At Childerstown High School and at college he had never led his class nor taken prizes; but, without being aware that he did, he really blamed this on his failure to work hard, or any harder than he needed to. What he did not know, what Paul Bonbright, among others, showed him, was that those abilities of his that got him, without distinction but also without much exertion, through all previous lessons and examinations, were not first rate abilities handicapped by laziness, but second rate, by no degree of effort or assiduity to be made the equal of abilities like Bonbright's. James Gould Cozzens
About This Quote

In this quote, the author is showing the power of one’s ability to have a certain level of success without being particularly hard working. In most cases, people who have had more success than others do not necessarily work harder and accomplish their goals and dreams. The problem is that they often believe their success is because they haven’t worked hard or exerted enough effort. The idea is that if they worked harder, they would reach the same level of success as those who are naturally better than them, rather than approaching it as a series of steps as they did prior to their success.

Source: The Just And The Unjust

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More Quotes By James Gould Cozzens
  1. Bailey might not have great intelligence or abilities, but his whole aim, thought and study was that of the born leader--to look out for himself; and he did it with that born-leader's confidence and intensity that draws along the ordinary uncertain man, who soon confuses...
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  5. Moving on, while he wondered, the dark through which Mr. Lecky's light cut grew more beautiful with scents. Particles of solid matter so minute, gases so subtle, that they filtered through stopping and sealing, hung on the unstirred air. Drawn in with Mr. <span style="margin:15px;...
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