--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: when they fail at sports or school or…" description: "\"“when they fail at sports or school or life, it's not because they didn't work hard enough or they're just not smart enough or good enough. No, they're..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04f/mark-gimenez-61136_failure_when-they-fail-at-sports-or-school-or-li_1753819.jpg" --- # when they fail at sports or school or life, it's not… ![“when they fail at sports or school or life, it's not because they didn't work hard enough or they're just not smart enough or good enough. No, they're special, so it's got to be someone else's fault. They didn't fail. Someone made them fail.” quote by Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04f/mark-gimenez-61136_failure_when-they-fail-at-sports-or-school-or-li_1753819.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04f/mark-gimenez-61136_failure_when-they-fail-at-sports-or-school-or-li_1753819.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04f/mark-gimenez-61136_failure_when-they-fail-at-sports-or-school-or-li_1753819.jpg) > ““when they fail at sports or school or life, it's not because they didn't work hard enough or they're just not smart enough or good enough. No, they're special, so it's got to be someone else's fault. They didn't fail. Someone made them fail.”” [Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) ## 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 blame external factors for failures, refusing personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** Excuses shift blame away from self. Key Takeaway Own your outcomes, avoid excuses. Themes accountability failure self‑blame Mood reflective critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education - sports - career setbacks - personal growth Key Concepts psychology of excuses personal responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What excuses do you use? - How can you take ownership of setbacks? A Different Perspective Ignoring personal role hinders learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Good enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-enough/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Work hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work-hard/) ## Related quotes > [Education in Bavaria is tough. 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Please try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kushi/many-people-believe-that-they-were-made-by-their-parents-i-didn-t-ask/) [Michio Kushi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kushi/) > [Yes I've made mistakes,life didn't come with instructions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arashi/yes-i-ve-made-mistakes-life-didn-t-come-with-instructions/) [Arashi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arashi/) > [“Life was something you didn't argue with, because when it came down to it, whether you barracked for God or nothing at all, life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/life-was-something-you-didn-t-argue-with-because-when-it-came-down-to/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I wanted to live the life, a different life. 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Music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-zimmer/i-ve-never-had-a-real-job-in-my-life-i-didn-t-learn-anything-i-was/) [Hans Zimmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-zimmer/) > [Just because a situation in your life didn't end in the matter in which you may have wanted it to, doesn't necessarily mean that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/just-because-a-situation-in-your-life-didn-t-end-in-the-matter-in/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [For so long, for my whole life I didn't have to but I lived in the closet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-evans/for-so-long-for-my-whole-life-i-didn-t-have-to-but-i-lived-in-the/) [Scott Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-evans/) > [I tended not to give a damn about anything in life because I didn't think life gave a damn about me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-paycheck/i-tended-not-to-give-a-damn-about-anything-in-life-because-i-didn-t/) [Johnny Paycheck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-paycheck/) ## More by Mark Gimenez > [“Yep. Quentin held him back in kindergarten and again in seventh grade so he'd have two extra years to get bigger. He did. Lots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-gimenez/yep-quentin-held-him-back-in-kindergarten-and-again-in-seventh-grade/) [Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) > [“Now we've got an entire generation of fucked-up narcissists 'cause their mamas told them they're special.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-gimenez/now-we-ve-got-an-entire-generation-of-fucked-up-narcissists-cause/) [Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) > [“Maybe there’s no such thing as the truth. Maybe it’s all just a point of view,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-gimenez/maybe-there-s-no-such-thing-as-the-truth-maybe-it-s-all-just-a-point/) [Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) > [“Life is not random. There are no coincidences. Human beings are more than mere molecules bouncing around life without reason. We bounce around life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-gimenez/life-is-not-random-there-are-no-coincidences-human-beings-are-more/) [Mark Gimenez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) [Explore all 5 Mark Gimenez quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-gimenez/) ## More Fail quotes > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Would you like a side of epic with that fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabi/would-you-like-a-side-of-epic-with-that-fail/) [Gabi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabi/) > [Apologies are not pass/fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/apologies-are-not-pass-fail/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [My willingness to fail gives me the ability to succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/my-willingness-to-fail-gives-me-the-ability-to-succeed/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) > [If you have a good idea you must explain it or you will fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/if-you-have-a-good-idea-you-must-explain-it-or-you-will-fail/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [We can't afford any president to fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/we-can-t-afford-any-president-to-fail/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [What I want is to be willing to fail rather than stagnate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-i-want-is-to-be-willing-to-fail-rather-than-stagnate/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [“If you die, I will find you. 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What is common there is failure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/israelmore-ayivor/quitters-don-t-gain-what-they-have-started-working-on-waiters-don-t/) [Israelmore Ayivor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/israelmore-ayivor/) > [This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-wahlberg/this-is-my-most-important-role-if-i-fail-at-this-i-fail-at-everything/) [Mark Wahlberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-wahlberg/) > [Sunscreen is something that I think a lot of people fail to incorporate into their beauty routines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zegler/sunscreen-is-something-that-i-think-a-lot-of-people-fail-to/) [Rachel Zegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zegler/) > [Never give up on something just because you think you might fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-lee-reed-jr/never-give-up-on-something-just-because-you-think-you-might-fail/) Jimmy Lee Reed Jr > [The main thing that endears the United Nations to member governments, and so enables it to survive, is its proven capacity to fail, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-cruise-o-brien/the-main-thing-that-endears-the-united-nations-to-member-governments/) [Conor Cruise O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-cruise-o-brien/) Browse all 2,202 Fail quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“when they fail at sports or school or life, it's not because they didn't work hard enough or they're just not smart enough or good enough. 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