--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A man's task is to find himself, and if…" description: "\"A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.\" — William Manchester" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg" --- # A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this… ![“A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.” quote by William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg) > “A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.” [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑discovery is the primary goal; failure to achieve it renders other achievements less meaningful. **In simple terms:** Finding yourself matters more than other successes. Key Takeaway Prioritize self‑knowledge. Themes identity purpose self‑discovery meaning Mood introspective motivational Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - career planning - life coaching - education Key Concepts existential purpose personal growth philosophical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What steps help you discover yourself? - Are external goals ever truly fulfilling? A Different Perspective External achievements may still hold value despite self‑search failures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [Man's task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/man-s-task-is-to-become-conscious-of-the-contents-that-press-upward/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I tend to work best as a one-man Task Force, including even the roles of messenger, coffee maker and office cleaner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/i-tend-to-work-best-as-a-one-man-task-force-including-even-the-roles/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Man's task is simple. He should cease letting his existence be a thoughtless accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/man-s-task-is-simple-he-should-cease-letting-his-existence-be-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Life is a task to be done. It is a fine thing to say defunctus est; it means that the man has done his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/life-is-a-task-to-be-done-it-is-a-fine-thing-to-say-defunctus-est-it/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [ Every man's task \[his 'great dream' and impassioned life-goal\] is his life preserver. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-man-s-task-his-great-dream-and-impassioned-life-goal-is-his/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Executives will talk about the importance of passion, but what they really mean is finding somebody who will work nights and weekends on their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/executives-will-talk-about-the-importance-of-passion-but-what-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If you are sufficient for your task it's too small.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/if-you-are-sufficient-for-your-task-it-s-too-small/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Our task is to look at the world, and see it whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/our-task-is-to-look-at-the-world-and-see-it-whole/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Panic, not the task, is the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-beattie/panic-not-the-task-is-the-enemy/) [Melody Beattie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-beattie/) > [No task is a long one but the task on which one dare not start. It becomes a nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/no-task-is-a-long-one-but-the-task-on-which-one-dare-not-start-it/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [If a child is off-task...mayb e the problem is not the child...maybe it's the task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfie-kohn/if-a-child-is-off-task-mayb-e-the-problem-is-not-the-child-maybe-it-s/) [Alfie Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfie-kohn/) > [The task of a leader is to simplify. You should be able to explain where you need to go in two minutes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeroen-van-der-veer/the-task-of-a-leader-is-to-simplify-you-should-be-able-to-explain/) Jeroen van der Veer > [The task of an author is, either to teach what is not known, or to recommend known truths by his manner of adorning them;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-task-of-an-author-is-either-to-teach-what-is-not-known-or-to/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Sometimes, I feel promoting a film is a more difficult task than acting!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emraan-hashmi/sometimes-i-feel-promoting-a-film-is-a-more-difficult-task-than-acting/) [Emraan Hashmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emraan-hashmi/) > [Never help a child with a task that they feel they can complete themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/never-help-a-child-with-a-task-that-they-feel-they-can-complete/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) ## More by William Manchester > [ It is true that despite occasional gleams of Churchillian eloquence he \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur\] usually spoke poorly. He was far more effective in conversations… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-is-true-that-despite-occasional-gleams-of-churchillian-eloquence/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/men-do-not-fight-for-flag-or-country-for-the-marine-corps-or-glory-or/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [Actors who have tried to play Churchill and MacArthur have failed abysmally because each of those men was a great actor playing himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/actors-who-have-tried-to-play-churchill-and-macarthur-have-failed/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [I realized that the worst thing that could happen to me was about to happen to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/i-realized-that-the-worst-thing-that-could-happen-to-me-was-about-to/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [“The key to successful extramarital sex, therefore, was discretion. Mrs. Patrick Campbell, perhaps the most outspoken woman in polite society, said dryly: “It doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/the-key-to-successful-extramarital-sex-therefore-was-discretion-mrs/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [“It was Churchill who called John Foster Dulles “the only bull who brings his own china shop with him,” and who coined the progression,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/it-was-churchill-who-called-john-foster-dulles-the-only-bull-who/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [I came to a dead stop and began major revisions. Sometimes these entailed the shredding of all existing manuscript for a fresh start -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/i-came-to-a-dead-stop-and-began-major-revisions-sometimes-these/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [He was a great thundering paradox of a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/he-was-a-great-thundering-paradox-of-a-man/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [“Byron wrote his shortest and most eloquent poem as a testament to a titled woman who had taken leave of her husband for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/byron-wrote-his-shortest-and-most-eloquent-poem-as-a-testament-to-a/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [ His \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur's\] own heroes were Lincoln and Washington, and in some ways he resembled them. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/his-gen-douglas-macarthur-s-own-heroes-were-lincoln-and-washington/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [But there are no loners. No man lives in a void. His every act is conditioned by his time and his society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/but-there-are-no-loners-no-man-lives-in-a-void-his-every-act-is/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [As she sallied forth from her boudoir, you would never have guessed how quickly she could strip for action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/as-she-sallied-forth-from-her-boudoir-you-would-never-have-guessed/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [“In 1988, William Manchester began writing The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, the third and final volume of his biography of Winston Churchill.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/in-1988-william-manchester-began-writing-the-last-lion-defender-of/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [ His \[Gen. Douglas MacArthur's\] own heroes were Lincoln and Washington, and in some ways he resembled them. Like them, he was slandered and misunderstood. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/his-gen-douglas-macarthur-s-own-heroes-were-lincoln-and-washington-2/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) > [ The colors of the underwater rock \[are\] as pale and delicate as those in the wardrobe of an 18th-century marchioness. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/the-colors-of-the-underwater-rock-are-as-pale-and-delicate-as-those/) [William Manchester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) [Explore all 35 William Manchester quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/) ## More Failing quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [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/) > [Trial by jury. Live wherever you can make a living. How could a government based on such principles fail?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ambrose/trial-by-jury-live-wherever-you-can-make-a-living-how-could-a/) [Stephen Ambrose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-ambrose/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [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/) > [I would warn against holsters with devices for quick-draw. Devices always fail when you need them most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-powell/i-would-warn-against-holsters-with-devices-for-quick-draw-devices/) [William Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-powell/) > [You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/price-pritchett/you-can-t-bake-a-cake-without-getting-the-kitchen-messy-halfway/) [Price Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/price-pritchett/) > [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/) > [When I paint, I never think of selling. People simply fail to understand that we paint in order to experiment and to develop ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edvard-munch/when-i-paint-i-never-think-of-selling-people-simply-fail-to/) [Edvard Munch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edvard-munch/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [I wake up every morning fearing I am going to fail. But I love a challenge, big or small. There's so much I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-mone/i-wake-up-every-morning-fearing-i-am-going-to-fail-but-i-love-a/) [Michelle Mone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-mone/) > [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/) > [In proportion as our inward life fails, we go more constantly and desperately to the post office. You may depend on it, that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/in-proportion-as-our-inward-life-fails-we-go-more-constantly-and/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [The very first company I started failed with a great bang. The second one failed a little bit less, but still failed. The third…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-levchin/the-very-first-company-i-started-failed-with-a-great-bang-the-second/) [Max Levchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-levchin/) Browse all 5,634 Failing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "William Manchester" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-he-fails-in-this-it-doesn-t/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-he-fails-in-this-it-doesn-t/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c51/william-manchester-18393_failing_a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-h_540913.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A man's task is to find himself, and if he fails in this, it doesn't much matter what else he finds.” — William Manchester", "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": "William Manchester", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-manchester/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A man's task is to find...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-he-fails-in-this-it-doesn-t/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-manchester/a-man-s-task-is-to-find-himself-and-if-he-fails-in-this-it-doesn-t/#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 } } ] } ```