2009-08-27

Woody Allen

Eighty percent of success is showing up.
I first heard this quote from my brother-- thanks, apg.

Editorial: Every year towards the end of summer students ask me for the best advice I have for success in college, and I offer this quote. I also share these words with my friends, and in my own life I see their veracity everywhere. I’m curious why Woody picked '80', although his reason might be as simple as Douglas Adams’s explanation for why he offered '42' as the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Alternatively Woody probably knows about the Pareto Principle (or the 80-20 Rule). Whatever the reason, I increasingly feel that showing up just might be the second truism I can trust on a regular basis; the first is here.