Although success can easily be defined as the achievement of goals, there’s a difference between temporary and lasting success. I don’t think you achieve lasting success unless you add another ingredient to the mixture, and that is to serve a cause greater than yourself. That’s what lasting success is all about.

I can’t tell you the number of people I have met who have been very successful in the pursuit of wealth, but late in the day began to sense that they didn’t really succeed. And yet, I have known people from all degrees of financial wealth who have dedicated themselves to causes greater than themselves and their own self-interests who have led a very satisfying life.

In my book, Character Is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember (Random House, 2005), we wrote stories about different kinds of qualities that make up a person’s character, based on the lives of people that you’ve probably never heard of—such as Sister Antonio, who resides in a jail in Tijuana taking care of people—to people we all know, such as Mark Twain.

In Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters, you will find practical wisdom drawn from the stories of hundreds of the world’s most remarkable and enduringly successful people who the authors actually interviewed. This is a book that will make a difference.

Senator John McCain