--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: History can’t give attention to what’s…" description: "\"“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that ena..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png" --- # History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden… ![“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that enabled success.[31] Without at least imagining the missing dimensions to the stories, our view of how to make things happen in the present is…” quote by Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png) > ““History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that enabled success.\[31\] Without at least imagining the missing dimensions to the stories, our view of how to make things happen in the present is seriously compromised.”” [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History often highlights triumphs while ignoring the failures that made them possible, leading to a skewed understanding of how to succeed today. **In simple terms:** We focus on successes, missing crucial lessons from failures. Key Takeaway Seek out hidden failures to inform present actions. Themes history learning innovation failure perspective Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - business strategy - personal development - policy making - academic research Key Concepts systems thinking counterfactual reasoning learning from failure Questions to Reflect On - What failures have you overlooked? - How might hidden lessons change your current plans? A Different Perspective Success stories alone can create overconfidence and blind spots. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failures/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Things happen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-happen/) ## Related quotes > [History can't give attention to what's been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or-2/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [The failures that we have are sometimes expensive educations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashton-kutcher/the-failures-that-we-have-are-sometimes-expensive-educations/) [Ashton Kutcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashton-kutcher/) > [You need to fail quickly and learn from those failures to continue to build along the way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-hyman/you-need-to-fail-quickly-and-learn-from-those-failures-to-continue-to/) [Jennifer Hyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-hyman/) > [I've certainly had a number of failures along the way, depending on my own instincts and creativity, some fairly celebrated, at least during their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-iger/i-ve-certainly-had-a-number-of-failures-along-the-way-depending-on-my/) [Bob Iger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-iger/) > [Champions learn from their - I'm not going to say failures - but they learn from the losses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-alcaraz/champions-learn-from-their-i-m-not-going-to-say-failures-but-they/) [Carlos Alcaraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-alcaraz/) > [“With a business, we take most failures less personally and understand they’re part of the process.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/with-a-business-we-take-most-failures-less-personally-and-understand/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [In life, there are only lessons, no failures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/in-life-there-are-only-lessons-no-failures/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [There's a spectrum of those moments of connection and the moments we fail to connect, going from super-large successes to failures. 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Bennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-g-bennis/) > [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/) ## More by Scott Berkun > [“We develop ulcers, high blood pressure, headaches, and other physical problems in part because our stress systems aren’t designed to handle the “dangers” of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/we-develop-ulcers-high-blood-pressure-headaches-and-other-physical/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [ “Human beings, who are almost unique \[among animals\] in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/human-beings-who-are-almost-unique-among-animals-in-having-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“What good is something that scales well if it sucks? Why is size the ultimate goal or even a goal at all?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/what-good-is-something-that-scales-well-if-it-sucks-why-is-size-the/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [It seems that bad advice that's fun will always be better known than than good advice that's dull-no matter how useless that fun advice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/it-seems-that-bad-advice-that-s-fun-will-always-be-better-known-than/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [ When I'm the speaker, I know that special moment \[just before speaking\] is the only time I will have the entire audience's full attention.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/when-i-m-the-speaker-i-know-that-special-moment-just-before-speaking/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“The best lesson from the myths of Newton and Archimedes is to work passionately but to take breaks. 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Well, at least one person did, President William Henry Harrison, but he developed pneumonia after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/no-one-has-died-from-giving-a-bad-presentation-well-at-least-one/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [Good public speaking is based on good private thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/good-public-speaking-is-based-on-good-private-thinking/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [It's rare for people to genuinely try to understand what others are trying to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/it-s-rare-for-people-to-genuinely-try-to-understand-what-others-are/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) > [“Einstein said, “ Imagination is more important than knowledge,” but you’d be hard-pressed to find schools or corporations that invest in people with those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/einstein-said-imagination-is-more-important-than-knowledge-but-you-d/) [Scott Berkun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) [Explore all 54 Scott Berkun quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/) ## 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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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": "“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of success, not the partial failures that enabled success.[31] Without at least imagining the missing dimensions to the stories, our view of how to make things happen in the present is seriously compromised.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scott Berkun" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/07f/scott-berkun-12409_failure_history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-b_625395.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“History can’t give attention to what’s been lost, hidden, or deliberately buried; it is mostly a telling of…” — Scott Berkun", "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": "Scott Berkun", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-berkun/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“History can’t give attention to what’s...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-berkun/history-can-t-give-attention-to-what-s-been-lost-hidden-or/#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 } } ] } ```