I kind of understand how he got that. I do genuinely believe that hard work is the key to everything (although you do often need a little intelligence), but the way I talked was about what story would best help motivate people. It just helps that the two things match up.
I mean, imagine a world where I talked to my friend and was just like: "oh yeah. You're not smart enough. You never finished any bachelor degree. And I guess you could get into it anyway if you have been born into the upper class, but you weren't. There's no reason to try for anything better, you'll just fail." I'd be a pretty bad friend by modern standards.