Winning is overrated, because winning and losing are both your acceptance of being rated.

The line challenges the cultural prestige attached to “winning” by reframing both victory and defeat as outcomes within the same external scoring system. If you define yourself through winning, you also implicitly accept the authority of whatever institution, audience, or metric is doing the “rating.” The quote points toward a different standard of value—intrinsic motivation, personal ethics, learning, or self-defined goals—where worth is not contingent on comparative rank. Its sting lies in the paradox: chasing victory can deepen dependence on judgment, while freedom may require stepping outside the win/lose frame altogether.