The real wisdom here isn't that hard work beats idleness—that's the obvious bit. Rather, Thoreau is pointing out that obsessive goal-chasing actually *repels* success because it breeds desperation, impatience, and poor judgment. When you're fixated on the finish line, you miss the small opportunities and genuine connections that compound into something worthwhile: the struggling musician who becomes excellent because she's absorbed in her craft (not record deals), the scientist who makes breakthroughs while investigating what genuinely fascinates him. Success, in other words, often arrives as a side effect of doing something you care about deeply—which is precisely why it eludes those frantically hunting for it.