There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.

Adams emphasizes encouragement as a decisive force behind personal “high spots”—the moments of achievement or joy people remember most. The second sentence broadens the point into a claim about human nature: even the accomplished still crave recognition. Read together, the lines argue that praise is not a trivial vanity but a basic social nourishment that sustains effort and confidence. The quote also implies an ethical duty: because everyone “hungers for applause,” offering sincere affirmation can be a powerful, low-cost way to help others flourish. In Adams’s characteristically motivational vein, the message is both descriptive (people need approval) and prescriptive (be generous with encouragement).