1 week ago
William Faulkner’s Success Advice: Compete With Your Former Self
William Faulkner’s quote says that success is not mainly about beating other people.
It is about becoming better than you were before.
Everyone has different challenges, opportunities and starting points.
That means comparing yourself with someone else may not be fair.
You can measure progress by what you have learned or improved.
Small changes, such as reading more or handling problems better, can matter greatly.
Competition can still motivate people, but it should not be the only measure of success.
Big dreams can help people discover what they are capable of doing.
The most important person to outperform is your former self.
William Faulkner is widely credited with saying, “Don’t bother just to be better than others. Try to be better than yourself.”
The quote encourages measuring success through personal growth rather than constant comparison with other people.
Self-improvement can include learning skills, developing discipline, handling challenges maturely and pursuing long-term goals.
People have different circumstances, opportunities and responsibilities, making direct comparisons potentially misleading.
Faulkner’s message supports ambitious goals while emphasizing that progress can be gradual and privately achieved.
- Who
- William Faulkner, the American author to whom the quote is widely attributed.
- What
- A reflection on defining success through self-improvement rather than comparison with others.
- Where
- When
- Why
- To encourage people to focus on personal growth, ambitious goals and progress from their own starting point.
Key facts
- Attributed quote
- “Don’t bother just to be better than others. Try to be better than yourself.”
- Author
- William Faulkner
- Nobel Prize
- Faulkner received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949.
- Selected works
- The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying and Absalom, Absalom!
- Central idea
- Personal progress is a more meaningful benchmark than outperforming others.
- Longer attributed quote
- “Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.”
Quotes
William Faulkner
American author and Nobel Prize winner in Literature
“Don't bother just to be better than others. Try to be better than yourself.”
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“Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.”
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Sources
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