Lani's Blog

If You Think You Fail, Fail Gloriously

If you think you fail, fail gloriously








This quote sounds like another way of saying, "Put you whole heart into it." Whatever it is. Is this real comfort or cold praise?


I though of one particular Olympic swim race when I saw this quote. Michael Phelps recently appeared on CBS 60 Minutes. He said the difference between him and his Serbian-American opponent, Milorad Čavić, was a small error in judgment. Mr.Čavić checked lane placement by raising his head before he touched the wall. Mr. Phelps did not. The difference was 1/1000 of a second. Mr.Čavić failed gloriously to say the least. Would he take comfort in this adage? I think so, because he wrote in his blog:





"People, this is the greatest moment of my life. If you ask me, it should be accepted and we should move on. I’ve accepted defeat, and there’s nothing wrong with losing to the greatest swimmer there has ever been."