Most people quietly fear failure more than almost anything else, enough that it stops them from ever actually trying. Michael Jordan drew a sharper line than that. "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying," he wrote. It is one of his most quoted lines, and it carries weight precisely because it came from a man who missed more shots than most players ever attempt. Widely regarded as the best to ever play basketball, Jordan built that reputation on a career that included far more failure than the highlight reels usually let on, which is exactly what makes the distinction he draws in this quote worth taking seriously rather than treating as a nice-sounding slogan. For Jordan , failure was never evidence that someone lacked talent; it was proof that they had stepped into the arena and taken a chance. The greater mistake, in his view, was avoiding the attempt altogether, because that guarantees no possibility of growth, success or discovery. The quote continues to resonate far beyond sport, inspiring athletes, entrepreneurs and students alike to embrace setbacks as an essential part of progress rather than a reason to give up.
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