One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities. One’s only failure is failing to live up to one’s own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.

The saying frames human striving as an inward, not outward, contest: the meaningful benchmark is not other people’s achievements but the fuller realization of one’s own capacities. “Failure” is redefined as self-betrayal—settling for less than one can become—rather than social defeat. The final sentence draws an ethical conclusion from this psychology: if each person contains the possibility of “kingship” (dignity, excellence, self-actualization), then each deserves respect and conditions that support growth. The quote aligns with Maslow’s humanistic emphasis on self-actualization and the inherent worth of persons, turning a theory of motivation into a norm for how people ought to be treated.