Americans and Failure

“Here in America, on the other hand,” he went on, “people don’t fear uncertainty so much, and they fear failure even less.  You change from one job to the next like you’re changing channels on the television.  If you get tired of working for other people, you can try to start your own business, with hardly a moment’s thought about the risk.  Look at how many businesses fail after only one year, and almost none make it past three.  America is a land full of failures, and I say that only because that is what makes it great.  In this country, when your dreams crash and burn all around you, you’re expected to simply learn from your mistakes, pick up the pieces from the wreckage, and start all over again.  There’s no shame in it.  And if you’re tired of your job or of running your own business, well, then you can go back to school at night and learn how to become a lawyer or a doctor or an architect or whatever you like.  If you’re willing to work, there are no preconceived notions about what you can become or how far you can go.  Trust me, it’s not like this in other parts of the world.  It’s the main reason so many people come to this country — to be free of the old ways of thinking about themselves.”

— Peter Pezzelli, Italian Lessons, p. 70

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