Lessons from Sammy Davis Jr.

DAVIS. Manic pursuit of success

Many people idolize show biz luminaries without knowing what they’re like behind the cameras. Take Sammy Davis Jr. His life seemed awesome, but he also struggled with his own demons. He was a singer, dancer, comedian and actor—who fell prey to drinking and partying.

At one point, he was making a million dollars a year, but eventually fell on hard times. At age 64, he died of throat cancer. These quotations reflect Davis’ sadness and frustrations in life:

Real success isn’t onstage, but off—as a human being, and how you get along with your fellowmen.

Most orgies that you go to, I have found, are sad. All that wildness and laughter are like the shining, silver-and-gold paper on packages—there’s nothing inside!

$10 million after I’d become a star, I was deeply in debt!

The manic pursuit of success cost me everything I loved—my wife, children and some friends I would have liked to grow old with.

Sober up and you’ll hear everything you’ve been trying to avoid hearing.

Alcohol gives you an infinite patience for stupidity.

I couldn’t believe I was going to spend the rest of my life fighting with people who hate me—even when they don’t know me!

I had no doubt that alcohol was poison, but I missed that marvelous, little buzz!

To appear drunk onstage, to have the audience leave and remember me making drunken mistakes—that was death!

The fear of losing success begins when you become entrenched in it. In my case, it became an obsession!