--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I'm a 'what if' person. I have always…" description: "\"I'm a 'what if' person. I have always felt that failure was a completely underrated experience. I have taken blows. I have had high moments. But I don'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/kevin-costner-2386_bigs_i-m-a-what-if-person-i-have-always-felt_1635291.jpg" --- # I'm a 'what if' person. I have always felt that failure… ![“I'm a 'what if' person. I have always felt that failure was a completely underrated experience. I have taken blows. I have had high moments. But I don't think the blows have ever hardened me. My enthusiasms are still big.” quote by Kevin Costner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/kevin-costner-2386_bigs_i-m-a-what-if-person-i-have-always-felt_1635291.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/kevin-costner-2386_bigs_i-m-a-what-if-person-i-have-always-felt_1635291.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a4/kevin-costner-2386_bigs_i-m-a-what-if-person-i-have-always-felt_1635291.jpg) > “I'm a 'what if' person. I have always felt that failure was a completely underrated experience. I have taken blows. I have had high moments. But I don't think the blows have ever hardened me. My enthusiasms are still big.” [Kevin Costner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-costner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Failure is undervalued yet essential for growth; it builds resilience without hardening enthusiasm. **In simple terms:** Failure teaches growth without losing passion. Key Takeaway Embrace setbacks as learning tools. Themes resilience growth optimism learning Mood reflective determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - career setbacks - creative projects - personal challenges - entrepreneurial ventures Key Concepts psychology personal development risk taking Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance risk with confidence? - What lessons have setbacks taught you? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on failure can lead to fear of trying new things. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enthusiasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enthusiasm/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/positive/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I've always felt that failure was a completely underrated experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-costner/i-ve-always-felt-that-failure-was-a-completely-underrated-experience/) [Kevin Costner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-costner/) > [She was tough in the best sense of the word. She'd taken blows, the disappointments, and had worked her way through them. Some people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/she-was-tough-in-the-best-sense-of-the-word-she-d-taken-blows-the/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [I felt a failure because I couldn't sustain myself from what I earned from my writing. My day jobs were what mattered, and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-cisneros/i-felt-a-failure-because-i-couldn-t-sustain-myself-from-what-i-earned/) [Sandra Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-cisneros/) > [I used to feel an obligation to invent things. I felt I was a failure because I didn't do massive great novels about Australia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-used-to-feel-an-obligation-to-invent-things-i-felt-i-was-a-failure/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I think he Oswald felt he was a failure and for the United States and for President Kennedy and all of us. 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The people who deserved your unconditional trust.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lanyon/law-enforcement-hardened-you-it-made-you-cynical-about-people-even/) [josh lanyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lanyon/) > [The glassblower knows: while in the heat of beginning, any shape is possible. Once hardened, the only way to change is to break.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-nepo/the-glassblower-knows-while-in-the-heat-of-beginning-any-shape-is/) [Mark Nepo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-nepo/) > [The sun by the action of heat makes wax moist and mud dry, hardening the one while it softens the other, by the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodoret/the-sun-by-the-action-of-heat-makes-wax-moist-and-mud-dry-hardening/) Theodoret > [Then the old man's face hardened. "What about you young man?" he asked flatly. "Would you like to get what you deserve?" Jones let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-andrews/then-the-old-man-s-face-hardened-what-about-you-young-man-he-asked/) [Andy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-andrews/) > [“We still go where we want, even if we got to crawl for the right.' - Tom Joad (Jr.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/we-still-go-where-we-want-even-if-we-got-to-crawl-for-the-right-tom/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Loud o'er my head though awful thunders roll, And vivid lightnings flash from pole to pole, Yet 'tis Thy voice, my God, that bids…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/loud-o-er-my-head-though-awful-thunders-roll-and-vivid-lightnings/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [Our past is the forge upon which we are hardened and tempered, to prepare us for the present. 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