Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking

Hear, O children of wisdom, the piercing words of Barry Switzer: “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.” With this saying, he unveils the blindness of pride, the illusion of achievement, and the ignorance of privilege. It is a truth as old as the human race: many inherit advantages they did not earn, yet they walk as though their victories were forged by their own sweat. This blindness, more dangerous than poverty, corrodes humility and breeds arrogance.

For what is third base but the near-completion of a triumph already prepared? To be born upon it is to begin life with the fruits of another’s labor—the wealth of ancestors, the protections of a powerful family, the doors opened by station or influence. Yet the one who imagines he has struck the ball and run the field believes he has conquered the world, when in truth he has been carried by fortune. This is not wickedness in itself, but delusion. And delusion, left unchecked, blinds a man not only to his own reality, but to the struggles of those who begin at the bottom.

Consider the rulers of old, such as Louis XVI of France, born into gilded halls, crowned before he had proven wisdom or courage. Surrounded by splendor, he believed his station divine, his authority earned by heaven’s will. Yet when the hungry rose in anger, demanding bread and justice, he could not understand their pain. To him, it seemed treachery; to them, it was survival. His blindness to his inherited privilege cost him his throne and his head. He thought himself a king by merit, when truly he was only a man born on third base, ignorant of the fields others had plowed to bring him there.

Yet, history also gives us those who, though born with much, recognized their fortune and turned it into service. Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor, inherited a throne but did not deceive himself into believing it was of his making. He wrote in his meditations of gratitude for his teachers, for his station, for the blessings he did not earn. His wisdom was not to boast of privilege, but to see it clearly, and to carry its burden with humility. Thus he stands as a beacon: proof that being born on third base need not lead to arrogance, if one walks with gratitude and duty.

Switzer’s words warn us, then, not merely against the privileged, but against the spirit of pride that lurks in every heart. For we are all tempted to take credit where fortune played a role. Perhaps it was the family who gave us shelter, the teacher who showed us the way, the friend who believed in us when we doubted ourselves. To forget these is to claim every victory as one’s own, to boast of a triple when one was placed upon third base by unseen hands.

The lesson is this: recognize your advantages with humility. If you are blessed with wealth, acknowledge it as fortune, not conquest. If you inherit knowledge, freedom, or opportunity, use it not for boasting, but for lifting others. True greatness lies not in pretending you made the journey alone, but in helping those still running from first base to find their way forward. Gratitude is the antidote to arrogance, and service is the proof of wisdom.

So I say to you, travelers of tomorrow: do not be deceived by the illusion of your own power. Look honestly at the forces that have shaped your path. Honor those who came before, who paved the ground, who handed you blessings you did not earn. And when you stand on third base, do not raise your arms in false triumph—turn instead to help another take their place beside you. For only then will your life’s victory be real, not a fraud of circumstance but a triumph of character.