Washington, DC: Martin Luther King statue with Washington Monument in the background
George Washington did not spend his time as President campaigning to get the nation's capital city named after him. He did not build monuments to himself, nor did he fantasize about the time when statues and monuments in his honor would exist throughout the country. He did not hope to become a king, and never portrayed himself as one, but instead expressed his view that the creation of an American monarchy was repugnant.
Martin Luther King Jr. did not dream that one day city streets would bear his name, or that there would be a grand statue honoring him in Washington DC, or that his legacy would be remembered by a federal holiday. His dream was that someday Americans would live together in "an oasis of freedom and justice," where they would "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." He worked toward achieving that goal, not toward personal enrichment and autocratic power. He recieved the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, without asking for it or complaining about others who had received it. In his acceptance speech, he did not brag about his personal sacrifices and achievements, but instead accepted the prize on behalf of the civil rights movement, describing the struggles and injustices that he still hoped could be remedied.
In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy said, "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." He added, "My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Long before the presidency, as a Navy lieutenant in World War II, he saved the lives of fellow crew members after their boat was destroyed. Although he was awarded a medal for his courage and leadership, he did not go on to make speeches bragging about the incident. As president, he worked long hours, staying informed by reading six daily newspapers, as well as reports from his advisors. He and his wife made the White House a center of American culture, restoring the rooms and hosting people from the arts and sciences. Kennedy founded the Peace Corps, which he did not name the Kennedy Corps, an organization of volunteers helping people throughout the world.
These men, and others like them, understood the true nature of achievement. Achievement is what you do, not what you say. Achievement consists of what is actually accomplished. It does not depend on praise from others or symbols like statues and medals. The most important reward is knowing in your heart that what you did was worthwhile and that you succeeded.
I could have a trophy shop make a fancy basketball trophy with my name on it and then give a party where my friends hand me the trophy and shake my hand. That would not make me a great basketball player. There would be no achievement, just a meaningless lump of metal.
Certainly, it is often enjoyable for an accomplished person to receive recognition and to be given symbols and souvenirs commemorating their achievement. They may treasure their prizes because of the symbolic value that recalls the great satisfaction that comes from doing meaningful things, and because they feel honored to have been acknowledged. I am fond of my trophies and medals because they remind me of the work I did to earn them, and because it felt good to have my work appreciated. If I had been gifted someone else's prize, or if I had created a false award for myself, I wouldn't care about those things.
Yet there are some people who think that the prize itself is an achievement. For them earning it isn't necessary. For example, imagine a man who fantasizes about receiving a Purple Heart, neither knowing nor caring that it is given to soldiers wounded in the line of duty. He wants a trinket that allows him to play at being someone he could never be. He definitely doesn't want to serve in the military and risk getting hurt. A person who actually donates a hospital to the city certainly deserves to have his name on the building. But imagine someone who just wants to see his name on the wall, although he contributed nothing to the hospital, and doesn't even care about the lives being saved.
Currently, we are subjected to the daily spectacle of a high-ranking official who obsessively denigrates others while bragging about himself. According to him, every problem in the country is the fault of his predecessors and rivals. He boasts of his own imagined knowledge and skill, claiming that he can solve all our troubles, despite many years of failing to do so. His time is not spent studying the situation or devising effective plans. He does not do anything recognizable as work, but uses his waning energy to complain about the unfair treatment he recieves, insulting and berating anyone who is not sufficiently subservient to his will, accumulating wealth through blatantly corrupt schemes, crudely undermining decades of international goodwill, implementing policies that threaten the health and safety of the people while destroying the nation's natural resources, and directing expensive projects designed to feed his narcissistic need for fame and attention. He has admitted that no one will honor him after he is gone, so he feels compelled to honor himself now, perhaps not aware that his pointless monuments will quickly be dismantled and forgotten.
