There can't be any short cut to success. The toil of years, the sweat of your brow, struggle you make, every thing counts in achieving the goal. Looking at the biographies of great men, we find that most of the successful persons, what ever their field, inventors, artists, scientists, technocrats, sculptors, thinkers, leaders and workers of any kind, owe their success to their indefatigable hard work and dedication. They were the men who achieved their success with dedication, devotion and true hard work. This really proves that the secret of success consists in being master of our subject. Such mastery is attainable through continuous application and study. Those, who work diligently, not only achieve their goals and get success, but also remain happy, cheerful and active, which is itself a great reward even if the work dies not bring success. Idleness or laziness is worse as it brings jealousy, gloom, frustration, depression which are more degrading than the failure itself. Walter Scott, the famous novelist of Scotland, who started his life as an ordinary clerk, attained the great heights of eminence by dint of his sheer diligence. He used to rise at 5 o'clock and by the time his family assembled for breakfast, he had done enough, to use his own words, to break the neck of the day's work. Excellence is an ever approaching target. One who puts in his best in pursuit of excellence, he reaches nearer to goal. Full dedication, high degree of devotion, cuts the time to half. A glimpse of history tells us that all the successful personalities were determined and devoted fully to achieve whatever they thought or desired.