If fortune wishes to make a man estimable, she gives him virtues; if she wishes to make him esteemed, she gives him success.

Being worth esteem and being esteemed are separate achievements, and the world rewards the second. Success attracts admiration regardless of how it was reached, while the qualities that actually make someone admirable are quiet and often go unnoticed for a lifetime. Confusing the two leads people to chase the visible one and then wonder why arriving there feels thin. Both are real, and only one of them is under your control.

Decide which you are working for, since the honest answer is usually some of each. Then check that the pursuit of the visible half is not quietly eating the other one.