True success is overcoming the fear of being unsuccessful.

The line reframes “success” as an internal achievement rather than an external outcome. It suggests that the decisive barrier to accomplishment is often anticipatory anxiety—fear of failure, embarrassment, or judgment—which can prevent risk-taking and persistence. By defining true success as overcoming that fear, the quote emphasizes courage, resilience, and self-mastery: even if a venture does not produce conventional rewards, the person who acts despite fear has already achieved something meaningful. The sentiment aligns with modern motivational and cognitive-behavioral ideas that progress depends on tolerating uncertainty and learning from setbacks rather than trying to eliminate the possibility of failure.