I forget who it was, but there was some movie star in the 90s. Maybe Jim Carry, but maybe someone else.

In any event, when they asked how he was able to get his star power noticed, and achieve the things he had in movies, he replied "I was stupid, I made mistakes, and I failed. Repeatedly failed. Everybody in this business has some stupid commercial, or failed play that they look back on relieved that those days are behind them. But the thing is, when your family is rich, and can support you failing, you aren't afraid of failing. You learn from your failures. Your failures get you noticed, and that's when you get oppertunities you haven't earned. Just by being in the business, and having a safety net without fear of failing. There may be 1000 more people more talented than I am, but I'm MUCH dumber, and also not afraid to take the leap. Because if I fall short, it's ok. I still live in a mansion, and have no way to actually be affected by my failures."

I'm paraphrasing, but that's essentially what was said. I remember being 11, and thinking "Wait, he's saying that the only reason he's sucsessful is because he was born into a situation where even if he fails, it's not going to affect him? But that means those other actors who are more talented won't even be seen, and we're being deprived of better performances. Simply because if they fail, they're homeless. So it's smarter for them to take a factory job and be stable, than make a high risk gamble and likely be homeless."

I can't say for sure that's the day I became cynical, but it's definately a motivating factor. Essentially being taught from an early age "There's in groups who can't fail, and out groups who the system is stacked against. Fall into the wrong group just by being born, and you're going to have a hard life, and that's by design."