The only thing that ever sat its way to success was a hen.

This aphorism is a pointed rebuke to passivity: “sitting” symbolizes waiting, complacency, or expecting success to arrive without effort. The punchline—only a hen “sits” its way to success—plays on the literal act of sitting on eggs to hatch them, contrasting productive, purposeful “sitting” with human idleness. The line is often used as motivational advice in business, education, and self-help contexts to argue that achievement requires initiative, persistence, and work rather than mere intention. Its humor sharpens the message by making the exception (the hen) memorable and by implying that for humans, success is not incubated by inaction.