one secret of success is to know how to deny yourself and other people

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Self-control and restraint are key to achieving success

Examples

She learned that one secret of success is to know how to deny yourself and other people

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “one secret of success is to know how to deny yourself and other people” mean?

Self-control and restraint are key to achieving success

Is “one secret of success is to know how to deny yourself and other people” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.