"Defeat doesn't finish a man, quit[ing] does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits."- Richard Nixon

We always try to equate our failures with our victories, but why? Why does society emphasize the role of failure? In high school we learned the price of failure though grades and other ventures, and that impact on our scholarly paths. But then they told us that it's okay to fail, it's okay to do wrong and learn from our mistakes. But why not cut out the middle man? What's the point of learning about failure when we are driving towards the success of our efforts? Maybe I'm questioning too much but I don't see the practicality behind justifying and gratifying failures. Not that failure isn't helpful- learning from mistakes is a key part of growing up, I think. But when we look back we'd like to think, in an almost weirdly economic sense, why not just ask questions and try to avoid painful mistakes, instead of charging headfirst into them? I ask because that's what I did, and this might not be everyone's case, but it might still ring true somewhere.

- AliAkbar M. Hassonjee