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Failure Is the New Success

In: English and Literature

Submitted By candicerdrgz
Words 557
Pages 3
Failure is the new Success A great man once said that no human on earth is created in perfection. Yet, we, as members of the human race, fear failure. We are taught not to fail and, if we do, it is viewed as a shameful sign of weakness. Although we want to be succesful, it is ofren necessary to fail in order to learn the lessons that will lead to a more meaningful life. William Zinsser in “The Right to Fail” talks about how there is nothing wrong with failing. He uses some real life examples that could apply to many other people. He explains how the term failure mostly applies to all people under the age of twenty-one if they drop out of school. We all know that education and finishing school is very important but, just because a person dropped out from school it is officially over. We automatically think that “drop out” means they will never have a bright future. Zinsser then expresses his opinion that people who have actually dropped out of school or have failed multiple times still manage to reach similar success as people who did not drop out. Clearly, failing to finish school does not mean they will not be successful. He then also explains that parents are the ones who demand that we do not fail instead of telling us to “not” be afraid to fail. Although it may be difficult for parents, accepting their child’s future will offer a way for their child to become stronger and ready for the obstacles in their life. Furthermore, Zinsser cited Fred Zinnerman, the famous Hollywood director, who after the extreme failure of one of his films, defended failure by claiming, “I don’t feel obligation to be successful.” He continues, “Success can be dangerous --- you feel you know it all. I’ve learned a grat deal from my failures.” Zinnerman expressed that the key is to success is a failure and he views it as a learning tool. Zinsser makes a valuable point in this essay

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