bankrupt-of-effervescence-i-m-not-bankrupt-of-craic/)

[Chris Eubank Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-eubank-sr/)

> [I know that there is not in the world a more subtle poison than that which is extracted from and administered by books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-dacre/i-know-that-there-is-not-in-the-world-a-more-subtle-poison-than-that/)

Charlotte Dacre

> [“Some criticism, no doubt, is constructive, but too much is a subtle poison.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-gordon/some-criticism-no-doubt-is-constructive-but-too-much-is-a-subtle/)

[Arthur Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-gordon/)

> [“Extraordinary effervescence exists within you, waiting to be tapped.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/extraordinary-effervescence-exists-within-you-waiting-to-be-tapped/)

[Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/)

> [“Some scents sparkle and then quickly disappear, like the effervescence of ctirus zestor a bright note of mint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-lawrenson/some-scents-sparkle-and-then-quickly-disappear-like-the-effervescence/)

[Deborah lawrenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-lawrenson/)

> [“Your lips are the only stimulant I need.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faith-sullivan/your-lips-are-the-only-stimulant-i-need/)

[Faith Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faith-sullivan/)

> [Change is a stimulant for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-essex/change-is-a-stimulant-for-me/)

[David Essex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-essex/)

> [I always keep a supply of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-always-keep-a-supply-of-stimulant-handy-in-case-i-see-a-snake-which/)

[W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/)

> [I like to keep a bottle of stimulant handy in case I see a snake, which I also keep handy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/i-like-to-keep-a-bottle-of-stimulant-handy-in-case-i-see-a-snake/)

[W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/)

> [Scenery can be a violent stimulant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-drabble/scenery-can-be-a-violent-stimulant/)

[Margaret Drabble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-drabble/)

> [Allow me to add that it is my conviction that the contents of Der Stuermer as such were not (incitement). During the whole 20…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/allow-me-to-add-that-it-is-my-conviction-that-the-contents-of-der/)

[Julius Streicher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-streicher/)

> [Palestinians need to stop the incitement. They need to stop that kind of activity. But at the same time, there is a need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/palestinians-need-to-stop-the-incitement-they-need-to-stop-that-kind/)

[John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/)

> [Netanyahu is no king, his government sows division and incitement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-gantz/netanyahu-is-no-king-his-government-sows-division-and-incitement/)

[Benny Gantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-gantz/)

> [“Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/)

## More by Samuel Hopkins Adams

> [The path of the pursuer and the prey often run obscurely parallel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/the-path-of-the-pursuer-and-the-prey-often-run-obscurely-parallel/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [According to the estimate of a prominent advertising firm, above 90 per cent, of the earning capacity of the prominent nostrums is represented by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/according-to-the-estimate-of-a-prominent-advertising-firm-above-90/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [A wasted human being--that's a sort of practical blasphemy, according to my religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/a-wasted-human-being-that-s-a-sort-of-practical-blasphemy-according/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [The ordinary run of advertising is nothing more than an effort to sell something by yelling in print.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/the-ordinary-run-of-advertising-is-nothing-more-than-an-effort-to/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [Medicine would be the ideal profession if it did not involve giving pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/medicine-would-be-the-ideal-profession-if-it-did-not-involve-giving/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [Ignorance and credulous hope make the market for most proprietary remedies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/ignorance-and-credulous-hope-make-the-market-for-most-proprietary/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [I'm a suicide. I walked right spang over the edge of life and disappeared. Splash! Bubble-bubble! There goes nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/i-m-a-suicide-i-walked-right-spang-over-the-edge-of-life-and/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [Shortest straw pulls the skunk's tail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/shortest-straw-pulls-the-skunk-s-tail/)

[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

> [You never get bored ... when you have the probabilities of your next meal to speculate on, pro and con.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-hopkins-adams/you-never-get-bored-when-you-have-the-probabilities-of-your-next-meal/)

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[Samuel Hopkins Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

[Explore all 23 Samuel Hopkins Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-hopkins-adams/)

## More Incitement quotes

> [“Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr-2/)

> [Netanyahu is no king, his government sows division and incitement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benny-gantz/netanyahu-is-no-king-his-government-sows-division-and-incitement/)

[Benny Gantz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benny-gantz/)

> [Palestinians need to stop the incitement. They need to stop that kind of activity. But at the same time, there is a need to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kerry/palestinians-need-to-stop-the-incitement-they-need-to-stop-that-kind/)

[John F. Kerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kerry/)

> [Allow me to add that it is my conviction that the contents of Der Stuermer as such were not (incitement). During the whole 20…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-streicher/allow-me-to-add-that-it-is-my-conviction-that-the-contents-of-der/)

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[Elihu Root](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elihu-root/)

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> [ “\[T\]o read was precisely to enter another world, which was not the reader's own, and come back refreshed, ready to bear with equanimity the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/t-o-read-was-precisely-to-enter-another-world-which-was-not-the/)

[Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/)

> [Some may find them merely diverting melodies. Others may find them incitements to Red revolution. And who will say if either or both is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-seeger/some-may-find-them-merely-diverting-melodies-others-may-find-them/)

[Pete Seeger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-seeger/)

> [The greatest incitement to guilt is the hope of sinning with impunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/the-greatest-incitement-to-guilt-is-the-hope-of-sinning-with-impunity/)

[Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/)

> [If the saying "the Temple Mount in our hands," is portrayed as incitement to the police, there's no need to change the saying, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uri-orbach/if-the-saying-the-temple-mount-in-our-hands-is-portrayed-as/)

[Uri Orbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uri-orbach/)

> [The national media which I consider to be very racist against European Americans and I think they have caused the incitement of African Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-duke/the-national-media-which-i-consider-to-be-very-racist-against/)

[David Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-duke/)

> [Everyone knows that on any given day there are energies slumbering in him which the incitement's of that day do not call forth. Compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/everyone-knows-that-on-any-given-day-there-are-energies-slumbering-in/)

[William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/)

> [Every idea is an incitement. It offers itself for belief, and if believed it is acted on unless some other belief outweighs it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/every-idea-is-an-incitement-it-offers-itself-for-belief-and-if-2/)

[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/)

> [You are not wood, you are not stones, but men; And being men, hearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/you-are-not-wood-you-are-not-stones-but-men-and-being-men-hearing-the/)

[William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/)

> [The endless newsreel clips of nuclear explosions that we saw on TV in the 1960s (were) a powerful incitement to the psychotic imagination, sanctioning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-endless-newsreel-clips-of-nuclear-explosions-that-we-saw-on-tv-in/)

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

Browse all 44 Incitement quotes

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