To have striven, to have made the effort, to have been true to certain ideals - this alone is worth the struggle.

The line frames “success” not as external reward but as fidelity to effort and principle. By stacking infinitives—“to have striven… to have made the effort… to have been true”—it emphasizes process and integrity over outcomes. In Osler’s moral universe (often directed to students and young physicians), the struggle of a vocation is justified when one has worked earnestly and remained loyal to guiding ideals such as service, honesty, and disciplined attention to duty. The quote thus offers a stoic, vocational ethic: even if results disappoint, the worth of a life can be measured by sincere striving and steadfast character.