Skip to content

It's pretty popular today to say that everybody should…

“It's pretty popular today to say that everybody should learn to fail and that failure's a good thing. Intellectually, it's an obvious thing. But in fact, it gets conflated with another meaning of failure, so when we grow up as kids, failing in school was a really bad thing.” quote by Edwin Catmull
Download Open image
“It's pretty popular today to say that everybody should learn to fail and that failure's a good thing. Intellectually, it's an obvious thing. But in fact, it gets conflated with another meaning of failure, so when we grow up as kids, failing in school was a really bad thing.”

Edwin Catmull

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Failure is valuable for learning, but it is often misinterpreted as a personal flaw, especially in early education.

In simple terms: Failure teaches, but is misread.

Key Takeaway

Reframe failure as learning, not shame.

Themes

education growth mindset innovation

Mood

inspirational practical

Type

educational motivational

When to use this quote

  • schools
  • startup environments
  • creative projects
  • personal development

Key Concepts

learning from errors resilience risk‑taking culture of failure

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can educators normalize failure?
  • What balance between failure and success is healthy?
A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on failure can discourage risk‑taking.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

More by Edwin Catmull

Explore all 101 Edwin Catmull quotes

More Bad thing quotes

Browse all 2,889 Bad thing quotes