Success is the one unpardonable sin against our fellows.

People forgive failure more easily than they forgive doing well. Your setbacks make others feel close to you; your good year quietly rearranges where they think they stand. Most of them would never call it envy, and most are not cruel about it, but the coolness is real. Nobody warns you that going well can be lonely.

When something good happens, tell the few who can be glad without effort, and spare the rest the full accounting. Stay interested in other people’s lives at the same rate you did before. If a friendship cools, let it, without deciding you should have wanted less.