If—

Kipling personifies Triumph and Disaster and labels them both impostors because they are short-lived phenomena. People may be satisfied with happiness and success, but this complacency can easily decrease opportunities to achieve a higher goal.

As an example of Kipling’s reach and the relevance of his belief, the following passage from “If—,” “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two impostors just the same” (Lines 11-12), is inscribed above the doors to Wimbledon’s Centre Court. After the tournament, one player will experience triumph and the other disaster. The true winner is one who realizes that both outcomes can lead to complacency. Kipling wants us to treat these two “imposters” the same because, ultimately, they are two sides of the same coin.

Ancient stoics like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca suggested that we should welcome feelings of failure and disaster through a process called “negative visualization.” This is a method by which one visualizes how defeat might manifest itself. Negative visualization is a way for us to keep our optimistic prejudices under control. Likewise, we must keep our triumphant emotions in check. While it may feel great to be victorious, we should remain humble.