A winner makes commitments; a loser makes promises.
When a winner makes a mistake, he says “I was wrong”; when a loser makes a mistake, he says “It wasn’t my fault”.
A winner goes through a problem; a loser goes around it, and never gets past it.
A winner knows what to fight for, and what to compromise on; a loser compromises on what he shouldn’t, and fights for what isn’t worthwhile fighting about.
A winner listens; a loser just waits until it’s his turn to talk.
A winner says, “There ought to be a better way to do it”; a loser says, “That’s the way it’s always been done here”.
A winner has a healthy appreciation of his abilities, and a keen awareness of his limitations; a loser is oblivious both of his true abilities and his true limitations.
A winner takes a big problem and separates it into smaller parts so that it can be more easily manipulated; a loser takes a lot of little problems and rolls them together until they are unsolvable.
A winner focuses; a loser sprays.
A loser becomes bitter when he’s behind and careless when he’s ahead; a winner keeps his equilibrium no matter which position he happens to find himself in.
A winner tries to judge his own acts by their consequences, and other people’s acts by their intentions; a loser gives himself all the best of it by judging his own acts by his intentions, and the acts of others by their consequences.
A winner acts the same toward those who can be helpful, and those who can be of no help; a loser fawns on the powerful and snubs the weak.
A winner isn’t afraid to leave the road when he doesn’t agree with the direction it’s taking; a loser follows “the middle of the road” no matter where the road is going.
– Source: Winners and Losers by Sydney J Harris 1973