--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm proof against that word failure. I've…" description: "\"I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/893/george-eliot-84_failure_i-m-proof-against-that-word-failure-i-ve_1764837.png" --- # I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it… ![“I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/893/george-eliot-84_failure_i-m-proof-against-that-word-failure-i-ve_1764837.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/893/george-eliot-84_failure_i-m-proof-against-that-word-failure-i-ve_1764837.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/893/george-eliot-84_failure_i-m-proof-against-that-word-failure-i-ve_1764837.png) > “I'm proof against that word failure. I've seen behind it. The only failure a man ought to fear is failure of cleaving to the purpose he sees to be best.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Real failure is abandoning one's true purpose; external setbacks are less threatening than losing direction. **In simple terms:** Fear losing purpose more than external failure. Key Takeaway Stay true to your purpose. Themes purpose resilience failure Mood reflective inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career - creative projects - personal goals - education Key Concepts existential self‑actualization Questions to Reflect On - What purpose drives you? - How do you stay aligned with it? A Different Perspective Purpose can be vague, leading to stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure Cleaving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-cleaving-1726111/) [Failure Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-man-700645/) [Failure Ve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-ve-698418/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Fear Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear-failure/) [Ought Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ought-fear-700180/) [Proof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/proof/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) ## Related quotes > [The only failure one man should fear, is the failure to do his best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-d-palmer/the-only-failure-one-man-should-fear-is-the-failure-to-do-his-best/) [Daniel D. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-d-palmer/) > [I've experienced tons of failure. I've been making music for 30 years, and I'd say failure and success have happened in equal measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moby/i-ve-experienced-tons-of-failure-i-ve-been-making-music-for-30-years/) [Moby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moby/) > [If you're 40 years old and you've never had a failure, you've been deprived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-swanson/if-you-re-40-years-old-and-you-ve-never-had-a-failure-you-ve-been/) [Gloria Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-swanson/) > [You've got to try and do your best, and the failure is what's funny. But you can't be aware of the failure, you've just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-mckenzie/you-ve-got-to-try-and-do-your-best-and-the-failure-is-what-s-funny/) [Bret McKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-mckenzie/) > [I have a lot of friends who have had very quick success, then failure, whereas I've had failure, failure, failure, then success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-savoretti/i-have-a-lot-of-friends-who-have-had-very-quick-success-then-failure/) [Jack Savoretti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-savoretti/) > [That's what you want to do? Then nothing beats a trial but a failure. Give it everything you've got. I've told you many times,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/that-s-what-you-want-to-do-then-nothing-beats-a-trial-but-a-failure/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I can understand failure: I've failed loads of times in my life; it's not a problem. I've never feared it, because it's a part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-bellamy/i-can-understand-failure-i-ve-failed-loads-of-times-in-my-life-it-s/) [Craig Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-bellamy/) > [Between what human beings so naively and stupidly fear and what they most profoundly ought to fear-i.e. what they so pathogenically and addictively do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/between-what-human-beings-so-naively-and-stupidly-fear-and-what-they/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Evil is uncertain in the same degree as good, and for the reason that we ought not to hope too securely, we ought not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/evil-is-uncertain-in-the-same-degree-as-good-and-for-the-reason-that/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [If we ought not to fear mortal truth, still less should we dread scientific truth. In the first place it can not conflict with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-poincare/if-we-ought-not-to-fear-mortal-truth-still-less-should-we-dread/) [Henri Poincare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-poincare/) > [I ought not to fear to survive my own people so long as there are men in the world; for there are always some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/i-ought-not-to-fear-to-survive-my-own-people-so-long-as-there-are-men/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [“And so we ought not to fear in love, as in everyday life, the future alone, but even the past, which often comes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/and-so-we-ought-not-to-fear-in-love-as-in-everyday-life-the-future/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [He of whom many are afraid ought himself to fear many.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/he-of-whom-many-are-afraid-ought-himself-to-fear-many/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“He of whom many are afraid ought to fear many.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/he-of-whom-many-are-afraid-ought-to-fear-many/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [Humans fear reason, but they ought to fear stupidity- for reason can be hard, but stupidity can be fatal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/humans-fear-reason-but-they-ought-to-fear-stupidity-for-reason-can-be/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## 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": "I'm proof against that word failure. 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