Failure is a concept that many people fear. The very thought of the word sends anxiety into the hearts of those who wish to be a success or have big goals for themselves. Yet failure has been around for ages. From the time of Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo to President Obama failing to keep his promises to the county. Failures are seen as a negative factor of life. This raises the question as to whether or not people should view failure in this way. William Zinsser asks this same question in his work “The Right to Fail.” He fallows failure down every path to determine whether or not it is as harmful as society makes it out to be. As he studies failure, Zinsser’s observations of failure confirm that failure benefits the growth of success.
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There are many examples of men and women who were considered failures but later were deemed a success. A man Zinsser uses to show his point is Thomas P.F. Hoving. He says, “Hoving was a dropout’s dropout, entering and leaving schools like they were motels, often at the request of the management.” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) Although society might consider Hoving a failure, he proved the system wrong. Zinsser shows his credentials, “New York’s former Parks Commissioner and now director of the metropolitan Museum of Art.” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) Hoving is an example of how what society calls a failure can become successful from the untraditional way. Zinsser gives another example of a person who views failure as potential, “Fred Zinnerrmann, Who has directed some of Hollywood’s most honored movies” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) He uses Zinnermann’s failure on his first movie to prove the point that people can learn from their mistakes and use that failure to grow and succeed. Without the failure Zinnermann’s first movie, he would have never learned what a bad film looked like, so he would have never fixed his mistakes to become a leading film director. This is the same for all people. If there is no failure there is no recollection as to how to make better decisions to be
There are many examples of men and women who were considered failures but later were deemed a success. A man Zinsser uses to show his point is Thomas P.F. Hoving. He says, “Hoving was a dropout’s dropout, entering and leaving schools like they were motels, often at the request of the management.” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) Although society might consider Hoving a failure, he proved the system wrong. Zinsser shows his credentials, “New York’s former Parks Commissioner and now director of the metropolitan Museum of Art.” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) Hoving is an example of how what society calls a failure can become successful from the untraditional way. Zinsser gives another example of a person who views failure as potential, “Fred Zinnerrmann, Who has directed some of Hollywood’s most honored movies” (Zinsser, 2014 p. 190) He uses Zinnermann’s failure on his first movie to prove the point that people can learn from their mistakes and use that failure to grow and succeed. Without the failure Zinnermann’s first movie, he would have never learned what a bad film looked like, so he would have never fixed his mistakes to become a leading film director. This is the same for all people. If there is no failure there is no recollection as to how to make better decisions to be