--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We came home because we were failures ……" description: "\"“We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold tru..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg" --- # We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful… ![“We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth.” quote by Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg) > ““We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth.”” [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People hide failures behind excuses, creating a protective narrative that shields them from harsh reality. **In simple terms:** Excuses mask failures and protect us from truth. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront your true failures. Themes self‑deception failure truth Mood introspective candid Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal growth - therapy - team leadership - public speaking Key Concepts psychology defense mechanisms Questions to Reflect On - What excuses are you using? - How does confronting truth change your actions? A Different Perspective Denial can prevent learning and accountability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alibis Wrapped](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alibis-wrapped-2949066/) [Careful Excuses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/careful-excuses-2949065/) [Cold Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-truth/) [Excuses Alibis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/excuses-alibis-2105100/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failures Crafted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures-crafted-5288687/) [Home Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home-failures-1737891/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“But the truth was, we had failed, and rather than let anyone else know, we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/but-the-truth-was-we-had-failed-and-rather-than-let-anyone-else-know/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“We came home because we were failures. We wouldn't admit that, of course, not at first, not to ourselves, and certainly not to anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we-wouldn-t-admit-that-of/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“we came home because we were failures”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [The truth of the matter is, what's done is done. No excuses are necessary. You can't go back and change anything, so theres no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/the-truth-of-the-matter-is-what-s-done-is-done-no-excuses-are/) [Unkown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/unkown/) > [All directors from the South go back home as failures... I didn't want that to happen to me. So, I became a factory, determined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/priyadarshan/all-directors-from-the-south-go-back-home-as-failures-i-didn-t-want/) [Priyadarshan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/priyadarshan/) > [“Happiness, as far as we are concerned, is achieved through living a meaningful life, a life that is filled with passion and freedom, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-fields-millburn/happiness-as-far-as-we-are-concerned-is-achieved-through-living-a/) [Joshua Fields Millburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-fields-millburn/) > [“What Corrigan wanted was a fully believable God, one you could find in the grime of the everyday. The comfort he got from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colum-mccann/what-corrigan-wanted-was-a-fully-believable-god-one-you-could-find-in-3/) [Colum McCann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colum-mccann/) > [“A race car driver must be very selfish. It is a cold truth: even his family must came second to the race.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/a-race-car-driver-must-be-very-selfish-it-is-a-cold-truth-even-his/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [Environmentalism needs to be absolutely based in objective and verifiable science, it needs to be rational, and it needs to be flexible. And it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/environmentalism-needs-to-be-absolutely-based-in-objective-and/) [Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/) > [People couldn't bear to go on living if they faced every cold truth about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/people-couldn-t-bear-to-go-on-living-if-they-faced-every-cold-truth/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [I'd rather be hurt by the cold truth then to be seduced to lies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-d-rather-be-hurt-by-the-cold-truth-then-to-be-seduced-to-lies/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The ordinary modes of human thinking are magical, religious, social, and personal. We want our wishes to come true; we want the universe to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-derbyshire/the-ordinary-modes-of-human-thinking-are-magical-religious-social-and/) [John Derbyshire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-derbyshire/) > [“It’s like my dreams were worn away by paper cuts, and at some point I woke up and realized that, ‘Hey, you aren’t going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-e-carr/it-s-like-my-dreams-were-worn-away-by-paper-cuts-and-at-some-point-i/) [R.E. Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-e-carr/) > [Secular humanists suspect there is something more gloriously human about resisting the religious impulse; about accepting the cold truth, even if that truth is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-flynn/secular-humanists-suspect-there-is-something-more-gloriously-human/) [Tom Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-flynn/) > [Misery, in cold truth, is a weight less upon those who undergo it than upon the minds of those who see it; for he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-roberts/misery-in-cold-truth-is-a-weight-less-upon-those-who-undergo-it-than/) [Kenneth Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-roberts/) ## More by Eleanor Brown > [There is no problem a library card can't solve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/there-is-no-problem-a-library-card-can-t-solve/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“But Rose learned an important lesson: people don't always do what you tell them to do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/but-rose-learned-an-important-lesson-people-don-t-always-do-what-you/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“She remembered one of her boyfriends asking, offhandedly, how many books she read in a year. "A few hundred," she said. "How do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/she-remembered-one-of-her-boyfriends-asking-offhandedly-how-many/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Sisters keep secrets. Because sisters' secrets are swords.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/sisters-keep-secrets-because-sisters-secrets-are-swords/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Instead, we'd do what we always did, the only thing we'd ever been dependably stellar at: we'd read.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/instead-we-d-do-what-we-always-did-the-only-thing-we-d-ever-been/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Here's one of the problems with communicating in the words of a man who is not around to explain himself: it's damn hard sometimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/here-s-one-of-the-problems-with-communicating-in-the-words-of-a-man/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Yes, you'd make a great partner for him. What with the embezzling and the adultery and the drinking. That's what every man wants in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/yes-you-d-make-a-great-partner-for-him-what-with-the-embezzling-and/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Oh honey, we’re all fuckups in our own special ways.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/oh-honey-we-re-all-fuckups-in-our-own-special-ways/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“This conversation, you will not be surprised to know, was the impetus for their breakup, given that it caused her to realize the emotion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/this-conversation-you-will-not-be-surprised-to-know-was-the-impetus/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“We don't just come from the womb bearing our talents. They grow from all the things we learn.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-don-t-just-come-from-the-womb-bearing-our-talents-they-grow-from/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“Despite his money and his looks and all the good-on-paper attributes he possessed, he was not a reader, and, well, let's just say that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/despite-his-money-and-his-looks-and-all-the-good-on-paper-attributes/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“And the baby would never know what it meant to hate Barnwell so deeply that she couldn't help but return to it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/and-the-baby-would-never-know-what-it-meant-to-hate-barnwell-so/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“We've all done foolish, foolish things, dear. In my experience, good people punish themselves far more than any external body can manage. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-ve-all-done-foolish-foolish-things-dear-in-my-experience-good/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [“We all have stories we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves we are too fat, or too ugly, or too old, or too foolish. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-all-have-stories-we-tell-ourselves-we-tell-ourselves-we-are-too/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) > [Every room has a mood or personality...and it is this that one desires to develop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/every-room-has-a-mood-or-personality-and-it-is-this-that-one-desires/) [Eleanor Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) [Explore all 67 Eleanor Brown quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around ourselves like a cloak to keep out the cold truth.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eleanor Brown" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we-crafted-careful-excuses-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we-crafted-careful-excuses-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6b2/eleanor-brown-9492_failure_we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we_1462765.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We came home because we were failures … we crafted careful excuses and alibis, and wrapped them around…” — Eleanor Brown", "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": "Eleanor Brown", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-brown/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We came home because we were...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we-crafted-careful-excuses-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-brown/we-came-home-because-we-were-failures-we-crafted-careful-excuses-and/#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 } } ] } ```