>'I assume once you've succeeded following a certain path, you think the options that were available to you are available to anyone – if only they were good / s

>'I assume once you've succeeded following a certain path, you think the options that were available to you are available to anyone – if only they were good / smart / strong enough to make the most of them.' I think this is actually worse than that. Strength, smarts and expertise are positives that are generally implied as possible to build or at least quantify. This is more an absolute negative judgement, shaming even "You have chosen to fail." as if success is as simple as flipping an intangible switch inside. I think it's hard in general to see the world through another's lens. I expect the very successful are particulary prone to this as they have both a strong, but narrow 'proof' of their own authority on the matter and an endless supply of people seeking their approval - not the sort to give criticism.