Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree

Michael Korda, with the voice of one who has seen the hollow victories of men, declared: “Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you desire from what you do. If you are in a job you hate, face the fact squarely and get out.” These words cut deep, for they remind us that true success cannot be built upon misery, nor can greatness grow from soil poisoned by resentment. Where there is no joy, the spirit withers; where there is no passion, the flame dies before it has a chance to blaze.

The ancients also knew this truth. They taught that work without love is slavery, but labor infused with pleasure becomes art. The farmer who delights in the soil brings forth abundant harvests, while the one who despises the field reaps only thorns. The Stoics urged men to embrace their duties with heart, not grudgingly, for only then could virtue and accomplishment be joined. Korda’s words echo their wisdom: that the soul must not be chained to toil it despises, for such chains rob both the body of strength and the heart of purpose.

Consider the tale of Steve Jobs. Cast out from the very company he founded, he might have chosen bitterness or retreat. Yet his pleasure was in creation, in blending technology with artistry. In exile he built Pixar, transforming animation forever, and later returned to Apple to usher in a new age of design and innovation. Jobs did not endure his success through drudgery but through passion. His life proves Korda’s truth: when pleasure fuels your labor, the work ceases to be a burden, and success becomes inevitable.

On the other hand, history is filled with those who remained bound to duties they hated, and their lives became monuments of regret. Think of the countless clerks, scribes, or courtiers who served in palaces, rich in gold yet poor in spirit. Their days were consumed in tasks that dulled their hearts, and though they may have worn fine robes, their inner lives were barren. For no crown of wealth or status can compensate for a life drained of joy. Korda warns us not to join their ranks: to remain in a job we despise is to abandon our chance at true success.

And yet, this teaching is not one of recklessness. It is not to say that the path of pleasure is without hardship, or that the road of passion is free of pain. No, even the labor one loves is heavy at times. The artist struggles with the canvas, the athlete suffers in training, the thinker wrestles with doubt. But in such pain there is dignity, for it is chosen and borne with love. The difference is clear: when your heart is in the work, even suffering sharpens you. When you hate it, suffering only breaks you.

The lesson, then, is this: seek the work that brings you pleasure, that ignites your spirit, that makes you rise eager instead of weary. If you are trapped in a task that you hate, do not deceive yourself—face it squarely, as Korda commands, and step away. Life is too brief to be sacrificed at an altar of drudgery. Choose the path that stirs your blood, for it is on that path that your greatest success will be born.

Practical wisdom follows: examine your labor with honesty. Ask yourself: Does this give me life, or does it drain it away? If the answer is despair, then plan your escape—not with haste, but with courage. Build toward the work that calls you. Learn, train, endure, but do not settle for chains. For pleasure in one’s labor is not luxury—it is the root of greatness. And when you marry joy to work, you will find that the world opens to you, for nothing is more powerful than a soul set aflame.

So remember Michael Korda’s words: “Your chances of success are directly proportional to the degree of pleasure you desire from what you do.” Carry them as law. For if you align your work with your heart, your life will bear fruit both abundant and enduring. But if you toil in what you hate, you will know neither peace nor greatness. Choose, then, with courage—for in that choice lies the destiny of your spirit.