--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you're being attacked from all sides…" description: "\"If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that you are doing everything wrong.\" — Adam Go..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg" --- # If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible… ![“If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that you are doing everything wrong.” quote by Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg) > “If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that you are doing everything wrong.” [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Being criticized from all sides may indicate you’re taking bold actions, but could also signal missteps. **In simple terms:** Criticism can mean you’re right or wrong. Key Takeaway Balance boldness with self‑assessment. Themes risk criticism balance Mood analytical cautious Type philosophical strategic When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - public policy - creative projects Key Concepts leadership decision making Questions to Reflect On - When is criticism constructive? - How do you differentiate noise from signal? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on criticism can stifle innovation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Doing right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-right/) ## Related quotes > [On stage, I like to portray my different sides as much as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennie/on-stage-i-like-to-portray-my-different-sides-as-much-as-possible/) [Jennie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennie/) > [If you are not being attacked by materialist, you must be doing something wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radhanath-swami/if-you-are-not-being-attacked-by-materialist-you-must-be-doing/) [Radhanath Swami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radhanath-swami/) > [Doing something right is far better than doing something wrong in right way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/doing-something-right-is-far-better-than-doing-something-wrong-in/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“Doing what's right, last for life, Doing what's wrong, only last for so long.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pontius-joseph/doing-what-s-right-last-for-life-doing-what-s-wrong-only-last-for-so/) [Pontius Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pontius-joseph/) > [There's things I know I'm good at, and those things interest me less and less. I learn a lot more from doing it wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ian-black/there-s-things-i-know-i-m-good-at-and-those-things-interest-me-less/) [Michael Ian Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ian-black/) > [Why am I so famous? What am I doing right? What are the others doing wrong?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbra-streisand/why-am-i-so-famous-what-am-i-doing-right-what-are-the-others-doing/) [Barbra Streisand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbra-streisand/) > [“maybe i am doing right , maybe i am doing wrong but at least i'm trying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jameel/maybe-i-am-doing-right-maybe-i-am-doing-wrong-but-at-least-i-m-trying/) Jameel > [Sometimes you face difficulties not because you're doing something wrong, but because you're doing something right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/sometimes-you-face-difficulties-not-because-you-re-doing-something/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I was doing the wrong thing, at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. It's like if you're dealing with somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-t/i-was-doing-the-wrong-thing-at-the-time-i-thought-i-was-doing-the/) [Ice T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-t/) > [“And remember, the goal of practice isn't doing something until you get it right. It's doing it until you can't get it wrong.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-kauflin/and-remember-the-goal-of-practice-isn-t-doing-something-until-you-get/) [Bob Kauflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-kauflin/) > [“What am I doing wrong? Better question what am I doing right?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jevon-scott/what-am-i-doing-wrong-better-question-what-am-i-doing-right/) [Jevon Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jevon-scott/) > [Nine out of every 10 large corporations and government agencies have been attacked by computer intruders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mitnick/nine-out-of-every-10-large-corporations-and-government-agencies-have/) [Kevin Mitnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mitnick/) > [With what all these people are saying, do you think that anybody wants to be around me? They all think that I did this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-wallice/with-what-all-these-people-are-saying-do-you-think-that-anybody-wants/) [Marc Wallice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-wallice/) > [It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that's attacked by Alzheimer's disease. So we can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-keefe/it-turns-out-that-this-part-of-the-brain-is-one-of-the-first-areas/) [John O'Keefe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-keefe/) > [It is truly vital for the United States to assure that it is not attacked with weapons of mass destruction; to prevent wars in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/it-is-truly-vital-for-the-united-states-to-assure-that-it-is-not/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) ## More by Adam Gopnik > [ Often the block \[in writing\] comes from the wall of words that keep out the simplicity of sense. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/often-the-block-in-writing-comes-from-the-wall-of-words-that-keep-out/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Drawing is one of those things which sit on the uneasy bending line between instinct and instruction, where seeming perversity eventually trumps pleasure as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/drawing-is-one-of-those-things-which-sit-on-the-uneasy-bending-line/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/of-all-the-unexpected-things-in-contemporary-literature-this-is-among/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“...we see life as deeply in our pleasures as in our pains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/we-see-life-as-deeply-in-our-pleasures-as-in-our-pains/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ Leafing through Forbes or Fortune \[magazine\]s is like reading the operating manual of a strangely sanctimonious pirate ship ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/leafing-through-forbes-or-fortune-magazine-s-is-like-reading-the/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing well isn't just a question of winsome expression, but of having found something big and true to say and having found the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-well-isn-t-just-a-question-of-winsome-expression-but-of/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“There is, I believe now, a force in stories, words in motion, that either drives them forward past things into feelings or doesn't. Sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/there-is-i-believe-now-a-force-in-stories-words-in-motion-that-either/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Cooking is the showy side of domesticity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/cooking-is-the-showy-side-of-domesticity/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Writing doesn't come easily to anyone, I think, certainly not to me. But pressure and practice does lend a certain fluency, I think -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/writing-doesn-t-come-easily-to-anyone-i-think-certainly-not-to-me-but/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [Art without accomplishment becomes a form of faith, sustained more by the intensity of its common practice than by the pleasure it gives to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/art-without-accomplishment-becomes-a-form-of-faith-sustained-more-by/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [ “\[A\]s military history reveals, a bad plan is often better than no plan, especially if the people on the other side think it’s a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/a-s-military-history-reveals-a-bad-plan-is-often-better-than-no-plan/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [I don't think there's any question journalists have become targets, but then I think that - that anyone who tries to practice liberty becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/i-don-t-think-there-s-any-question-journalists-have-become-targets/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [After all, spinning is its own reward. There wouldn't be carousels if it weren't so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/after-all-spinning-is-its-own-reward-there-wouldn-t-be-carousels-if/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [“This is surely the most significant of the elements that Tolkien brought to fantasy… his arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and "The Wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/this-is-surely-the-most-significant-of-the-elements-that-tolkien/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) > [The future will be like the past, in the sense that, no matter how amazing or technologically advanced a society becomes, the basic human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/the-future-will-be-like-the-past-in-the-sense-that-no-matter-how/) [Adam Gopnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) [Explore all 97 Adam Gopnik quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/) ## More Attacked quotes > [It is truly vital for the United States to assure that it is not attacked with weapons of mass destruction; to prevent wars in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-kinzer/it-is-truly-vital-for-the-united-states-to-assure-that-it-is-not/) [Stephen Kinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-kinzer/) > [It turns out that this part of the brain is one of the first areas that's attacked by Alzheimer's disease. So we can now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-o-keefe/it-turns-out-that-this-part-of-the-brain-is-one-of-the-first-areas/) [John O'Keefe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-o-keefe/) > [With what all these people are saying, do you think that anybody wants to be around me? They all think that I did this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-wallice/with-what-all-these-people-are-saying-do-you-think-that-anybody-wants/) [Marc Wallice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-wallice/) > [Nine out of every 10 large corporations and government agencies have been attacked by computer intruders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mitnick/nine-out-of-every-10-large-corporations-and-government-agencies-have/) [Kevin Mitnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mitnick/) > [I just put myself in a hotel and was smoking coke for a while. Then I met up with the wrong people. I ended…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-wallice/i-just-put-myself-in-a-hotel-and-was-smoking-coke-for-a-while-then-i/) [Marc Wallice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-wallice/) > [“Do you mean you were attacked from behind?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christa-faust/do-you-mean-you-were-attacked-from-behind/) [Christa Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christa-faust/) > [I am one of the most attacked persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jair-bolsonaro/i-am-one-of-the-most-attacked-persons/) [Jair Bolsonaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jair-bolsonaro/) > [I'm always ready to be attacked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joey-votto/i-m-always-ready-to-be-attacked/) [Joey Votto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joey-votto/) > [I prefer to be at home with my husband and children than attacked by photographers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-princess-of-hanover/i-prefer-to-be-at-home-with-my-husband-and-children-than-attacked-by/) [Caroline, Princess of Hanover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-princess-of-hanover/) > [When Gingrich attacked CNN's John King for bringing up his alleged proposal of an open marriage to his second wife, Gingrich accused him of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/when-gingrich-attacked-cnn-s-john-king-for-bringing-up-his-alleged/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [Progress is always relative: to the oppressed, it can only be viewed as an all or nothing deal - if oppression continues, even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/progress-is-always-relative-to-the-oppressed-it-can-only-be-viewed-as/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [ \[On her seven-month-old son:\] When people see me carrying him in the street they think I'm being attacked by a short, bald man. But… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hurley/on-her-seven-month-old-son-when-people-see-me-carrying-him-in-the/) [Elizabeth Hurley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hurley/) > [I have been attacked and mistreated for my skin colour since I was a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/i-have-been-attacked-and-mistreated-for-my-skin-colour-since-i-was-a/) [Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/) > [Therefore, if you are attacked, retaliate instantly. Be sudden. Be quick. Speed is your salvation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-cooper/therefore-if-you-are-attacked-retaliate-instantly-be-sudden-be-quick/) [Jeff Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-cooper/) > [“His life was a constant war with insensate objects that fell apart, or attacked him, or refused to function, or viciously got themselves lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/his-life-was-a-constant-war-with-insensate-objects-that-fell-apart-or/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) Browse all 244 Attacked quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that you are doing everything wrong.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Gopnik" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides-it-s-possible-you-re-doing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attacked" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides-it-s-possible-you-re-doing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/021/adam-gopnik-6789_ifs_if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides_1238804.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you're being attacked from all sides, it's possible you're doing something right; it's also possible that…” — Adam Gopnik", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Adam Gopnik", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-gopnik/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you're being attacked from all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides-it-s-possible-you-re-doing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-gopnik/if-you-re-being-attacked-from-all-sides-it-s-possible-you-re-doing/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```