I credit my success to my mother. Her prayers and support are

The words of Dimitar Berbatov — “I credit my success to my mother. Her prayers and support are everything to me. I know all she does for me, and I know nothing I do can ever pay back the amount of support she has given me.” — are not merely the gratitude of a son to his parent. They are the eternal song of generations, the recognition that behind every triumph stands the unseen strength of a mother’s love. For it is the mother who labors in silence, who carries burdens that her children may walk lighter, who plants seeds of faith and sacrifice in the soil of her child’s future.

The ancients revered this truth. In the myths of Greece, Demeter, goddess of the harvest, is portrayed as the eternal mother who nourishes mankind, ensuring survival through her endless care. Even the mighty Achilles, fierce on the battlefield, was guarded by the prayers of Thetis, his mother, who dipped him in the river Styx to protect him. So too does Berbatov echo this timeless truth: the victories of the child are bound to the support, sacrifice, and devotion of the mother.

Consider the story of Abraham Lincoln. He often spoke of his mother, Nancy Hanks Lincoln, saying, “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” Though she died when he was young, her influence lived on in his discipline, humility, and strength. Her faith planted within him a seed that bore fruit in his leadership during the darkest days of the American Republic. Like Berbatov, Lincoln understood that no achievement, however great, could erase the debt owed to a mother’s guidance.

Berbatov’s words also remind us of the spiritual dimension of a mother’s care — her prayers. For prayer is not merely ritual, but the pouring out of hope, protection, and blessing upon her child. Throughout history, men of power and art have confessed that the prayers of their mothers lifted them when nothing else could. Saint Augustine, who wandered in confusion and rebellion, was finally drawn back to truth, and he credited not argument but the tears and prayers of his mother, Monica, as the force that saved his soul. Truly, the strength of a mother’s intercession is greater than the strength of armies.

And yet, Berbatov admits the humbling truth: “nothing I do can ever pay back the amount of support she has given me.” This is the sacred imbalance of love between mother and child. A mother gives without counting the cost, without demanding repayment. The child may honor her, may succeed, may carry her name with pride, but the debt of love is infinite. To recognize this, as Berbatov does, is to stand in humility before one of life’s greatest truths: that we are never self-made, but always shaped by the sacrifices of others.

The lesson here is clear: never forget the foundation of support that allows your success to exist. Whether it is a mother, a father, a teacher, or a mentor, greatness is never borne alone. To acknowledge this is to live in gratitude, and gratitude itself becomes a kind of success, for it shapes the soul into one of humility and honor. To forget it is to build upon sand, but to remember it is to stand upon a rock.

Practical wisdom follows: honor those who have lifted you. Speak words of thanks while they yet live. Show love not only in grand gestures but in daily reverence. And when you succeed, let your triumph not be a monument only to yourself, but a testimony to those whose prayers and sacrifices brought you there. In this way, you give back what cannot truly be repaid: recognition, love, and the passing forward of their legacy.

Thus, O listener, remember Berbatov’s words: success is not yours alone — it is the echo of your mother’s strength, her prayers, her endless support. Carry this truth with humility, and let your victories honor the ones who gave you the strength to achieve them. For in this remembrance lies not only gratitude, but true greatness.