--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The way to secure success is to be more…" description: "\"The way to secure success is to be more anxious about obtaining than about deserving it.\" — William Hazlitt" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/william-hazlitt-326_achievement_the-way-to-secure-success-is-to-be-more_2396805.png" --- # The way to secure success is to be more anxious about… ![“The way to secure success is to be more anxious about obtaining than about deserving it.” quote by William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/william-hazlitt-326_achievement_the-way-to-secure-success-is-to-be-more_2396805.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/william-hazlitt-326_achievement_the-way-to-secure-success-is-to-be-more_2396805.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6ef/william-hazlitt-326_achievement_the-way-to-secure-success-is-to-be-more_2396805.png) > “The way to secure success is to be more anxious about obtaining than about deserving it.” [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success comes from striving for it, not feeling entitled to it. **In simple terms:** Work hard, don’t expect reward. Key Takeaway Earn success through effort. Themes ambition effort self‑worth Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - job performance - academic goals - sports competition - business ventures Key Concepts capitalism psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you equate effort with worth? - How can you balance desire and patience? A Different Perspective Anxiety may cause burnout if excessive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achievement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) [Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious/) [Anxious Obtaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxious-obtaining-5989549/) [Deserving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deserving/) [Deserving it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deserving-it-45559/) [Obtaining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obtaining/) [Obtaining Deserving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obtaining-deserving-5989550/) [Secure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secure/) [Secure Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secure-success-2338666/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Success Anxious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success-anxious-5989548/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Great minds had rather deserve contemporaneous applause without obtaining it, than obtain without deserving it. If it follow them it is well, but they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/great-minds-had-rather-deserve-contemporaneous-applause-without/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) > [“Success is for the sake of success . . . 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Wanting some other way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/nobody-knows-what-you-want-except-you-and-nobody-will-be-as-sorry-as/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [I was asked the other day if I would be interested in the Nobel Prize, but I think that for me it would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/i-was-asked-the-other-day-if-i-would-be-interested-in-the-nobel-prize/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [After taking my B.A. degree in 1939 I remained at the University for a further year to take an advanced course in Biochemistry, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-sanger/after-taking-my-b-a-degree-in-1939-i-remained-at-the-university-for-a/) [Frederick Sanger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-sanger/) > [But the desire of obtaining the advantages, and of escaping the burthens, of political society, is a perpetual and inexhaustible source of discord; nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/but-the-desire-of-obtaining-the-advantages-and-of-escaping-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Of the laws of nature, on which the condition of man depends, that which is attended with the greatest number of consequences, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mill/of-the-laws-of-nature-on-which-the-condition-of-man-depends-that/) [James Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mill/) > [He who knows how to wait for what he desires does not feel very desperate if he fails in obtaining it; and he, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/he-who-knows-how-to-wait-for-what-he-desires-does-not-feel-very/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [A man, as a man, could arrive at all the dignity that a man was capable of obtaining or receiving; but it needed a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor/a-man-as-a-man-could-arrive-at-all-the-dignity-that-a-man-was-capable/) [John Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor/) ## More by William Hazlitt > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-art-of-life-is-to-know-how-to-enjoy-a-little-and-to-endure-very/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [We are thankful for good-will rather than for services, for the motive than the quantum of favor received.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/we-are-thankful-for-good-will-rather-than-for-services-for-the-motive/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The discussing the characters and foibles of common friends is a great sweetness and cement of friendship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/the-discussing-the-characters-and-foibles-of-common-friends-is-a/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [Want of principle is power. 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