success

See Also: BUSINESS; GROWTH; PAST, THE

1. The anatomy of the first major success is like the young human body, a miracle only the owner can fully savor —John Fowles
2. As he rose like a rocket, he fell like a stick —Thomas Paine
3. A certain prosperity coats these people like scent or the layer of buttery light in a painting by Rubens —Jean Thompson
4. A conqueror, like a cannon ball, must go on; if he rebounds, his career is over —The Duke of Wellington
5. (The midlist author is) dogged by his past sales record, like a utility infielder with a .228 lifetime batting average —Phillip Lopate, New York Times Book Review, May 24, 1987
6. Failed … like an old hanging bridge —Marge Piercy
7. Fail like a five-year plan —Derek Lambert
8. Failure grabs a man like an old and shabby suit —Derek Lambert
9. (A great beauty) flourishing like a rose —Isak Dinesen
10. Flourishing like a weed in a hot house —Susan Fromberg Schaeffer
11. Flourishing like trees —Hilma Wolitzer
12. Had risen to his great height like a man lifted to the ceiling by a sort of slow explosion —G. K. Chesterton
13. High office is like a pyramid; only two kinds of animals reach the summit, reptiles and eagles —Jean Le Rond d’Alembert
14. His life, day after day, was failing like an unreplenished stream —Percy Bysshe Shelley
15. Moving up hand over hand … like a champion —Tom Wolfe
16. Pursued success as a knight the Holy Grail —Anon

    See Also: PERSISTENCE

17. Sailed through the world like a white yacht jubilant with flags —John Gardner
18. Selling like lemonade at a track meet —T. Coraghessan Boyle
19. Sell like hotcakes —Anon

    Different industries have coined many phrases for things which sell well. This American simile which came into use in the middle of the nineteenth century is still the most widely used. For a twist in meaning there’s “Selling like cold hot cakes” from The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley.

20. Sold [books by nineteenth century author Karl May] like pancakes topped by wild blueberries and heavy cream —Vincent Canby, New York Times, June 25, 1986
21. Sold like picks and pans in a gold rush —Robert Guenther, Wall Street Journal, August 6, 1986
22. Success is as ice cold and lonely as the North Pole —Vicki Baum

    See Also: ALONENESS

23. Success is feminine and like a woman, if you cringe before her, she will override you —William Faulkner

    Faulkner expanded on this simile still further: “So the way to treat her is to show her the back of your hand. Then maybe she will do the crawling.”

24. Success on some men looks like a borrowed coat; it sits on you as though it had been made to order —Edith Wharton
25. Triumphs like a trumpet —Wallace Stevens
26. Wanted his success acknowledged … like the high school loser who dreams of driving to the class reunion in a custom-made sports car —Jean Thompson
27. Winning an Oscar … it’s like getting thirty thousand red roses at one time —Louise Fletcher, from Rex Reed interview
28. Wore his success like his health —George Garrett

(See also VICTORY.)

bring down the house To elicit a vigorous and lengthy ovation from an audience; to be a smash or great success; sometimes bring down the gallery. The image created by this expression, in which house means ‘theater’ or ‘playhouse,’ is one of such loud, sustained applause as to bring about the collapse of the building. The phrase was in use as early as 1754.

have the last laugh To prove ultimately successful after an apparent defeat; to avenge. The idea of having the last laugh is fairly literal, i.e., though others may laugh now, the butt of their humor will laugh later when, in the final analysis, he is victorious. This phrase was popularized in the 1937 song “They All Laughed,”by George and Ira Gershwin:

Related expressions are he who laughs last laughs best, and he laughs best that laughs last. The latter appeared in The Mistake (1706) by Sir John Vanbrugh.

hit the jackpot See GOOD LUCK.

land on one’s feet To achieve success despite predictable loss; to extricate one-self from a potentially dangerous situation; to escape failure narrowly. This popular expression usually appears in a context implying that the one who “lands on his feet” does so through undeserved luck; he repeatedly gets himself into scrapes but somehow survives. It is apparently based on the notion that one plummeting downward is unlikely to land safely, let alone feet first.

pan out To succeed; to yield results, especially favorable ones; to occur. This expression alludes to panning for gold, a method of prospecting in which a shallow pan is used to scoop a small amount of gravel and sand from a stream. Any gold present settles to the bottom of the pan as the gravel and sand are washed away. Pan out, then, originally indicated a successful prospecting venture. As the California gold rush that spawned this expression began to subside, pan out became more figurative, and has remained in widespread usage since the late 19th century.

pay dirt Any desired result or goal, especially one related to wealth or success; a fortunate discovery. Literally, pay dirt is a mining term that refers to an area of land that contains enough valuable metals or other resources to merit excavation. After its introduction in the 1870s, pay dirt soon became more figurative, commonly being applied to any success.

In recent years, pay dirt has been used frequently to describe the end zone (goal area) of a football field.

ring the bell To succeed, to make a hit; to be the best. The bell of this expression may be that attached to the strength-testing machine at carnivals which rings when a player is successful. Or it may be the bell in target shooting that rings when the bull’s-eye is hit.

strike oil To have good luck or success, especially financial; to discover a source of potential personal aggrandizement; to strike it rich; to hit pay dirt. This expression alludes to oil as an entity which inevitably leads to wealth and success, a concept strengthened in recent years by the increasing prominence of Middle East oil barons. Though still used literally to describe the locating of underground oil, strike oil is commonly applied figuratively in contexts directly or indirectly related to money or other personal good fortune.

turn up trumps To turn out successfully, to come out better than expected, to turn out well or fine; to be lucky, to land on one’s feet.

The allusion is to drawing or playing a winning trump card. See trump card, PLOY.

with flying colors Victoriously, triumphantly, successfully; handily, easily; superbly, in extraordinary fashion. This phrase, usually in expressions such as come off with flying colors and come out of it with flying colors, alludes to a triumphant fleet of ships sailing into home port with their colors (i.e., flags) proudly displayed on the mastheads. Used figuratively, with flying colors often implies that one has not only survived a potentially precarious predicament but has been victorious to boot.