Winston Churchill (1874-1965) was a British Prime Minister, statesmen, army officer and writer. He famously led Great Britain through World War II and in 2002 was named as the greatest Briton of all-time. His knowledge bomb:
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
We as humans have a great capacity to over-estimate the longevity of success and the fatality of failure. When we experience failure it can knock us down for months or even years. Once we have achieved a measure of success, however, sometimes we coast and think that we have "made it".
Success must be built upon with hard work so that we can maintain our success. If we reach a certain level and let our effort and innovation slip, we risk falling back into mediocrity.
Just as success is not permanent, failure is not fatal. Failure is an opportunity to learn and improve. Many great people have failed before they ever experienced a modicum of success. We must take our failures and turn them on their head and use them as a positive, and we must never take success for granted. It too can be fleeting.
My name is Scott. Please follow me for more Knowledge Bombs as well as poetry and other thoughts.