Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.
A man finds he has been wrong at every stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often realize their mistakes throughout their journey, leading to a clearer understanding of their true path in the end.
This quote by Robert Louis Stevenson suggests that the process of self-discovery and professional growth is filled with errors and misconceptions. However, through these experiences, a person can ultimately arrive at a profound realization that guides them to a satisfying conclusion about their choices and beliefs, affirming that every mistake was a step toward the right understanding of their life and career.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about career paths, one might reference this quote to emphasize the importance of learning from mistakes.
More from Robert Louis Stevenson
All quotes βLike a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.
That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.
His past was fairly blameless; few men could read the rolls of their life with less apprehension; yet he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done, and raised up again into sober and fearful gratitude by the many he had come so near to doing, yet avoided.
The habit of being happy enables one to be freed, or largely freed, from the domination of outward conditions.
It is the history of our kindnesses that alone make this world tolerable. If it were not for that, for the effect of kind words, kind looks, kind letters . . . I should be inclined to think our life a practical jest in the worst possible spirit.
Similar quotes
The ally we must cultivate is the part of our enemy which knows the truth.
That's your responsibility as a person, as a human being - to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don't contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you're not thinking.
Those who know the TRUTH are not equal to those who love it.
No, you never get any fun out of the things you haven't done.
I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom: As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.