Living well is the best revenge.
George Herbert, English clergyman & metaphysical poet (1593 – 1633) said it first.
Here’s an example. Michael Dell of Dell computers said in 1997
… when asked about what he would do with Apple, which was struggling at the time, said “I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Many people have predicted Apple’s demise but they just keep on innovating and surviving and thriving. How many companies do you know who have an 87% market share in the consumer electronics world, i.e., the iPod? I joke to windoze users that if it wasn’t for Apple, they’d still be using DOS with just a keyboard and no mouse.
According to the closing prices of their respective stock on Friday, the market capitalization of Apple now exceeds that of Dell. On Friday, Apple’s market cap was $72.13 billion, with Dell’s value at $71.97 billion. And, today Apple was up while Dell was down.
Jobs sent an email on Friday to employees that said, “Team, it turned out that Michael Dell wasn’t perfect at predicting the future. Based on today’s stock market close, Apple is worth more than Dell. Stocks go up and down, and things may be different tomorrow, but I thought it was worth a moment of reflection today. Steve.”
If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone predict Apple’s demise, I’d be able to buy one of these.
Maybe you don’t own your own business, but you can focus on having a better life than those who you feel have wronged you. Some people carry their hate and anger against others like a monkey on their back for years. They may have been hurt once by others, but have compunded it by reliving it a thousand times, continually reopening the wound and making it deeper. Living well is usually more productive than payback. Though there are exceptions. Think long term satisfaction vs short term satisfaction.