More from Mark S. Lewis

The measure of success is what you think about what you've done. Not the doing well, nor the failure — but what you think about it.

MSL

Mark S. Lewis

University of Texas Commencement 2000, 2000

The Story Behind This Quote

Lewis's third story was about Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards, the British ski jumper who finished dead last — 56th out of 56 — at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. In a borrowed ski suit with goggles held together by tape, Eddie jumped 238 feet while the winner jumped 403. Television commentators mocked him. Reporters tried to make him look foolish. But Eddie refused to be embarrassed. 'This is the best day in my life,' he said. 'I just jumped 72 meters through the air — that's a hard thing to do.' Eddie understood instinctively what Lewis and his friend had taken thirty-eight years to learn: success is not the outcome. It's not the score, the ranking, or the applause. It's how you feel about yourself when you're alone with your own thoughts. Eddie went home from Calgary proud of what he'd done, and that made him, by the only measure that matters, a success.

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