Comparison is the Thief of Joy

investor profile

November 18, 2018

by an investor from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in 2755 E Cottonwood Pkwy, Salt Lake City, UT 84121, USA

At a recent Stanford Business School reunion, the alumni asked to visit with legendary professor ^redacted‌ and (far less legendary) me. One of their questions to us was “who do you compare yourself to?” I took a first shot at answering by saying, “Well, Mitt Romney was my undergraduate classmate and Ray Dalio my business school study group mate, so whenever I think about this question I feel bad.”


Irv went next and replied simply, “I don’t do comparisons. As Teddy Roosevelt said, ‘Comparison is the thief of joy.’” And I quickly found myself comparing my answer to his and feeling bad!


By Joel Peterson


Visit PetersonPartners.com to learn more about how we help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Pennsylvania in Denver, CO, USA
Joel, thanks for sharing this post. Comparison diminishes the virtues and skills that individuals can offer to specific engagements. No two people are the same. Our stories are highly unique and it is in our uniqueness that we strive to accomplish our goals.
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