Secret of Success

Secret of Success

A young man asked Socrates about what was the secret of success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning and he would show him. When they met the next morning, Socrates asked the young man to walk with him towards the rivers edge and then into the water.

When the water got up to their neck, Socrates took the young man by surprise and pushed him under the water. The young man struggled to get to the surface but Socrates was very strong and kept him under the water, until he started turning blue.

The young man struggled harder and harder, and finally managed to get free from Socrates firm grip. The first thing he did when he got to the surface was to gasp and take a number of very deep breaths.

Socrates then asked the young man ‘What he wanted the most when he was under the water?’ The young man replied ‘Air’.

Socrates said ‘Therein lies the secret to all success. When you want success as badly as you wanted to breathe air, you will get it . . . there is no other secret to success than wanting it badly enough.’