Deserving Success

George Washington’s favorite play was Cato, written by Joseph Addison. This play depicts the final days of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, also known as Cato the Younger, as he battles the tyranny of Julius Caesar. Given the tyranny that Washington himself fought, it’s no wonder this was one of his most beloved works of art.

In the play, Cato famously remarks, "We can't guarantee success, we can do something better, we can deserve it." Simple but profound, those words teach an important lesson. Success is an outcome; it’s a variable outside of our control. We all want the promise of success and the guarantee our sacrifice will pay off and reward us, but such certainty rarely exists.

During an especially trying time during the American Revolution, amidst daunting uncertainty, John Adams penned those same words to his wife, Abigail, “We can't guarantee success, but we can deserve it." There was no assurance of prevailing, but Adams and the other founding fathers were committed to doing whatever was in their power to deserve the freedom they so desperately sought. They committed to inputs.

While outcomes are not within the realm of our control, inputs most certainly are. And though we can’t guarantee success as a result of our actions, we can certainly produce the inputs that deserve it. We must work to deserve the results, not wish for an outcome.

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