--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A disappointment is not generally an…" description: "\"A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine error is to quit attem..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/b-f-skinner-4812_attempting_a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-ove_303149.png" --- # A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might… ![“A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine error is to quit attempting.” quote by B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/b-f-skinner-4812_attempting_a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-ove_303149.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/b-f-skinner-4812_attempting_a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-ove_303149.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db2/b-f-skinner-4812_attempting_a-disappointment-is-not-generally-an-ove_303149.png) > “A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine error is to quit attempting.” [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mistakes are inevitable; quitting is the true failure. **In simple terms:** Quitting is the real error, not mistakes. Key Takeaway Persist despite setbacks. Themes perseverance learning failure Mood determined reflective Type motivational practical When to use this quote - education - personal development - career challenges Key Concepts behaviorism resilience growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - What motivates you to keep trying? - When is it wise to change direction? A Different Perspective Perseverance can lead to burnout if not balanced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Being the best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-the-best/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) ## Related quotes > [Eventually the consumer will come to appreciate the editorial point of view of every different brand. User-generated content without editorial oversight will simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eisner/eventually-the-consumer-will-come-to-appreciate-the-editorial-point/) [Michael Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eisner/) > [“As the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza put it in a December 2013 article, instead of providing oversight, the Senate committee more often “treats senior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-greenwald/as-the-new-yorker-s-ryan-lizza-put-it-in-a-december-2013-article/) [Glenn Greenwald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-greenwald/) > [I think we need editorial oversight now more than ever. Anything we can do to help newspapers find new ways of expression that will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/i-think-we-need-editorial-oversight-now-more-than-ever-anything-we/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It should be obvious that this pattern of systematic holes and gaps in Iraq's declaration is not the result of accidents, editing oversights or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-negroponte/it-should-be-obvious-that-this-pattern-of-systematic-holes-and-gaps/) [John Negroponte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-negroponte/) > [The opportunity should not be lost, which is afforded by the occasion, for illustrating and enforcing the thought that the universe, its creation, its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-s-draper/the-opportunity-should-not-be-lost-which-is-afforded-by-the-occasion/) Andrew S. Draper > [If the City Council wants to hold the police accountable, it has the subpoena power and oversight responsibility to do so. They don't have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sal-albanese/if-the-city-council-wants-to-hold-the-police-accountable-it-has-the/) [Sal Albanese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sal-albanese/) > [I think it's something that the citizenry needs to be vigilant about - participating in democracy, and that includes issues like what's going on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/i-think-it-s-something-that-the-citizenry-needs-to-be-vigilant-about/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [ They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme \[. . .\] That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/they-re-on-you-day-and-night-their-oversight-is-just-too-extreme-that/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [“The board’s oversight of information management agenda helps to highlight the strategic perspective of IT and improve its differentiated value.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-zhu/the-board-s-oversight-of-information-management-agenda-helps-to/) [Pearl Zhu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-zhu/) > [We have a completely unregulated digital landscape. There is almost no oversight. We are placing blind trust in companies like Facebook to do the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-wylie/we-have-a-completely-unregulated-digital-landscape-there-is-almost-no/) [Christopher Wylie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-wylie/) > [The mole rat is the only rodent born without a fur coat. 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We have a law requiring state textbook oversight to guard against frauds like Zinn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-daniels/we-must-not-falsely-teach-american-history-in-our-schools-we-have-a/) [Mitch Daniels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-daniels/) > [There is no doubt that the reason for my awful oversight was over-confidence that sapped my sense of danger. So that is where to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-kotov/there-is-no-doubt-that-the-reason-for-my-awful-oversight-was-over/) [Alexander Kotov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-kotov/) ## More by B. F. Skinner > [To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/to-require-a-citizen-to-sign-a-loyalty-oath-is-to-destroy-some-of-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [A first principle not formally recognized by scientific methodologists: when you run into something interesting, drop everything else and study it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-first-principle-not-formally-recognized-by-scientific/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The problem of far greater importance remains to be solved. Rather than build a world in which we shall all live well, we must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-problem-of-far-greater-importance-remains-to-be-solved-rather/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I remember when I was a freshman in college, I was still somewhat bothered by... worried... about religion. I remember going to this professor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-remember-when-i-was-a-freshman-in-college-i-was-still-somewhat/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Those who have had anything useful to say have said it far too often, and those who have had nothing to say have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/those-who-have-had-anything-useful-to-say-have-said-it-far-too-often/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I would be opposed to any kind of totalitarian control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-would-be-opposed-to-any-kind-of-totalitarian-control/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The simplest and most satisfactory view is that thought is simply behavior - verbal or nonverbal, covert or overt. It is not some mysterious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-simplest-and-most-satisfactory-view-is-that-thought-is-simply/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Behavior is shaped and maintained by its consequences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/behavior-is-shaped-and-maintained-by-its-consequences/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The alphabet was a great invention, which enabled men to store and to learn with little effort what others had learned the hard way-that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-alphabet-was-a-great-invention-which-enabled-men-to-store-and-to/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [The people who control the condition in which we live have no reason to think beyond more than the next five or 10 years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/the-people-who-control-the-condition-in-which-we-live-have-no-reason/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/i-am-opposed-to-the-military-use-of-animals-i-am-also-opposed-to-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [A person's genetic endowment, a product of the evolution of the species, is said to explain part of the workings of his mind and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/a-person-s-genetic-endowment-a-product-of-the-evolution-of-the/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [Reinforcement is being right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/reinforcement-is-being-right/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [If you're old, don't try to change yourself, change your environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/if-you-re-old-don-t-try-to-change-yourself-change-your-environment/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) > [To say that... behaviors have different 'meanings' is only another way of saying that they are controlled by different variables.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-f-skinner/to-say-that-behaviors-have-different-meanings-is-only-another-way-of/) [B. F. Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) [Explore all 105 B. F. Skinner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-f-skinner/) ## More Attempting quotes > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [In terms of style, too, I think I've been working with a somewhat limited -- although intentionally limited -- set of tools. 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(Devyn) I would respond to that, but I don’t want to distract you while you’re attempting to drive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/i-swear-you-re-a-woman-devyn-i-would-respond-to-that-but-i-don-t-want/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/i-have-told-you-of-the-spaniard-who-always-put-on-his-spectacles-when/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The danger to which the success of revolutions is most exposed, is that of attempting them before the principles on which they proceed, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-danger-to-which-the-success-of-revolutions-is-most-exposed-is/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [Politics resemble religion; attempting to divest either of ceremony is the most certain mode of bringing either into contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/politics-resemble-religion-attempting-to-divest-either-of-ceremony-is/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“failure is not an outcome, but involves a lack of trying—not stretching yourself far enough out of your comfort zone and attempting to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-wiseman/failure-is-not-an-outcome-but-involves-a-lack-of-trying-not/) [Liz Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-wiseman/) > [It is strange to reflect how much energy is thrown away in attempting to know the unknowable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-barber-lightfoot/it-is-strange-to-reflect-how-much-energy-is-thrown-away-in-attempting/) [Joseph Barber Lightfoot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-barber-lightfoot/) > [I am not attempting to preserve culture, or record actual events or stories. Instead I bow my head in gratitude to those storytellers who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/i-am-not-attempting-to-preserve-culture-or-record-actual-events-or/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) Browse all 513 Attempting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A disappointment is not generally an oversight. It might just be the best one can do the situation being what it is. The genuine error is to quit attempting.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "B. F. 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