---
title: What Is Success
created: 2026-11-13
modified: 2026-11-14
authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson
category: Poem
---

> To laugh often and much;
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> To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
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> To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
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> To appreciate beauty;
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> To find the best in others;
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> To give of one’s self;
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> To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
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> To have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
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> To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived -
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> This is to have succeeded.