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"hard work is not a sufficient condition for success, but successful people tend to portray it as such".

I don't agree with that at all. Most successful people say that some degree of luck was involved.




Perhaps this point is a bit too anecdotal, but I've certainly encountered the "just work hard and you'll make it" attitude a lot. And its inverse, people assuming that unsuccessful people must be unsuccessful because of their personal flaws.

In any case, that's the corollary, not the main point. Which is:

> I don't think the point is "hard work has no effect on outcome", but rather "for nearly all people who end up successful, luck played a very significant role which is often minimized"




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