Re:By endurance we conquer
by btilly on Thursday March 28, 2013 @05:51PM
(#5457905)
People are inspirational because we're impressed and gratified that people like that exist. But we do not necessarily want to be like them.
That said, the characteristics that in one person lead to repeated failure can in another lead to success. My mother had a book called Cradles of Eminence which was basically a retrospective study of what kind of childhood lead to great fame later in life. One of their many interesting findings is that the fathers of many eminent people tend to be failure-prone. But not failure-prone in any way - failure-prone in that they dared too much and it didn't work out.
The reason why my mother had this book is that she was curious whether deliberately creating the circumstances that lead others to success would lead to success for her children. There is no way that I could summarize the result of her experiment - nor would I suggest that anyone else try her techniques - but I do have 2 half-sisters with Oscar nominations...
That said, the characteristics that in one person lead to repeated failure can in another lead to success. My mother had a book called Cradles of Eminence which was basically a retrospective study of what kind of childhood lead to great fame later in life. One of their many interesting findings is that the fathers of many eminent people tend to be failure-prone. But not failure-prone in any way - failure-prone in that they dared too much and it didn't work out.
The reason why my mother had this book is that she was curious whether deliberately creating the circumstances that lead others to success would lead to success for her children. There is no way that I could summarize the result of her experiment - nor would I suggest that anyone else try her techniques - but I do have 2 half-sisters with Oscar nominations...