PlZ READ: Nicolas Sarkozy friend claims any 50year old without a Rolex is a 'failure'

[Ogie]

I just read this insane article by Nicolas Sarkozy's friend. I DO NOT AGREE with this guy.

Nicolas Sarkozy friend claims any 50yo without a Rolex is a 'failure'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...a-failure.html

The remark by the millionaire advertising tycoon has been branded 'obscene' at a time when millions of French people are struggling with low wages and soaring unemployment.
It will also be acutely embarrassing to the president, who was urged by his own advisors last year to tone down his 'bling' image by not wearing his own £10,000 Rolex and Ray-Ban sunglasses in public.
Seguela - who introduced the president to wife Carla Bruni at a dinner party in November - made the quip during a TV interview this week.
Asked whether he approved of Sarkozy's love of flashy jewellery, the 60-year-old businessman replied: "So what if he owns a Rolex, we can't blame him for that.
"Everyone has a Rolex. If you don't have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life."
The comment also comes as Sarkozy was hit by polls showing six out of then French people think he is failing to tackle the economic crisis.
But French news website Agora said yesterday: "This remark is obscene. We would like to shove Seguela's own Rolex down his throat."
French daily France-Soir said yesterday: "There is a global financial crisis and people are struggling to make ends meet. Most workers will find this highly offensive."
Jean-François Copé, presdient of Sarkozy's own UMP party, added: "It is ridiculous to say owning a Rolex is a mark of success in life.
"Success is realising your goals, being able to do the things you want to, and being with the person you love."
Seguela has refused to apologise for the comment saying he only said it because he was 'trapped' by the interviewer on the France 2 morning news programme.

[bodybump]

He might have different point of view....i dont agree with him...It doesnt mean that at 50 without owning a rolex is a failure...some people are not just into watches...how he can say that...my boss doesnt own a Rolex and his 55...he owns 3 restaurant a shopping mall..a yacth and drives and expensive car...would we consider that a failure?? Just different way of spending thier money and interest IMO...

[yannis]

He has more than one Rolexes! Good taste in watches and good taste in women! Can't blame the guy!

[pz93c]

He's a knucklehead.

him.

[SPORTSFAN]

I think that he makes a fair point.
How do you measure your achevements in life ?
Most people on this forum are intelligent enough to set themselves goals and reward themselves for achieving them,with whatever,houses, boats,cars,planes,watches,it makes no difference.

I know my vision of "winning the game"

I played golf at Boca Raton with my best friend 2 years ago and we came off the 18 th.at 6.30 there were two old guys sitting on the patio drinking Brandy,they must have both been over 75.
We got talking to them and when we left I shook them both by the hand and said "well done boys you have won the game"

If the last thing that I saw was the sunset at Boca that would do me.

On the other hand I my pay for my nephews to go through medical school.

Life...................Good fun eh....................


Regards Mike.

[gmt 16750]

All the flashiest possesions in the world don't really mean squat at the end of the day but I fear I'm in the minority with this thinking - IMO, most people gauge 'success' by how much money you have (or at least able give the impression that you have).
Yes - nice things are nice (fast cars, exotic holidays, well tailored clothes etc...) but these don't automatically bring happiness.
rant over....

[SPORTSFAN]

Of course possesions mean nothing..............................

Ashes to ashes dust to dust.

It is not about what you need it is about what you want.



Regards Mike.

[Gasoil4ever]

I would appreciate people leave Sarkozy out of this discussion... he has good taste for watches and women. He works hard for it and so far has been the most active President we had. Now he comes in very troubled times... and French people are REALLY not easy to manage... trust me. I do not agree with everythings he does, but i believe a President deserves a little respect...

Besides, I wouldn't like to be held responsible for the words of a so called friend or co-worker.

Jacques Séguéla is known for being provocative, he became famous making very provocative ad campaigns. So here no one even care about what he said...

[charliec]

Hang on a minute, Sarkozy is a lover of prestige watches, he wears Brioni suits, John Lobb shoes, goes to bed with a supermodel every night, is the President of a major country!!! What's not to like about the guy ????

Oh yeah he's French !!! (sorry to all you French members)

Guess you can't have everythng ????

[MrCowboy99]

Originally Posted by charliec

Hang on a minute, Sarkozy is a lover of prestige watches, he wears Brioni suits, John Lobb shoes, goes to bed with a supermodel every night, is the President of a major country!!!

Ok... i love watches, wear nice Wranglers, own some nice Justins, and go to bed with the most beautiful woman every night, and is the King of my home...

... and to top it off, I'm Texan.

What's not to love about me!

[Ogie]

Intresting comments...

[BigHat]

His friend is an idiot. Why drag him down?
As a lover of watches, I'm appalled that anyone would assess success or failure as a human on the ownership of a Rolex. Aside from ignoring all the true measures of success such as: responsible citizenship, raising good kids, and service to one's country, most people don't think a watch has any utility other them to tell the time and use any extra cash for cars, boats, art, etc.

[Dan Pierce]

Originally Posted by gmt 16750

All the flashiest possesions in the world don't really mean squat at the end of the day but I fear I'm in the minority with this thinking - IMO, most people gauge 'success' by how much money you have (or at least able give the impression that you have).
Yes - nice things are nice (fast cars, exotic holidays, well tailored clothes etc...) but these don't automatically bring happiness.
rant over....

Well said, Neil.
dP

[watchnut]

Originally Posted by SPORTSFAN

Of course possesions mean nothing..............................

Ashes to ashes dust to dust.

It is not about what you need it is about what you want.



Regards Mike.

I remember seeing a cartoon years ago showing two guys on a cloud, (supposedly in heaven). The next cloud over is a guy in a Cadillac, with bags of cash in the back and a beautiful girl at his side. The first guy says to the other, "fool that I was, I just ASSUMED you couldn't take it with you"!..

[KJacques]

Originally Posted by gmt 16750

All the flashiest possesions in the world don't really mean squat at the end of the day but I fear I'm in the minority with this thinking - IMO, most people gauge 'success' by how much money you have (or at least able give the impression that you have).
Yes - nice things are nice (fast cars, exotic holidays, well tailored clothes etc...) but these don't automatically bring happiness.
rant over....

You couldn't be more correct. Things don't bring happiness at all. Happiness is a state of being. You can be happy and enjoy things, but if you look for things to bring your happiness, more likely you will bring obsessiveness as you keep pursuing that next thing and the next thing as the temporary rush fades.

[MrCowboy99]

Originally Posted by KJacques

Happiness is a state of being.

Dont get me wrong, I would be happy in the morning waking up next to the supermodel he's with. Very happy as a matter of fact!

BUT..... I would also be DEAD by sunset. So I'm happy now waking to my beautiful woman now so I'm not DEAD by sunset.

[Lion]

To each their own!!! Everyone has their own priorities and agendas in life. And who's to say what another person should be/do in their life!!! Remember we all end up 6 feet under and all the possessions in the world will mean nothing at all then!!!

[betrezra]

In this PC world I applaud the guy for having the kajolies to speak his mind. I actually respect him more for that.

We're sooooo concerned about the impact of a sound-bite here in the USA the talking heads say much of nothing.

Regarding the content of his sound bite..... we can all agree that a watch does not make a man...... but it sure looks FINE on the wrist ;)

[buz-lh]

Originally Posted by Gasoil4ever

I would appreciate people leave Sarkozy out of this discussion... he has good taste for watches and women. He works hard for it and so far has been the most active President we had. Now he comes in very troubled times... and French people are REALLY not easy to manage... trust me. I do not agree with everythings he does, but i believe a President deserves a little respect...

Besides, I wouldn't like to be held responsible for the words of a so called friend or co-worker.

Jacques Séguéla is known for being provocative, he became famous making very provocative ad campaigns. So here no one even care about what he said...

I agree but I can't say a lot as I'm not French.

[AIKO]

Originally Posted by Gasoil4ever

I would appreciate people leave Sarkozy out of this discussion... he has good taste for watches and women. He works hard for it and so far has been the most active President we had. Now he comes in very troubled times... and French people are REALLY not easy to manage... trust me. I do not agree with everythings he does, but i believe a President deserves a little respect...

Besides, I wouldn't like to be held responsible for the words of a so called friend or co-worker.

Jacques Séguéla is known for being provocative, he became famous making very provocative ad campaigns. So here no one even care about what he said...

Haaaa. Now the French know what it was like to endure all the attacks on President Bush

[GinGinD]

Everyone measures success differently. Most people don't measure it quite so one-dimensionally. Sad, really.

Jeannie, to whom success is more about people and less about things

[leonidas]

sarkozy is actually of hungarian (recent) background......this is mentioned there as soon as there is some negative issue................

[juleso]

Hold on everybody lets not get too excited by this guy's comments you have to remember he's French!!! As Groundskeeper Willy put it "Ach bonjour ya cheese eatin' surrender monkeys!"

[cody p]

a good politician requires political acumen. hubris and political acumen make poor bedfellows. a politician needs to understand the concept of stealth wealth. in a democracy, you don't want to alienate the voting public by making a show of over-the-top conspicuous consumption. it's poor optics.

[Lol-x]

It was just a throw away line, not really serious.

It seems to me what he was really saying in response to the reporters question was: "The guy is 50 years old and successful, if he wants to wear a Rolex he should be entitled to do so."

That's all.

[ijen0311]

Originally Posted by Lol-x

It was just a throw away line, not really serious.

It seems to me what he was really saying in response to the reporters question was: "The guy is 50 years old and successful, if he wants to wear a Rolex he should be entitled to do so."

That's all.

I agree and I hope you're right.

Otherwise, how sad to judge the success of one's life by their possessions

And I think we should all remember that anyone with credit can purchase a Rolex anyway

[Bisquitlips]

Well,

I am most certainly a failure as I had to wait until I was 53 years old before I had my first one.

But, I now have two of them so does that make me a double success?!!!??!!??

Completely insipid in my opinion.

[Nica64]

If you don't have a Rolex by the time you reach 50, then you have clearly failed in your life."

My boss has a ton of money and he doesn't own a Rolex....... and he doesn't care either, is that a failure??? Don't think so!!

[Parachrom]

YOU CAN BE THE RICHEST MAN IN THE CEMETARY WITH MANY ROLEX WATCHES, BUT YOU CANT DO BUSINESS THERE.

sAMUEL cLEMENS AND jHONNY

[redshirt1957]

I read a study last week that surmised that people with wealth were more happy than the rest of the common lot. When you dig into the metrics of the survey you find out that is not quite the truth. Seems that happy people acquire more wealth than those who answered that they were unhappy. Happiness comes first in all things positive. If you ask me, and no one did, the true wealth of a person is the ability to live in a constant state of positive self concept and, to sound simplistic; happy to be happy.