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I am trying (but failing) to understand the meaning of this life quote:

Trying is a part of failing. If you are afraid to fail then you are afraid to try.

Can you explain what it means?

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    This is very odd. It looks like someone got it twisted around backwards. It should say failing is a part of trying. That is, trying often involves failing. That's why people "afraid to fail" are often "afraid to try". The last half could be put as "If you are afraid to try, it is because you are afraid to fail."
    – Brian Hitchcock
    Aug 26, 2015 at 7:06
  • I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's based on an "illogical misquotation" (of failing is part of trying).
    – FumbleFingers
    Aug 26, 2015 at 16:32
  • @FumbleFingers: See aparente001's answer below. This isn't a simple matter of bungled word order, I suspect, but an intentionally provocative misordering done for effect—and (from the speaker's point of view, I daresay) to reach a deeper truth. Opinions as to the actual depth and truth of that deeper truth will vary from hearer to hearer, no doubt.
    – Sven Yargs
    Aug 26, 2015 at 17:32
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    @FumbleFingers: I don't disagree. If there is a plain meaning to be gleaned from the reversed order, the question is one of simple word definitions in a particular combination. If not, we're suddenly (and unpleasantly) up to our necks in interpretation.
    – Sven Yargs
    Aug 26, 2015 at 17:56
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    @Sven: Me, I'm way past "up to my eyebrows" with this one. Putting aside the "misquoted" explanation, I find it almost impossible to interpret those first six words as implying anything other than "Failing" is a [good] thing, of which "trying" is a necessary component. Which doesn't make a lot of sense to me as a "lifestyle recommendation".
    – FumbleFingers
    Aug 26, 2015 at 18:01

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I googled your quote and found that the source is a "training consultant" named Sukh Sandhu. I think you should see if you can find some print resources of his that explain his thinking around trying and failing; if you can't find any, you could try contacting him.

However, I will go ahead and make a stab at providing a possible context for how one might arrive at this aphorism.

Accomplishing something worthwhile is rarely a linear process with no zigzagging. You try something, if it doesn't work quite right, you make some adjustments, and try again. In other words, some failures are inevitable. But the fear of failing can get in the way of this process. So I advise letting go of the fear of failing. One way of doing this is to embrace failure. Anticipate it. Welcome it.

How can you achieve those desired results of failed experiments? By trying. Don't be afraid to try. Think out of the box. Be creative.

Conclusion 1: Much trying and failing must be done on the way to your ultimate goal. Hence "Trying is a part of failing."

Conclusion 2: Don't allow your experimenting to be blocked by the fear of failure. Being afraid of failure can get in the way of the trying out different things that needs to take place. Thus, if you are afraid to fail, then you will be afraid to try things out.

I think this may be one of those cases where you had to be there (at the motivational lecture) to really get it.

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    +1 for finding the source of the cited quotation. I note that a related image asserts "Failure is not the opposite of success. It is part of success." The latter formulation, it seems to me, makes a lot more sense than the one offered by Sukh Sandhu—but anyone who can make a career out of pythonic declarations such as "Trying is a part of failing" has obviously got an effective working knowledge of the trying/failing equation.
    – Sven Yargs
    Aug 26, 2015 at 17:25
  • +1 well done for making sense of this question and for a thoughtful response. I got lost trying to work out what it meant!
    – Julie Carter
    Aug 27, 2015 at 8:34
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There's an expression, "nothing ventured, nothing gained," meaning if you don't take the chance, you'll never move ahead. The quote you offer says something similar, although I would turn the first part around: "Failing is a part of trying. If you are afraid to fail, then you are afraid to try."

Something similar was said by the immortal Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try." To put it in its simplest form: Go for it and commit to it. If you don't, you'll never progress in your life."

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  • Sure that Yoda's quote means the same thing, I am not.
    – deceze
    Aug 26, 2015 at 11:17
  • @deceze - Are you asking whether ewormuth is sure that Yoda's quote means the same thing?
    – aparente001
    Aug 26, 2015 at 12:24
  • @aparente001 Saying that "Do or do not. There is no try." probably means something slightly different than "nothing ventured, nothing gained" I am.
    – deceze
    Aug 26, 2015 at 12:28
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    In my opinion: Nothing ventured nothing gained means that if you are afraid to try, nothing will ever happen/change. However the do or do not more represents that you should have conviction in your actions, be certain and stick to your guns rather than giving up at the first hurdle. Similar but with different lessons intended
    – nickson104
    Aug 26, 2015 at 13:01
  • Okay, but I couldn't resist it. I still think it says pretty much the same thing, though slightly different.
    – ewormuth
    Aug 26, 2015 at 14:10
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Trying IS a part of failing. It is also a part of succeeding. But if you don't try, you will neither fail nor succeed. And it is the fear of failure that causes people not to try, however that also results in a failure to succeed.

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  • Admirably succinct!
    – aparente001
    Aug 27, 2015 at 4:45

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