Success

When I was in high school, someone wrote to Ann Landers and ask her if she had a good definition for "success".  She responded by printing the quote below.  I cut it out . . . laminated it and carried it in my wallet for years.  I never forgot it, especially the line "To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived . . .  this is to have succeeded."  For years Ralph Waldo Emerson had been given credit for this "definition" but it seems that that is not the case.  You can find further information about the whole history behind this verse in search of success.  No matter who wrote it, it certainly is achievable.

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

--- inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson