To receive applause for works which do not demand all our powers hinders our advance towards a perfecting of our spirit. It usually means that thereafter we stand still.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Easy success prevents growth because it discourages deeper effort and refinement.
- In plain terms
- Too much praise too early stops you from improving.
- What can you take from it?
- Avoid premature applause to keep pushing for mastery.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- When does praise become a trap?
- How do you keep challenging yourself?
Another view
Recognition can also motivate further effort.
More from Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
He who says he hates every kind of flattery, and says it in earnest, certainly does not yet know every kind of flattery.
Permalink to quote #102 If all else fails, the character of a man can be recognized by nothing so surely as by a jest which he takes badly.
Permalink to quote #104 Man loves company - even if it is only that of a small burning candle.
Permalink to quote #101
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