What is success?

I got into a conversation  with an MD once.  He and his future wife escaped from Europe in the late 1930s.  They were Jewish and in their teens.  They lived off the land as they traveled through the forests. Somehow they made it to this country. They both also made their way through medical school.  I was in awe. But he (actually, they) gave me the punch line.  Her relatives regarded her as a failure because she
married so poorly.

I notice related theme in many of the old posts on this site.  There appears to be a number of us, who, although we are doing quite well by one measure, are outcasts from our families.

So, my question is, "What is success?"  And, how does someone know when he/she has obtained it?

I think success is the confidence to define it for yourself without reference to what parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and others think.

Artie Scott wrote:I think success is the confidence to define it for yourself without reference to what parents, siblings, friends, co-workers, and others think.

And further, to be centred and confident enough to comport yourself with grace, compassion, good humour and openness when interacting with these people.

An apt quote from Lao-Tsze, circa 600 BC. This one found its way into our wedding vows:

"He who knows when he has enough is rich"