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1.1 Inspirational Quote
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Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on December 26, 2023 at 4:27 pm1.1 Inspirational Quote
“Failure is a greater teacher than success.”
💬 Discussion:
- Respond to this quote: Comment, reflect, agree/disagree, share a similar or contradictory quote, or provide an example to support or reject this quote. You may use text, video, audio, etc.
- Respond constructively and substantively (≥2 sentences) to another participant’s comments.
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I think this is a great quote to reflect on and open discussion about growth mindsets. I agree and disagree!
I agree at the surface level. The quote is about contrasting failure and success and embracing failure as a learning opportunity–very growth mindset! It also makes me think of research on neuroplasticity and popular advice which says that if you’re learning a new skill, such as playing an instrument, it’s not the getting it perfect but the making mistakes part that is most valuable for learning. (e.g.”Turning frustration into fuel“)
Putting on my philosophical and analytical hat, though, I possibly disagree. What is “failure”? What is “success”? If failure is indeed a better teacher then maybe it’s better to use a new term for it. For us, and specially for students, is the term “failure” just too loaded and negative to be useful in this quote or in our teaching growth mindset?
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Love this quote! I totally agree though that the word “failure” is too loaded and subjective. There is way too much emphasis on it and we should start looking at more appropriate “growth mindset” terminology. Setbacks is a good one to consider for a start.
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Carrie, I’m with you on exploring alternative terms like “setbacks” to frame challenges in a more growth-oriented light. It’s all about the narrative we build around our experiences, isn’t it?
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Casandra, your point about rethinking the terminology we use is spot on. Words carry weight, and “failure” can sometimes be a heavy load to carry, especially for students who are still shaping their self-concept and resilience.
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Hi Casandra,
I agree that in my own teaching this doesn’t exactly work. I grade using a portfolio method in Composition 101, so students are working on their writing as part of a process of revision. We’re not working in the realm of “you failed” or “you passed.” We’re working in the realm of “how can I make this essay / writing better?” That holds no matter where a student starts and is a useful touchstone for all parts of the writing process. I think there are so many ways where “try again using what you learned” is better than “failure.” I also think this is part of where we might seek to rethink some of how we approach higher ed. Game theory / pedagogy already well documents the phenomena of asking students to “gamify” the classroom–and in games, you don’t “fail,” you just play again.
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Casandra Silva Sibilin (she/her/hers) wrote:I think this is a great quote to reflect on and open discussion about growth mindsets. I agree and disagree!
I agree at the surface level. The quote is about contrasting failure and success and embracing failure as a learning opportunity–very growth mindset! It also makes me think of research on neuroplasticity and popular advice which says that if you’re learning a new skill, such as playing an instrument, it’s not the getting it perfect but the making mistakes part that is most valuable for learning. (e.g.”Turning frustration into fuel“)
Putting on my philosophical and analytical hat, though, I possibly disagree. What is “failure”? What is “success”? If failure is indeed a better teacher then maybe it’s better to use a new term for it. For us, and specially for students, is the term “failure” just too loaded and negative to be useful in this quote or in our teaching growth mindset?
I learned from the point in several posts and responses of reframing or replacing the word “failure”. English is not my first language, but it has a feeling of finality. You either fail or succeed. I like people using setbacks instead of failure as a word and as in the video insinuates to use of “yet” as a way to utilize language to promote/develop a mindset of growth.
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I appreciate you comment, Casandra, especially regarding agreeing and disagreeing. Absolutes tend to be intimidating and learning in an intimidating atmosphere is a difficult thing. Sometimes we need time to consider and reflect and then take action. Starting from a negative can be a tough place to grow from. I can see it working for some, but for others it can be disconcerting and it could reduce enthusiasm that is often key to learning and success. I think if we can appreciate and include positives as well as the negative, we can all learn more freely.
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I agree that the term ‘failure’ is loaded but I also think it accurately describes the feeling that many students feel when learning something new or different. In this sense, it’s important to keep the word failure because one does learn more from failures and set backs than from success, even if the success involved learning.
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I like your suggestion to redefine what failure is, and perhaps we should consider using a different term altogether, as ‘failure’ carries stigmatized negative connotations.
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I find the quote to be basically right, especially if we define failure as simply a challenge not (yet) overcome. The thought is that in order to succeed or overcome a worthwhile obstacle, you will probably have to fail at it first!
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Danesh, your take on redefining failure as an “unchallenged obstacle” adds a dynamic twist to the conversation. It’s like saying every misstep is just an unfinished sentence in our success story.
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Danesh,
This is a nice way of framing a failure. I may face a challenge or barrier, not overcome it, try again a different way, until I do finally overcome it. The initial “failure” is merely an invitation to redirect my focus to something that will be more productive and help me overcome that challenge or barrier.
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I love the conversation on this thread so far! I think the quote is partially true: certainly we learn from failure/setbacks, but a key part of that learning process is getting feedback on what went wrong and applying appropriate strategies to move forward. I think of my college algebra students here: they could fail and fail again, but without reflecting on feedback, getting connected with tutoring and other resources, and receiving coaching as they try to apply the concepts again, they probably will not learn from their “failures”. So maybe failure is a greater teacher than success if we have the right coaches, community and support structure around us to promote learning.
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Seth, you bring home the importance of the support system in learning from these setbacks. It’s one thing to fall, but another to have the right tools and encouragement to get back up. Your analogy with college algebra students not only highlights the role of feedback but also the critical need for a nurturing environment that turns setbacks into comebacks.
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I absolutely agree it is important for someone who experiences failure to have the opportunity to reflect about what worked and what did not work. Students should be encouraged to reflect on how taking better advantage of the resources available to support them could have resulted in success, rather than being hard on themselves for not being “smart enough” or not “working hard enough.”
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Seth,
Your emphasis on feedback is key to failure being a productive learning experience. I am a big fan of trying and not succeeding, but I want either to be able to find a strategy that will work, or to have someone who can offer me the feedback or alternative strategies. I think this is why I never cared for video games. I was never any good, but I also didn’t have people to teach me how to do it better (despite the pedagogy of endless trial that video games employ–keep going and going until you succeed–I was never any good at figuring out what I was doing wrong).
The key for classroom instruction, however, still involves students looking at and trying to apply the feedback. I am always surprised at how few even read it.
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What do you all think about integrating this discussion into our teaching practices? Could we perhaps start by sharing personal stories of overcoming setbacks with our students to model this growth mindset?
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They “borrowed” this quote from me (I think- I’ve definitely used it in posts for years), so I’m already using it in class. 😉 That being said, I certainly admit to not getting straight As in chemistry as an undergrad, beginning with the first day of class. I also am incessantly saying things like “this is how the subject was presented to me, and THIS is how I’m presenting it to you, since I didn’t really get it when I was taught it the first time.” I like the reframing of “failure” as an unmet challenge. I also have a quote from Chris Hardwich (admittedly not the best source) which says, in effect, that people who have never been challenged are either boring, or are being dishonest.
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I like to share with my students that when I first took an intro. to philosophy course I had a hard time understanding how to do a philosophy paper – it was so different than an English paper! But the teacher had made sure to include a short book (resource) on precisely this challenge and it became a very useful guide… along with her teaching… and ended up doing well in the final paper. More importantly, perhaps, the process taught me that it’s OK to feel a bit lost when approaching a new academic discipline. 🙂
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Casandra, thanks for this reminder. It’s been many years since I was in school so I find it a bit tough to remember when I had a hard time with different types of reading and assignments. This module serves as a good reminder to search my memory and/or to do some “creative” remembering about different types of school related tasks I struggled with.
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As an Academic Advisor, I advise students who’ve failed courses; some are in danger of flunking out and others have already been dismissed. In our discussions and in advising them on framing their appeals for readmission, I tell them that they should tell only enough of their story so that the appeals committee knows that they (the students) have identified the factors that derailed their progress toward success. The primary emphasis ALWAYS is on what is going to be different when they return. While I sometimes may mention some part of my personal experiences (including challenges/shortcomings/failures) as part of establishing empathy/letting the students know that they are being heard, I never spend more than a few moments on my own experiences. The sessions are about them, not me.
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Hi Denise,
Yes! The focus on what will be different is so key–how can you move forward in the learning process using what you learned before (even if what you learned is how to do it differently).
Thanks for this perspective as an Academic Advisor and thinking about helping students come back to their education after a stop out.
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Dear Denise,
I am a teacher educator and also an advisor of students. It was delightful to read your post.
Your post is so insightful. I think it is great advice for students in advisement and I am going to use this when I advise students. “Always, what is going to be different when they return”. I love this quote because see many graduate students spend time on their story about why they fell through the cracks, on blame of a professor, advisor (me) or on their anxiety.
I also appreciate the comment on spending time only sharing a part of my story to build empathy and that the sessions are about me. I’ve also learned that when advising students about non-volatile or personal ideas (let’s say about teaching practice) I usually say, other teachers in schools like yours do……. or best practices are……… or why don’t you ask your principal to pay for PD. I try to focus on growth mindset rather than just allow them to talk about overwhelm or anxiety. Now sometimes they will cry and I’ll just give them the space. I think that’s a little different.
But I do think goal-oriented advisement works when they find a solution by thinking out what can be different.
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Hi Denise,
I completely agree with you! While my role doesn’t involve direct advisement, I often lend a listening ear to students facing various challenges and failures. I naturally tend to see the glass as half full when talking to them, but I find it more difficult to extend the same grace to myself when dealing with my own failures.
I think it’s wonderful that you encourage students to share their stories. It helps them understand that they are not defined by their failures and that these setbacks don’t have to overshadow their entire academic journey. We are all human, and making mistakes is part of the learning process. With the right support, we can all grow and learn from our experiences. This is the essence of community—providing that extra support when it’s needed most.
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I like your suggestion that we share part of our own stories with students. I make it a point to emphasize that the amount of time I have taken after attempting things that didn’t turn out as I expected (academic and otherwise) has varied and I am quick to admit I don’t know something or if I made a mistake. I try to remind others that what we “see” when we look at other’s lives is only a highlight, that they only need to reflect on how they themselves more than likely take 5-6 pictures to only post 1, if at all–life is like that a lot.
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I also use the quote “Problems are just opportunities that haven’t presented themselves.” I am not sure who said it, but I think that starting without the word “failure” can be better for many people’s skepticism with this work.
I also like “Working hard is important, but there is something that matters even more: Believing in yourself.” That’s from Harry Potter. I find that confidence play a HUGE role in mindset work. That also goes with “Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” Our students need to know they are not to suffer in silence but should reach out for strategies and resources if they feel stuck.-
I prefer your version of this to the original. Failures may or may not be a greater teacher than success, but when students are presented with a way to reframe what they are doing, rather than reframe what they know to have happened – that is they can think of a problem as an opportunity rather than a failure as a success – they can approach challenges with more grit.
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Failure can be quite instructive, but it’s not necessarily a “greater” teacher than success. There are some lessons that can be learned only through failure, but there are many others that can be learned only through success. (That’s the problem with blanket statements; their lack of nuance makes them inappropriate sources of wisdom.) As several others have pointed out, failure is likelier to be an effective learning tool when the failure is properly framed as an opportunity for learning and help (if needed) is offered in identifying the steps needed to avoid a repetition of the failure. This is part of the reason why what we do is important. Most of us do not have the panache of a Thomas Edison, who framed his lack of success in reaching a goal as: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
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Agree that it’s a blanket statement and over-simplification!
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Hi Denise,
I love your focus on framing what the failure means and how we learn from it. You’re right that failure as failure, per se, does not teach us anything. But failure understood in the pursuit of a goal is more helpful. I love the Thomas Edison edit to this quote activity!
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This discussion underscores the importance of how we frame challenges and the language we use to describe them. Emphasizing learning and growth over simple success or failure can create a more inclusive and supportive educational environment that encourages all students to persist and succeed.
Thanks for sharing your insights and strategies!
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I believe that there are three forms of failure that I see in myself and my teacher candidates. The first is no trying hard enough or at all. The second is trying hard and not making the cut per someone else’s standards. The third is trying hard at first and then giving up.
I will provide a few examples of how these different forms of failure might be teachable moments or in some cases teachable turn-arounds are when a lightbulb goes off that tells me or another individual to channel these experiences into something positive. It’s been a while since I read Lesie Odum’s book, Failing Up, How to Take Risks, Aim Higher and Never Stop Learning, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s also based on how a teacher inspired him, so it appeals to me in particular because I am an educator at heart and in my chosen branch of higher education.
One the quotes from Odum reflects a similar take on failure “The path to moments of greatness in your life will be paved, in part, with your spectacular failures.”
― Leslie Odom Jr., Failing Up: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop LearningI heard Leslie Odum speak at an ISTE conference which is centered on teaching of technology. The essence of his speech was about staying the course and taking risks, but also on being open to the teachers in your life when they appear.
Half the battle as a teacher of teachers (I’m a professor in a teacher prep program) is getting the teacher candidates to have a growth mindset and to take risks on assignments. I am excited to see an online course on growth mindset because it is something that I teach in class, in my PD’s and when I present.
Summarily, I believe that in order to succeed, you have to be able to take risks. Sometimes risks do not pan out the way that I planned them. This is not to mean that one shouldn’t take different types of risks (calculated risks versus jumping in head first), but in learning there are times when I am more of a calculated risk taker than not. I believe that true learning comes from being open and being vulnerable. That too comes with the risk of failure. All I can do is module for students and share readings to help guide them toward healthy risk-taking in exploration of content and in the field.
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I find teacher training fascinating since so many of us in higher ed experienced exactly none before becoming faculty members (although these professional development series count now!). Thanks for the Odom quote- I hadn’t seen that one. It made me think about the fact that, especially for our varied student population, the definitions of “spectacular failure” and “moments of greatness” and “taking risks” must also vary very widely. For some folks, just getting to campus might be a moment of greatness. Similarly, an offhand remark made by a faculty member on a student’s work could be interpreted as a spectacular failure. Finally, what’s risky- I’m thinking about investing in a textbook or taking an extra class- can change so much from student to student. It’s a real challenge to keep this all in mind!
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The sum total of my pedagogical training in graduate school was 2 minutes on orientation day, where one speaker said, “procrastinate your teaching, so it doesn’t take up too much time.” I’m very glad to see that the TLC at the Graduate Center, and professional development across CUNY, has advanced substantially since 2005 ;o)
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Thank you, @elizabethklein1, for breaking it down into different forms, sharing about the book, and bringing risks into the discussion!
This and @professork ‘s reply got me thinking about how much our past experiences might shape our approaches to risk-taking.
I start the semester with an activity where I ask students about past positive and negative educational experiences, but I hadn’t thought of asking them about risk-taking and situations where they took a risk that worked out. (By the way, this also got me thinking about my favorite teacher in high school… she was also the hardest teacher I had and when that semester started I thought it was my worst class! Things turned around!)
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I find thinking about these three different styles of failure very useful. I think many of our students may not realize how often they’re giving up without trying much. I think it will be useful to discuss this in class. I also believe much of how we learn and succeed has to do with what we learn about ourselves; certain systems work for one person but not another. We learn what we enjoy, and how to deal with the things we don’t.
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As long as the failure isn’t the end of the road!
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Yes! Failure can be paralyzing at times, especially when struggling with perfectionism. Perfectionism and growth mindset might be a good pair of incompetencies/competencies to work at balancing at the same time…
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I tell my students (and myself) that “failing with style” is being ready to analyze my failure, learn from it, and improve my next attempt.
However, as a STEM researcher, I identify much more with the provided quote “Failure is a better teacher than success”. It is self-explanatory, and it is how I experience experiment failures in the lab. When an experiment does not work I learn more about the method, I think intensely about possible reasons for its failure, and I use this knowledge to set up new controls to troubleshoot why the experiment did not work. This forces you to learn more deeply about the process you are studying, and the pros and cons of the methods you are using in your studies. When the experiment works on the first try I do not learn much about the method and do not focus on whether there are other parameters I should consider.
In my course, I often do problems with the students on the board. I allow myself to make mistakes or even give the students problems answers with mistakes for them to fix. I want the students to see that it is ok to make mistakes, that I make mistakes, and that together we learn to understand genetic problems more deeply. I ask the students to solve in groups very difficult genetic problems. Much more difficult than they need to know for the exam. After they give the problem a good try as a team, we work it out together as a class. We go through the different solutions teams came up with and often combine approaches from different teams to solve the problem. After the problem is solved I ask the students to try to find the answer taking a different approach. The students are told that they are here to learn and that only in the assessments they need to perform but that to perform better they need to work out problems that are not cookie cutter problems. I never thought these activities and pedagogic approaches may be helping them develop a growth mindset. In the future, I will connect these activities and approaches directly to a growth mindset for the students. I think that students being cognisant of this connection will allow them to develop a growth mindset outside the course.
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I like the idea of problem sets of higher difficulty for students. This may be beneficial in the recitation portion of my own class because I find that the students may adopt a more passive approach and place more emphasis on the recitation instructor to guide them through. I would actually be interested to see how many students enter college with a fixed versus growth mindset and how that impacts their approach to classes that do have higher withdraw rates.
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I love the framing of failing with style!!! It reminds me of the meme, “I’m not a hot mess, I’m a spicy disaster.” The way we see ourselves is important- I try to stress with my students (and myself), we might fail, but that does not mean we are failures!
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I think it’s a great idea to provide challenging problems with multiple steps, followed by a discussion on different approaches to solving a problem. This way, they can see wrong answers as learning opportunities rather than mistakes. That is directly relevant to the genetics problems you are teaching, but also to so many other aspects of the biological sciences.
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Just joining this. Hi all! I’m Sarah and I teach public health and personal health at Brooklyn College. I’m glad to be here and I’m looking forward to incorporating what I learn into my Fall classes.
It seems like students are so full of anxiety in general and of course terrified of failure, especially if the failure is public. So much so that some of them don’t try, as alluded to in one of the previous posts. As a fairly new instructor, and since learning about the growth mindset, I take every opportunity to point out to my students my own areas of growth (i.e. my failures). I agree with what others have said about the need for nuance in this statement. Failure can lead to someone dropping out of school, losing their scholarship, etc. and sometimes there is a lesson learned that leads to growth. But, sometimes the lesson might be that the person doesn’t deserve to or is not smart enough to succeed, which of course is not better than success. It seems like it partially depends on the potential consequences of the failure.
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I agree. I’ve often heard/read the statement that “some students need to fail to learn” and I am still not 100% sure if that is true and/or helpful. I teach at BMCC and for my students, like yours, the stakes can be very high when it comes to failing a class or multiple classes. I assign very few failing grades but I inevitably do land up giving out some F grades. I really worry about the effect a failing grade has on students.
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Hi Everyone, My Name is Rachel and I am the Program Specialist for Student Engagement for the ASAP Program at QCC. While I am not in a direct teaching role I believe I will gain valuable insights from these modules that I can apply to my everyday work with students.
Regarding the quote “Failure is a greater teacher than success”, I completely agree. Failure offers invaluable lessons that success often doesn’t. When we fail, we must analyze our mistakes, understand our weaknesses, and develop resilience. These experiences help us grow and improve, ultimately leading to greater success in the long run. Success, on the other hand, can sometimes lead to complacency. Embracing failure as a learning opportunity is crucial for personal and professional development.
When it comes to failure for students I find that failure brings a lot of shame, embarrassment, and negative emotions. It can be very hard to see failure as a positive opportunity when there is a lot on the line for students. I think approaching students who are experiencing some sort of failure from a growth mindset perspective can help students face failure head-on and not feel like it is the end of the world. Examples of how this can show up is when talking to students about courses they may need to retake, major changes, and even future career goals.
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I aso appreciate this empathic response, Rachel. While failure is a great teacher in the abstract, the emotional dimension can really be an obstacle. Growth mindset is hard won and the role of teachers, advisors and coaches can be really influential in helping a student navigate failure to ensure that lessons can be learned and that failure does not undermine their progress. So glad CUNY ASAP students have you on their team!
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I can see the benefit of this statement as it relates to Biology especially within the laboratory setting. In our close ended labs, students are often getting successful outcomes because of protocol design and lab instructor guidance. They see the solution and are happy that their data matches the expected outcome. However, student responses largely vary when they are tasked with assessments like lab reports in which they have data they need to analyze that doesn’t reflect expected outcomes. I noticed that students who did not get through their protocols successfully or had to revise/redo certain parts to reach the correct data performed better on these lab reports because their “failures” within the lab allowed them to think critically about the importance of their reagents and how they impact results. Students who got it correct the first time had a harder time finding reasonable conclusions for why an experiment may not have worked. But I do agree with earlier posts that the word failure is a hard one to use in a student environment and that different language would help make students more open to accepting this as something that they can benefit from.
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I agree with the quote. In life, you have many successes, big and small. Some are memorable, others remain in your mind for a short period of time. Failures you remember for a lifetime. Each time motivation is needed, people will be able to go back to a time they failed and how they overcame the failure and what was learned, and apply that to future situations.
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Agree. Failure is hard because it is painful. And the only thing that makes it easier to handle is to continue to experiment and fail.
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Agreed, though failure is the kind of teacher you often appreciate in retrospect rather than in the moment!
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Lee Schere (he/him) wrote:Agreed, though failure is the kind of teacher you often appreciate in retrospect rather than in the moment!
Yes, timing might be out of our hands in many cases. Hopefully not all!
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Nobody wakes up after a perfect day and says “i learned something”
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Completely agree! Learning typically requires lots of trial and errors, and lots of persistence.
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Yes!!! Well said and right on point, one does not become an expert in something just by dreaming about it. Learning and growth come from challenging experiences—failure and commitment go hand in hand.
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I think both success and failures are helpful to one’s personal growth.
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Good point. Success is motivating. And failure can be a good learning experience.
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Failure can be a greater teacher than success if the individual has the implicit or explicit skills to do this. The learning may happen in the moment or years later. Reflection and ability/freedom to act, I imagine are key.
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Hi John — I agree with you that we must have the ability and room to reflect and act to learn from failure. Additionally, having a mentor or guidance is key to learning from “failure”.
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I think failure is equally important to success. If you’ve been discouraged and tried something many times without success, you may feel like giving up; one tiny success can make a big difference in whether you continue or quit. Failure is of course also very useful for reflecting and learning, but the validation of success if you’ve only had failures can be motivating.
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Completely agree with this quote. I often think about the way that making mistakes is how we learn and grow. I often talk to students about practicing making mistakes, and getting comfortable with making mistakes. I use words like “mistake” rather “failure,” because I think failure has a much more dramatic and negative connotation.
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I agree.I can also draw upon my own personal experience from through my life. Failure can cause you to rethink how you approached a task and try a different approach.
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I think we all find that resilience in failing and then trying again. Furthermore, there’s so much more growth.
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I agree with this generally, but, in the heat of the moment I can’t help but feel the failure before I am able to look at it objectively much later. The learning sometimes happens much later when it is not as obviously useful.
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When the experience is negative we tend to spend more time analyzing the situation, deconstructing it and identifying areas for improvement. It serves as a great learning/growth experience as long as we are able to reframe our mindset and see it that way.
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I love this quote! It reminds me of my favorite Beckett quote, “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” A few years ago, I wrote it on a snake in an interactive art exhibit in Tokyo, released the snake into the exhibit, and watched it immediately get eaten. I think it’s very powerful to fail and learn from it (my first solo-authored article was a scholarship of teaching and learning article about a major failure ;o)
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I love the Beckett quote too, the opening lines of Worstword Ho — with a grain of salt. “Try again. Fail again. Fail better” sounds great but it also carries with the constant existential crisis of so much of Beckett. Reminds me of Sisyphus, rolling the boulder up the hill, only to see it roll back down, for all eternity. Most of us are more reward centered, I think, and need to get that rock to the summit and celebrate once in a while. Even if there is a bigger hill and a bigger rock around the corner.
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I have learned so much in my life by failing whether it is a kinesthetic skill or a piece of knowledge. A jump off on that idea is that there are times when I have not failed but the repetition or continuing to use something once I’ve been successful has also been an important aspect of my learning. For instance, in learning a language I was most successful when using it over and over and both being corrected or being successful and using the same path again to continue to be successful. I have found that if I make a mistake early in learning something I have to keep repeating the correct answer to rewrite my brain’s desire to direct me to what my first choice was.
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I completely understand where you are coming from. I find that learning can be early or late and it is with this where I need to work on my reflection time and how I soak up information to improve myself.
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Hi Cynthia & Gordon! On my better days, I remember that learning, like Gandalf the Wizard, is never late. Nor is it early. It arrives precisely when it is meant to.
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Failure can be painful to endure despite knowing the lesson you’ve learned from it. And instead, we only want to the feel the relief and happiness that comes from success. Especially when your efforts have built up to a grand event.
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I appreciate the quote as I teach this as well. As we move forward in our day to day, we tend to focus on the failing part. But it is with the lesson learned where success if found. Failure helps us recognize our limitations and helps us find where we can improve ourselves.
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I like how you frame what could be a negative into a positive as learning what we are and are not capable of and as always ending with a success.
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I agree that failure is a greater teacher than success, but of course it depends on how we deal with that failure. Are we afraid of failure, or are we used to dealing with failure in a thoughtful and creative way. Do we practice dealing with failure in a way that is not intimidating and drives us to question our authority over a topic.
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I tell my students, my children, my colleagues, friends there is no failure only more data and information in the process of becoming.
In baseball if you hit .300 you are considered a Hall of Famer, essentially that is a 70% non-success rate. The master has failed more times than the beginner has conceived of possible attempts. In essence we all have our own timeline, and it is in this process that we find ourselves and place in the world which is the goal of education.-
I agree. As Nelson Mandela once said, “I never lose. I either win or I learn.” Failure is relative and one data point. Having multiple and diverse data points help you learn more and do more.
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hi I am William.
We are learning about ourselves and from others in the process.Failures are part of our personal lab. We learn how to identify different angles to complete a task and evolve keeping us humble. It is an ongoing process, not the end of the journey.
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I agree that failure can certainly be an impetus for self examination/reflection on what might have contributed to that failure. However, it is a balance between failure causing discouragement and inhibiting future efforts vs failure resulting in effective self examination.
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Once I get past my feelings of defensiveness and embarrassment, failing usually forces me to push myself in new places and in that way learn more about something as well as more about myself
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I can relate to this feeling as I am sure many others can as well. This reminds me of the quote, “if at first, you don’t succeed try, try again”.
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I agree that failure often has more benefits than success (depending on the situation and what the stakes are). Failing is humbling, but it can be a great release of stress. In other words, aiming for success or perfection is incredibly stressful, but if or once you fail, the pressure is off and you can complete the work/challenge with more focus or ease.
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Interesting concept. Not sure if I ever saw it that way, but it makes sense. I guess it depends on what you are failing or have failed at. Sometimes failing brings on more stress, but it is an opportunity to pivot and develop a skill or simply become a better person.
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When I first completed the module I was cautious to monitor my responses. This is because failure isn’t really that acceptable in educational settings, especially for professionals. Failure equals shame in some circles. For students in grad school, there is only one grade acceptable in my classes, which is A+. I am fine with someone’s goal to be an A+, and I understand this fully, but process is so important.
In process there isn’t perfection. Perfection equals paralysis (from AA – 12 step groups). I also feel that we are programmed for perfection in our society. In higher ed, it’s a hard sell to students, but I do go through process in my content which is around teaching of literacy. Students do free writing in class. I encourage creativity, experimentation and the only failure is failure to respond or if the student is AWOL.
For myself, it is important model process for students and show a vulnerable side to students. I am careful about how much vulnerability because the course is about them. I measure it and provide just enough for students and that is how to let them see the human side. Part of this is building trust and community, which is another topic for another post.
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Just like when you read your student evaluations and the one negative comment sticks with you more than the positive comments, so too is the case with failure. Failures stick with you longer and they give you drive to modify your actions going forward. So we remember what didn’t work and we modify our behavior to get different results the next time.
When we are successful, we run the risk of becoming stagnant. If something is good enough, why push ourselves to get better? I mean, in theory sure, that should be our goal, but in practice that is not always the case. If you are successful, there is less of a drive to grow because growing might mean failure and of course we don’t want to fail.
One of the things I want students to recognize is that we all fail at things sometimes and that’s okay. Failure also gives us a way to empathize with others who might struggle along the way as well.
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Hi Rebecca,
I like the idea of sharing with students that we also fail. The important thing is to overcome it and do our best next time again and again.
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We learn from failure. It shouldn’t be a deterrent, on the contrary. You fall, you get up.
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To be honest, it’s tough to think of a profound response on the fly like this. I’m here to hear what this workshop is all about and see what I can learn.
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I agree with this quote because failure allows you to work through your mistakes and build your work ethic. If everything went our way, we would not would not have increased skills or growth.
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I agree with the idea of the quotation, “Failure is a greater teacher than success” but not necessarily with the word “failure.” However, I would prefer to rephrase the quote as “Mistakes are greater teachers than successes.” When we make mistakes or do not do something well the first time, we pay more attention to what we did and how we can make improvements. We can then learn how to do better and will do better. Mistakes are a form of feedback. I don not like the term “failure” because of the sense of finality to it.
I encourage my students to not fear making mistakes. I stress that mistakes show us what we can learn better and where we need to place our attention.
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I agree with you, Angela, about encouraging students not to fear making mistakes. I repeat it in my classes, and they understand it
as a way of learning.
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I completely agree with this quote. I say this all the time to my students “It is in the times of greatest discomfort that the greatest learning occurs.
If you are comfortable, then you have likely already learned or even mastered a particular skill. It is nice to be successful and get that positive feedback, however, one must push themselves and recognize that failure is a stepping stone to success.
Therefore, I encourage students to seek out opportunities that are outside of their comfort zone, accepting that it is acceptable to fail before they can truly learn and be successful. -
Failure can be a harsh way by which to learn. However, it helps to narrow the path towards success. Failure, forces you to identify what went wrong and how to improve.
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I agree with you completely. Failure is just a path for learning through self-assessment and also provides another approach to success.
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Failure is a greater teacher than success. Failure teaches us where we can improve. Success itself does not teach us how we can improve. Learning to improve is like climbing a ladder that takes us to higher heights. And for that reason failure is a greater teacher.
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“Failure is a greater teacher than success.”
— Clarissa Pinkola Estés
💬 Discussion:
Respond to this quote: Comment, reflect, agree/disagree, share a similar or contradictory quote, or provide an example to support or reject this quote. You may use text, video, audio, etc.
This quote is an excellent reminder of reframing failure. Rather than seeing it as the end of something, it’s a reminder that failure can be seen as the beginning of something else. I like to remind my students this throughout the semester if they’re feeling discouraged about a failure on their exam or assignment. I also like to add that something failure means not yet, rather than a no.
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I love your discussion point about “reframing”, this also made me think about the fact that everyone would/could define failure differently. (As well as success, for that matter.) And many times, as educators/mentors/advisors–we have to learn how students see a failure or success from their perspective. Thanks for that thought! 💭
Best, Lianna
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Yes, failure can come at the beginning of something, as a way to notify us that we need to rethink, may be ask for assistance from those who’ve done the same.
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Failure is more of a setback, provides the opportunity for perseverance and persistence
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The quote is powerful as when things go wrong the experience does leave one questioning how could this have been done better or in a different way? We tend to remember things going wrong rather than going right. While I think it is best to look at the positives, it is good to look at when things go wrong to instruct and inform better future experiences.
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In working with children with multiple disabilities for many years, I have experienced the ability to grow and learn in a small way each day. Most importantly, the power of being open to ideas of change and opportunities despite the individual skills. The potential is very individualized but the growth in any way is possible.
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I agree. I believe failure, aka experiencing challenges, teaches humility. This quote reinforces the fact problems are often solved through trial and error.
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The quote is great if the person wants to learn from their failure and has a growth mindset. Some of our students do not, which is when they can benefit from our encouragement and motivation.
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I agree Ryan, and the trick is to get to know what the students may be “coming into the classroom with” (and then how we should best support/work with them)… would you also agree that it’s a very individualized experience?
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Had to JOIN GROUP first–that could have been made clear earlier. So that was a frustrating ice breaker for me.
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I think that failure provide you an opportunity to review your considerations regarding how you are learning and how you can be successful in your journey of higher education.
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I agree with the quote–but to an extent. It also depends upon what that individual’s learning mind-set is leading up to the failure, and what support systems and role models that may have around them/influencing and supporting them. Sometimes success is a great “motivator” to learn from the failures we face. It’s a balance (in my perception).
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I agree with the statement. There are so many times in my life when I was unsuccessful and those lessons I learned have allowed me to grow. On the flip side of the statement, the best student is one who learns from failure, which I constantly ask my students, ” what can you do differently”.
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The quote makes me think of another, maybe not yet popular phrase that “practice makes progress” (not perfect), which is really the goal of higher education. The concept of failure is a big part of this mantra, that small steps contribute to the whole, whether they are positive or negative lessons.
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The quote inspires me because it suggests that success might lead to complacency, as the achiever may lose motivation. On the other hand, encountering failure offers an opportunity for self-reflection, learning, and developing new strategies. Moreover, perseverance is crucial in the face of failure. It can provide individuals with valuable knowledge that they can use to motivate others and demonstrate the lessons learned from setbacks, making others feel determined and resilient.
Here’s a similar quote:
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill : -
From personal experience, a setback creates a greater desire to achieve more. I wouldn’t call it a failure; it’s just a redirection of the focus to achieve the goal.
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I like these ideas of redirection and focus; this is a very optimistic way to think, and I’ll be encouraging students to think this way also.
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Thanks, Marta Kowalczyk, I like the word, “Redirection,” instead of failure. I’m always thinking about how to change my perspectives. Finding a new word or way of looking at life helps me to find different responses to the same issues. I’ll use that word to replace failures in my life.
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The quote touches on the understanding that failure can teach you more than your success might. If you are successful, and you expect to be successful, then you are convinced that your approach works and there is no need to reflect deeply upon it. However, if you are not successful and you expect to be successful, then you are not convinced that your approach works and as such you find it necessary to figure out what worked and what didn’t work and how you can be successful going forward. Thus, you learn more, reflect more, make changes, grow, and try again. Now, if we always reflect on what works or doesn’t work regardless of success or failure, we will always learn something new and grow whether we succeed or not. Because success and failure are relative and personal, what is considered a success to one may be considered a failure to another and vice versa.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by
Robin Naughton.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by Robin Naughton.
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I came across this resource through my Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) Digital Humanities reading group, and remembered this forum! So interesting to find “failure” as a keyword:
https://digitalpedagogy.hcommons.org/keyword/FailureThis article is specially relevant:
https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/08/21/essay-importance-teaching-failure -
“Failure is a greater teacher than success.”
I don’t know… Everyone seems to think that it is true. It is the kind of thing we want to be true, because we fail so often and we want our failures to be positive. This sounds like a good way to start an inspirational pep-talk. But is it true?
When one fails, they may or may not learn something from the failure. They only know that what they did, didn’t work. They don’t necessarily learn why. When one succeeds, they learn that what they did, worked. One may or may not learn why, but at least they know how to do something. What am I missing?
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I absolutely agree with this. As a matter of fact, I tell students that successful students fail more than other people because they knock on more doors. I had a student who had failed to get into a fellowship and and internship that he had applied to. He was quite depressed, and when he heard that success involves failure, he said he felt much better. Last I heard of this student, he was on a Fulbright.
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I agree that “failure” is a greater teacher than success because one can learn many more ways how not to do something than by getting it right the first time, but this can only be true if the mental foundations have been set to be self-reflective in nature and concepts like success/failures have been redefined for yourself. Not everyone else’s version of success will leave you happy.
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I agree that if you fail, you will be closer to success.
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I completely agree with the quote, but only if one takes the time to reflect.
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I agree that the time element is so important, Faiza-and the tools, space, even community support to do this too.
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I agree to some extent; however, I also believe that it is a mistake to “set students up” for failure, which I worry this mindset does. It has been my experience that students will live up (or down) to the expectations that an instructor sets for them.
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Also – I think that it is helpful to have some successes- As a student I’ve experienced many failures, but have also needed to see what a successful experience looks like.
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This quote gives a lot to reflect on!
Failure can, at times be a greater teacher but it can also be very exhausting along the way! -
I’m in the middle because we can learn from both – However, when we fail, we are able to reflect on the why, more so than the what. I learn more from my failures than my successes because that’s how I’m able to connect with my students. I share my process with them – what works and what doesn’t – so they can see that I am human. One of my favorite quote is “We cannot find peace by avoiding life,” by Virginia Woolf. I like that because it reminds me that I have to get into the nitty gritty of life to feel human and to connect. My connection helps me be human. In my failures, I can learn about life and be able to connect with others who might be experiencing the same.
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I agree with the quote and this is especially what is stressed with Growth Mindset – it is through failure that we can grow and ultimately succeed.
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Yes, I’d say there’s a lot of truth to that. Failure often provides more immediate and valuable feedback than success. When we fail, we’re forced to confront what went wrong and how we can improve, which can lead to significant growth and learning. Success can be great for motivation and confidence, but it doesn’t always offer the same level of insight or opportunity for self-reflection.
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This is a thought-provoking quote; it makes me wonder whether we tend to ruminate on failure more than success. (And by ruminate, I mean dwell on, overthink, feel like, well, a failure about!) Ruminating on success is important too, but I think it’s easy, to generalize, to overlook what’s going well and working well.
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I certainly remember my failures better! I wonder if this is an evolutionary tactic early humans needed, back when failure could be lethal…
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I completely agree. We learn from our mistakes. In addition, errors and mistakes should always be considered as a part of growth.
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I agree with the quote, but I’ve found that unless I do the work of closely examining how and why I’ve failed: treating everything like a science experiment where every detail needs to be notated, I don’t always learn as much. The act of reflection seems to be key.
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“Failure is a greater teacher than success.”
While I agree with the quote in theory, I think in practice it is actually a difficult adage to live by. I am speaking from the position of both a professor and a parent of teenagers. At work, I think a lot of students probably deserve to fail and learn from their mistakes, but practically I do not enjoy failing students and often feel like it can derail their academic careers/success. I have failed students who go on to drop out of college. In high school too, I would love my kids to learn from their failures, but the ramifications of having poor grades are also real. So I do think that failing can be very instructive in some contexts.
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I tend to be very cautious of binaries such as success/failure. This tends to be more centered on how I self-critically assess my participation in a learning/collaborative process. There are far too many instances of successful failures in education that should give us all pause.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by
Dermot G. Foley.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Dermot G. Foley.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Dermot G. Foley.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Dermot G. Foley.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by
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We habituate to repeated successes! We cease to improve as thinkers/practitioners when we don’t push ourselves into unfamiliar territories, fail, discover, and try again.
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A master distiller who revolutionized the craft spirits world used to say, “I’ve failed more times than you’ve tried.” To me, it resonates with the above quote, “Failure is a greater teacher than success.” It’s important to try and learn from your mistakes. Although the process can be frustrating and painful, struggling and growing are part of life.
When teaching, I remind people that we all start from the beginning. It’s impossible to know everything.
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I wouldn’t necessarily say that failure is a greater teacher, but it certainly provides valuable lessons. It helps one gain deeper insight into themselves and the strategies they used to pursue a particular goal. For instance, failing to reach a goal might indicate that the approach was flawed or that the goal itself may not have been the best fit for that person.”
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I never thought of failure as a teacher, more of an obstacle that you overcome. I agree that failing to reach a goal may be an indication of something else in relations to the method taken or the goal itself.
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The idea that “failure is a greater teacher than success” resonates with me. While failing can be challenging, it often offers lessons and insights that success alone might not provide. When I fail, I usually reflect, adapt, and grow in ways I might not have if everything were going smoothly. For example, in my life, I’ve found that some of my biggest lessons came from moments when things didn’t go as planned, especially during my research projects. Through those unpredictable research experiences, I often gain an understanding and develop the resilience that guides me through future challenges in my research. So, while failure is never fun, it can be an influential teacher if I’m openminded to its lessons.
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The great tennis player Roger Federer gave us another way of saying this, in his 2024 commencement address at Dartmouth, telling the audience that while he had won 80% of singles matches played during his career, he has won only 54% of the points in those matches. In other words, he won [matches] a great deal of the time by winning [points] only a bit over half the time. Two steps forward, one step back, is still making progress, no?
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The geek in me loves Federer’s stats! Win 80% of matches by winning 54% of the points….
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I agree with the quote as in life we have to two steps forward and for steps backward before reaching our destination.
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Failure is not final we just found another way how not to succeed.
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The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education. –Martin Luther King, Jr.
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we often learn more from our failures than our successes.
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In baseball, a batting average of 0.333 (a hit 1/3 of the time) is considered great!
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“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” —Chris Bradford is another complementary quote for this idea and expands on the idea that we learn more from “failing” than from success.
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I think this a great quote! I would also add that with the discomfort from failure comes the joy of success.
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We tend to learn more from our mistakes. Sometimes failing pushes us to try harder the next time around.
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I agree. In many cases failure leads to try harder and achieve success. We need to help our students believe in themselves and believe that they can succeed.
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Sometimes I feel it is just an excuse we give to us. But sometimes does make we feel better.
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I agree with this quote in general, although an important part of being able to learn from your failures is to know WHY you failed so that you can make an adjustment to your approach when you try again. In teaching we don’t always help students with that part.
In a corollary, forgetting is a part of learning. Also knowing what we forgot helps us to know what to learn again so we can remember. Forgetting to Remember — The Learning Scientists
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Quote is very true, without failure, what is there to learn? I believe failure is necessary to grow in all aspects of your life.
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I remembered learning how to ride a bicycle. Fell a number of times, with bruises and dust all over me… By the end of the hot summer week I learned to ride. I guess I could’ve done the learning on some gaming/video platform, but would’ve I been able to ride once out on the street? And, the bonus was learning how to get up and get back on track.
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I like the idea of learning from our prior experiences, but personally would switch up the word “failure” as it has such a negative connotation. I absolutely understand the idea of wanting to flip the notion of “failure” on its head, but I would simply use a different term because “failure” is such an emotionally charged term, especially for a lot of our students
I also think the process of experience followed up with reflection, as our buddy John Dewey highlighted, is a key component in turning an experience into a Learning experience that can inform future action
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Failure is absolutely the best teacher. I have always learned more actively in the classroom when I had to reflect at the end of the class about what worked for my students, and how different students responded. When I started teaching early on, failure was an important self-teacher as to what students responded to. Outside of the classroom, whenever I failed, it forced me to reassess my life and what I actually wanted to be or change about myself. Some of the most experienced and intelligent people suffered many “failures” in their lives (ie Leonardo Da Vinci, who had many unfinished projects or paintings), but it is a testament to their persistence.
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I like to encourage students to take risks and not worry about not being perfect or making a mistake. I tell them that “progress not perfection” is the goal, and that we can learn from our mistakes.
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I feel like I already responded to this quote, but apparently not! In any case, I agree that people may learn from their failures but I don’t want to “buy into” a mentality that poses failure as “necessary” in some way. I honestly believe that students live up or down to our expectations as educators, and if we see failure in a class as a “teaching tool,” I worry that students will unconsciously absorb that mentality. Plus, many of our students are undocumented or have financial aid dependent upon their GPA; in those cases, failure in a class may literally mean deportation or the complete loss of a life opportunity! I don’t know. Of course not every student can sucessfully pass every class but I think we should start out by assuming they all can and only assign failing grades in extreme circumstance.
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“Failure is a greater teacher than success.”
I agree with this quote. Many of us dwell on the negative and not on the good. This is true with failing, which is often considered to be negative. Dwelling can be reflective and lead to self-questioning about what went wrong and how to improve. Then dwelling, also considered to be negative, can lead to improving and learning.
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Failure teaches us where we can improve. But it requires that we have a positive growth mindset – a belief that we can do better. Since some of us may not have positive self-esteem, it is also necessary, I believe, to think of ways that we can help our students have a positive sense of self. I am wondering if a growth mindset and mindfulness practice can support each other.
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@mpalit – I really like this! How could mindfulness help with growth mindsets?
One idea I got now is that recognizing our own mindsets is not easy in itself and perhaps mindfulness can help with self awareness.
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If we understand “success” and ” failure” as a distinct consequence, I’d disagree with the quote. People may react differently to failure depending on one’s character and experience: some may reflect and learn from it; and some may get defeated and never try again. But if we look at ” success” and ” failure” as a step in a process, I’d agree failure may provide a bigger opportunity for us to learn, reflect and try again.
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I tend to agree with the quotation, but with caveats. Failure can be an excellent teacher if we understand why we failed. We have additional aphorisms such as ‘get back on the horse that threw you’ that encourage us to overcome setbacks and carry on. However, we also have phrases like ‘beating a dead horse’ and ‘beating your head against a wall’, both of which speak to matters of repetition without progress or additional understanding. And then there is the fun pop-definition of madness as doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. Therefore, failure, to be a useful teacher, needs an element of (self-)reflection, comprehension, and the creation and application of new strategies that may lead to a more successful outcome.
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