proverb · Legacy record
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
I owe my success to having listened respectfully to the very best advice, and then going away and doing the exact opposite.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The speaker credits success to respectfully hearing excellent advice and then doing its opposite. The contradiction gives independent judgment a provocative form.
What the words are saying
Very best and exact opposite sharpen the joke. A useful interpretation can question automatic deference without treating contrariness as a reliable method. The first-person wording supplies no independently verified biography or result, and respectful listening need not end in either compliance or rejection.
Everyday example
Someone considers advice carefully and explains a different choice with reasons rather than opposing it merely to be independent.
When to use it
Use it to examine the tension between advice and independent decision.
Put a useful idea into practice: try the free seven-day guide ↗
What it does not mean
Doing the opposite does not guarantee success; no speaker or biography is verified here.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 198; PDF page 32
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.