FAILURE IS NOT THE END

Beginning to Greater Success

A Great Future is Awaiting You
HAR Gobind Khorana (1922–2011) was an Indian-American biochemist. Dr. Khorana was born in Raipur in West Punjab. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Punjab University, Lahore. In 1945, he went to Manchester University and obtained a PhD. Three years later when he returned to India in 1948, he applied for a post for lectureship in Delhi University, but was rejected. This incident made him dejected and he thought his future was bleak. However, he returned to England to carry out further research in his field. His hard work yielded fruitful results and later in 1968 he received the Nobel Prize for an important discovery relating to the DNA.


If you gain success, you become contented. However, if you experience failure, then it generates great motivation in you.

There are many such instances in history of someone being denied a job or position. But, after a long struggle they have emerged as super-achievers. These events tell us about a great secret of nature. That is, failure is greater than success. If you gain success, you become content. However, if you experience failure, then it generates great motivation in you. You start to struggle more than you normally do and such qualities are unfolded in you which do not appear under normal circumstances. This is the reason why failure works as a stepping stone for great success.

Failure is Not the Last Word in Life
BIDHAN Chandra Roy (1882–1962) was a highly respected physician and a renowned freedom fighter. After Independence he was elected the second Chief Minister of West Bengal and is often considered a great architect of West Bengal, because he founded five eminent cities in the state.

However, his early years were not very encouraging for him. After graduating from Calcutta, Bidhan sailed for England with only ` 1200, intending to enrol himself at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital to further his education. The Dean, reluctant to accept a student from Asia, rejected Bidhan’s application. But Dr. Roy did not lose heart. Again and again he submitted his application until finally the Dean accepted him to the college after thirty admission requests.

There are many instances in history of such persons who experienced failure in their early years. But, they continued their struggle and finally became very successful. The amount of opportunities available is far more than the number of failures. In this state of affairs, no one needs to despair; rather one should carry on one’s struggle in an unflinching ceaseless manner. Even after failing 'thirty times', one can emerge victorious.

Failure is Greater than Success
BILL Gates (b. 1955), the American business magnate who cofounded Microsoft is consistently ranked in the Forbes list of the world’s wealthiest people. Gates once said:

I failed in some subjects in my examinations, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.

Why this difference between two persons? The reason is that success inculcated the thought in the mind of Gates’ friend of having reached his destination. Therefore, his struggle ended there. He obtained a service and began to lead a normal life.

Bill Gates’ failure, however, gave him a source of motivation. His failure motivated him to accomplish more and more to obtain what he had failed to achieve on the university campus. It was this psyche of Bill Gates that made him a hero and finally he emerged as a great name in business.

There are an abundance of such examples in history that tell us that those who faced failure in their initial years, emerged as superachievers in their later years.

In life, success and failure are relative. The message of success is: you have achieved what you wanted to achieve. This kind of thought paralyses the mind. It leads to intellectual stagnation. It tells you that the time of hard work is over and now you can lead a comfortable life. On the other hand, the message of failure is different. It tells you that you have not yet reached the destination and you have to try again by exerting more effort and energy.