The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you.

Nancy Astor (1879–1964), the first woman to take a seat in the British House of Commons (1919), was a prominent society figure and politician whose American birth and rapid rise in British public life made her a frequent target of snobbery and social gatekeeping. The remark is commonly circulated as one of her epigrams about status and social climbing—an observation shaped by her experience moving from outsider to insider in elite circles. It reflects the social dynamics Astor witnessed in high society and politics, where attention often follows achievement and where former detractors may seek proximity once success confers prestige.

Astor frames success as carrying an ironic social cost: once you “arrive,” the very people who dismissed you may reappear, now eager to associate with your status. The “penalty” is not material but psychological—having to endure the tedious company of opportunists whose interest is motivated by your success rather than genuine regard. The line critiques social hypocrisy and the transactional nature of reputation, suggesting that recognition can attract shallow relationships. It also implies a shift in power: the formerly snubbed person is now in a position to judge, even to feel bored by, those who once held social authority over them.