Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the

“Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.” So spoke Oscar Wilde, master of wit and sharpness of tongue, yet beneath his jesting words lay truths of iron. In this saying, he strips away the veil of mystery that so often surrounds success. It is not the plaything of fortune, nor the gift of gods, nor the secret possession of the chosen few. Rather, it is governed by laws as sure as the rising of the sun and the fall of a stone. Just as in science, when the conditions are met the result must follow, so too in the labor of life: prepare the ground, sow the seed, tend the soil, and the harvest will come.

The origin of Wilde’s thought lies in his own age, the nineteenth century, when the power of science was transforming the world. Steam engines crossed the land, electricity lit the night, and factories roared with production. The common man could see plainly: when the right conditions were set—coal, steel, water, fire—the result was power, motion, creation. Wilde, with his keen eye, applied this same principle to the fortunes of men. He declared that success is not magic, but method. It does not spring from wishful thinking, but from the deliberate shaping of conditions.

History gives us proof. Consider Thomas Edison, who labored to bring forth the electric light. He did not wait idly for inspiration, nor curse the darkness as fate. He created laboratories, gathered teams, and tested thousands of filaments. He laid condition upon condition: persistence, experimentation, and refinement. And in the end, the lamp was born. Many called him a genius, but in truth he was a scientist of success, understanding that results flow inevitably from proper conditions. His triumph was no accident—it was the flowering of a seed long prepared.

Or look further back to Alexander the Great. His conquests seemed the mark of destiny, but behind them lay years of preparation. He was tutored by Aristotle, trained in war, supported by loyal soldiers, and driven by a vision greater than himself. The conditions of knowledge, discipline, and unity gave rise to his victories. Without them, his ambition would have been dust upon the wind. His empire proves Wilde’s wisdom: success is no miracle, but the result of many forces aligned in harmony.

Yet Wilde’s words also carry caution. If the conditions of success are ignored—if one seeks harvest without sowing, or victory without preparation—the result cannot come. Many dream of greatness but refuse the discipline it demands; many expect results without shaping the causes. Such dreams are as empty as trying to reap where no seed was ever planted. Just as science yields no result when its laws are violated, so life yields no success when its conditions are neglected.

The ancients knew this truth as well. In the Proverbs it is said, “The sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” In the teachings of the East, the law of cause and effect—karma—declares that every outcome arises from conditions laid before it. Wilde’s saying, though wrapped in the wit of his age, echoes this eternal wisdom: align the conditions, and the result will follow.

So, O listener, take this lesson into your heart: do not wait for luck or complain at fate. Instead, seek to understand the conditions that lead to the result you desire. Study, practice, discipline, patience, courage—these are the elements of success. Put them together as a scientist assembles an experiment, and the outcome will be yours. Do not despair at delay, nor boast at triumph, for both are governed by the same law: success is the fruit of conditions rightly prepared. Live, then, as a wise craftsman of your own destiny.