At yet another level, it could be seen as an external claim of something similar, that self-making people will not be failures. It was the last page column running back many years, and often has some very amusing or interesting contributions. Actually, I even submitted one piece that they used many years back. On one level of reading this is just a reminder that lying doesn't work. The facts are there, and any clod can get the facts, though it may take longer in some cases.
Facts are concrete and easy to gather, and basically hard to argue with.
The facts are the facts, and it's just too bad if you don't like 'em. Opinions are different animals, however. Everyone has one, and some people seem to think that all other people's stink, which leads back to a couple of other jokes which I'll skip for now. But having your opinion implies expressing it, and how it is expressed can often be more important than the substance of the opinion itself. Al Evans says that revelations are just those things that are obvious after someone has pointed them out to you.