If you're not failing 90% of the time, then you're probably not working on sufficiently challenging problems.
Interpretation
Failure is a sign of tackling difficult challenges.
This quote emphasizes that encountering failure frequently is indicative of attempting complex and worthwhile problems. It suggests that if you are not facing challenges that push your limits, you may not be pursuing growth or significant achievements.
In practice
During a team meeting, I can share this quote to encourage team members to take risks in their projects.
The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made. When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free? The Web, in comparison, is a joke. The Web was done by amateurs.
Perspective is worth 80 IQ points.
The greatest single programming language ever designed
By the time I got to school, I had already read a couple hundred books. I knew in the first grade that they were lying to me because I had already been exposed to other points of view. School is basically about one point of view -- the one the teacher has or the textbooks have. They don't like the idea of having different points of view, so it was a battle. Of course I would pipe up with my five-year-old voice.
Simple things should be simple and complex things should be possible.
Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we're all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories.
Progress is the activity of today and the assurance of tomorrow
There are 86,400 seconds in a day. It's up to you to decide what to do with them.
Old folks have dreams and ambitions too, like everybody else. Don't sit on a couch someplace.
I have a slogan I use when I get anxious writing, which happens quite a bit: βthe ordeal is part of the commitment.β Itβs one of my mantras. It makes a lot of things doable.
The direction of your focus is the direction your life will move. Let yourself move toward what is good, valuable, strong and true
Every time I dance, I'm trying to prove myself to myself.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.