— Albert Einstein, interview with William Miller, LIFE, May 2, 1955
About this quote
हिन्दी में
सफल इंसान बनने की कोशिश मत कीजिए, मूल्यवान इंसान बनने की कीजिए।
What it means
The instruction is about aim, not outcome — try not to become. It does not warn against being successful; it warns against pointing yourself at success, on the ground that the two targets come apart the moment you have to choose between them.
The test it implies is a direction of flow. Success is scored by what comes to you: salary, designation, recognition, all awarded by other people. Value is scored by what you put in, and you can measure that yourself without waiting for anyone. Quoted at convocations the line usually gets softened into be a good person as well; as written it asks you to drop the first measure, not to add to it.
What it teaches you
When you are choosing between two jobs or two projects, notice which one you describe to yourself in terms of what it will get you and which in terms of what it will produce — then try stating the second one’s output without mentioning your own position in it. If you cannot, you have been pricing the role rather than the work.
अर्थ और सीख
बात नतीजे की नहीं, निशाने की है — ‘सफल मत बनिए’ नहीं, बल्कि ‘सफलता को लक्ष्य मत बनाइए’। सफलता वह है जो दूसरे आपको देते हैं — पद, पैसा, तारीफ़; मूल्य वह है जो आप देते हैं, और उसे आप खुद नाप सकते हैं। सीख: कोई काम चुनते समय देखिए कि आप उसे ‘मुझे क्या मिलेगा’ से समझा रहे हैं या ‘इससे बनेगा क्या’ से।
Where it comes from
A verified Einstein quote. He said it to the journalist William Miller in an interview published in LIFE magazine on May 2, 1955, weeks after his death. The fuller remark contrasts the successful man, who ‘gets more out of life than he puts in,’ with the man of value, who gives more than he receives.
