The Fallacy of Success

Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) was an English writer of the late Victorian and early modernist periods. In his work, he was multifaceted and prodigious, writing dozens of books, hundreds of stories, and thousands of essays, of which 1909’s “The Fallacy of Success,” first published in the volume All Things Considered, remains among his most lasting. As both a public speaker and writer, Chesterton was known for his commitment to rationality, his devastating wit, and his stern moral judgment, all of which he displays in ample measure in “The Fallacy of Success.” The essay lambasts the rising tide of popular books promising the path to “Success,” ancestors of the contemporary sea of self-help literature. Chesterton dissects the genre, discovering at its core a fog of logical vagueness and moral misdirection. Chesterton’s harsh critiques of the myth of “Success” remains as crucial as ever in today’s cultural climate.