Success comes when people act together failure tends to happen alone.

The line contrasts the social nature of achievement with the isolating experience of defeat. It suggests that durable “success” is typically collective: it depends on cooperation, shared purpose, and networks of support that multiply individual effort. “Failure,” by contrast, is framed as solitary—either because people withdraw when things go wrong, because shame and self-blame isolate the person who stumbles, or because breakdowns in coordination leave individuals to bear consequences alone. As a maxim, it functions as advice: cultivate alliances, communicate, and build teams if you want outcomes that last; don’t expect meaningful wins to be purely individual accomplishments.