It's a paradox: The more successful you get, the more people want to see you fail, but Maria Callas' quote gives you a handy mantra when dealing with those critics. Maria Callas was one of the most famous opera singers of the 20th century. A natural soprano, her fans praised her vocal range as well as her theatrical expressiveness. Her critics, on the other hand, accused her of being a diva and gossiped about her so-called rivalry with fellow opera singer Renata Tebaldi. Maria didn't sweat the haters. She continued excelling in her craft which is why decades after her death, she is still considered one of the world's best sopranos.

We should all dare to be so fierce. Sometimes in life the best way to measure our success is by the number of people who are eager to call us a failure. Like Maria, we must use that baseless criticism as fuel. Every successful person from Beyoncé to Malala Yousafzai has detractors. It hasn't stopped them and it shouldn't stop you.