“Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it” is a saying that has been printed on many images. The expression has long been a popular one. “Success doesn’t come to you nowadays—you’ve got to go after it, find it, earn it and deserve it” was printed in the Saint Paul (MN) Globe on May 23, 1897.
 
American educator Marva Collins (1936-2015) was quoted in the Chicago (IL) Tribune on April 5, 1978:
 
“Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it. You don’t buy it with Green Stamps. There’s no check until the work is done. You don’t get any report card until the homework is in. Every moment here (Westside Preparatory School in Chicago - -ed.) is going to be used.”
 
This Marva Collins quotation has been frequently included in books and in quotation collections.
       
   
Wikipedia: Marva Collins
Marva Delores Collins (née Knight; August 31, 1936 – June 24, 2015) was an American educator who started Westside Preparatory School in the impoverished Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago in 1975.
   
23 May 1897, Saint Paul (MN) Globe, pg. 12, col. 5 ad:
Success doesn’t come to you nowadays—you’ve got to go after it, find it, earn it and deserve it.
(Hoffman’s store.—ed.)
 
1 November 1912, De Kalb (IL) Chronicle, pg. 5, col. 4:
Work for Success.
If success doesn’t come to you don’t blame the world. It is the same world in which others have made good. Get busy and go after it.
   
9 April 1978, Chicago (IL) Tribune, “In a class by herself: When one Chicago public school teacher was dissatisfied with the quality of education, she started something—her own school” by Paul Martin, magazine sec., pg. 49, col. 4:
A heavy emphasis on individual responsibility predominates in the classroom. “Success doesn’t come to you,” Mrs. Collins exhorts. “You go to it. You don’t buy it with Green Stamps. There’s no check until the work is done. You don’t get any report card until the homework is in. Every moment here (Westside Preparatory School in Chicago - -ed.) is going to be used.”
   
28 September 1988, Variety (Los Angeles, CA), pg. 84, col. 1 ad:
ARE YOU A WINNER?
Then you know success doesn’t come to you…You go to it!
(Income opportunity advertisement.—ed.)
         
Google Books
Coaching:
Winning Strategies for Every Level of Play
By Dave Chambers
Willowdale, ON: Firefly Books
1997
Pg. 134:
Success doesn’t come to you . . .you go to it. Marva Collins
 
Google Books
What Now?:
Words of Wisdom for Life After Graduation
By Jennifer Leigh Selig
New York, NY: MJF Books
1999
Pg. 118:
Success doesn’t come to you. You go to it.
Marva Collins
 
Forbes
Jan 30, 2013, 12:25pm
30 Motivational Quotes For Job Seekers
Jacquelyn Smith Forbes Staff
(...)
“Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.” –Marva Collins
 
Twitter
Persuasive
@Datoineblaze
“Success doesn’t come to you; you go to it.” -Marva Collins
1:16 PM - 29 Oct 2007
     
Google Books
Title Success Doesn’t Come to You. You Go to It.: Blank Lined Journal with Soft Matte Cover
Author Simply Inspired Journals
Publisher Independently Published, 2019
ISBN 1075624118, 9781075624117
Length 122 pages
 
Black Excellence
May 30, 2019
101 Black Women Quotes about Life, Love, and Success
BY BE TEAM
(...)
“Success doesn’t come to you…you go to it.” – Marva Collins