--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: no man leaves where he is and seeks a…" description: "\"“no man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure; but having failed in one location and having been ejected,..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f08/james-a-michener-1627_failure_no-man-leaves-where-he-is-and-seeks-a-di_2346978.jpg" --- # no man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless… ![“no man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure; but having failed in one location and having been ejected, it is possible that in the next he will be a little wiser.” quote by James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f08/james-a-michener-1627_failure_no-man-leaves-where-he-is-and-seeks-a-di_2346978.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f08/james-a-michener-1627_failure_no-man-leaves-where-he-is-and-seeks-a-di_2346978.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f08/james-a-michener-1627_failure_no-man-leaves-where-he-is-and-seeks-a-di_2346978.jpg) > ““no man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure; but having failed in one location and having been ejected, it is possible that in the next he will be a little wiser.”” [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People often move away from their current situation when they feel they have failed there, hoping a new place will bring greater wisdom. **In simple terms:** Failure can drive relocation and learning. Key Takeaway Embrace change after setbacks. Themes failure migration growth self‑improvement Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career change - relocation after loss - seeking new opportunities - personal reinvention Key Concepts psychology resilience learning from experience Questions to Reflect On - What have you learned from past failures? - How can you ensure a new setting fosters growth? A Different Perspective New environments may repeat old patterns without reflection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [No man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/no-man-leaves-where-he-is-and-seeks-a-distant-place-unless-he-is-in/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [Failure, to me, is not having the desire to try. Having the desire to try is in it own way success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-knight/failure-to-me-is-not-having-the-desire-to-try-having-the-desire-to/) [Bobby Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-knight/) > [After all, this is how you learned how to walk. You didn't just jump up from your crib one day and waltz gracefully across…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/after-all-this-is-how-you-learned-how-to-walk-you-didn-t-just-jump-up/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [“Failure is not having the courage to try, nothing more an nothing less.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/failure-is-not-having-the-courage-to-try-nothing-more-an-nothing-less/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [Respect your failure making the others respect you after](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ahmad-ramadan/respect-your-failure-making-the-others-respect-you-after/) Ahmad Ramadan > [You expect success, you respect failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-norman/you-expect-success-you-respect-failure/) [Greg Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-norman/) > [Failure is not having the courage to try, nothing more and nothing less.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/failure-is-not-having-the-courage-to-try-nothing-more-and-nothing-less/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [The attitude to failure is one of the characteristics that's often called out as the difference between the U.S. and Europe. And we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taavet-hinrikus/the-attitude-to-failure-is-one-of-the-characteristics-that-s-often/) [Taavet Hinrikus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taavet-hinrikus/) > [My first plan of escape having failed, I now determined upon another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buffalo-bill/my-first-plan-of-escape-having-failed-i-now-determined-upon-another/) [Buffalo Bill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buffalo-bill/) > [There is no Latter day Saint who dies after having lived a faithful life who will lose anything because of having failed to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorenzo-snow/there-is-no-latter-day-saint-who-dies-after-having-lived-a-faithful-2/) [Lorenzo Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorenzo-snow/) > [“FAILURE IS INEVITABLE. I will fail. We all will. 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There was a time when I dreamt of having three or four but I rather failed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-richmond/i-already-have-a-son-one-is-enough-there-was-a-time-when-i-dreamt-of/) [Michelle Richmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-richmond/) > [I have an enormous sense of having failed in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/i-have-an-enormous-sense-of-having-failed-in-life/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) ## More by James A. Michener > [ “\[Very rich people\] with brains make a great effort to hold on to every penny they have while preaching to the general population that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/very-rich-people-with-brains-make-a-great-effort-to-hold-on-to-every/) [James A. 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Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [I think the crucial thing in the writing career is to find what you want to do and how you fit in. What somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/i-think-the-crucial-thing-in-the-writing-career-is-to-find-what-you/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [“The chance emergence of the was nothing. Remember this. But its persistence and patient accumulation of stature were everything. Only by relentless effort did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/the-chance-emergence-of-the-was-nothing-remember-this-but-its/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [During my lifetime I have met dozens of writers and photographers in dozens of different countries. But I have encountered no one who could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/during-my-lifetime-i-have-met-dozens-of-writers-and-photographers-in/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [My work as a naval officer in World War II enabled me to serve on 49 different South Pacific islands so that I came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/my-work-as-a-naval-officer-in-world-war-ii-enabled-me-to-serve-on-49/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) > [The sense of belonging is one of the great gifts men get in battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-michener/the-sense-of-belonging-is-one-of-the-great-gifts-men-get-in-battle/) [James A. Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) [Explore all 220 James A. Michener quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-michener/) ## 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. 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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": "“no man leaves where he is and seeks a distant place unless he is in some respect a failure; but having failed in one location and having been ejected, it is possible that in the next he will be a little wiser.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James A. 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