Friday, May 13, 2022

This is my essay on the web comic “Between Failures”.


“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure.”

- Colin Powell

 

This web comic hit me right in the feels more than most web comics.  The reason is that I’ve seen several of my friends give up on potential art careers because they didn’t put in the time and effort to master their arts.  As Seth Godin wrote, “The only thing worse than starting something and failing... is not starting something.”

 

“Winners never quit and quitters never win.”

- Vince Lombardi was the head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers.  Vince Lombardi led the team to three NFL championships and to victories in Super Bowls I and II (1967 and 1968). Because of his success, he became a national symbol of single-minded determination to win.

 

This story of Thomas Blackwell reminds me of the joke about a man who asked a passerby “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” whose punch line is “Practice, practice, practice”.  I hope Thomas someday realizes that he needs to put in the effort to improve his artist skills while realizing that you truly never fail until you stop trying to reach your goals.  An artistic skill is not something you are born with.  An artistic skill needs to build up within you by putting in the time and effort to master.

 

As Isaac Asimov wrote in his book, “Would you believe”?

 

He

 

-Lost his job in 1832

-Was defeated for the legislature in 1832

-Failed in business in 1833

-Suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836

-Was defeated for Speaker of the Illinois state legislature in 1838

-Was Defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843

-Lost renomination for Congress in 1848

-Was rejected for land office in 1849

-Was defeated for the Senate in 1854

-Was defeated for nomination for vice-president in 1856

-Was defeated for the Senate in 1858

-Became the sixteenth president of the United States in 1861


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