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The question

How has a setback or failure set you up for later success?
Ben Bradlee

Executive editor of The Washington Post, 1968–1991

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
We made one mistake in a story in which we said that — Woodward and Bernstein said — that there was a slush fund of $300,000 set up in the Committee to Re-elect the President, and it was controlled by Haldeman, and that one of the witnesses had testified to that slush fund to the grand jury investigating Watergate. ... It turned out that he hadn’t been asked, and that interested us a great deal, because if the prosecution wasn’t asking him those interesting questions, that suggested that there was a reason they weren’t, and the reason might be that they were trying to cover it up. Anyway, it took two days, and we got confirmation that there was, and in fact there was a slush fund of $750,000.

Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 1 May 2003 source ↗

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Li Na Chinese professional tennis player, 1999–2014
As hard as it's been to come to this decision, I am at peace with it. I have no regrets. I was not supposed to be here in the first place, remember? Not many people believed in my talent and my abilities, yet I found a way to persevere, to prove them (and sometimes myself!) wrong.
Recorded Open letter, 'My dear friends', Fox Sports Australia, 19 September 2014 source ↗
Robert S. Langer Biomedical engineer; Institute Professor at MIT
In fact, what I usually say to people, “Probably some of the most successful scientists are the ones that know how to deal with failure well.” Because it’s easy to feel good when you succeed. That’s an easy thing. But you’re probably going to fail in science a lot more than you succeed, so you really have to learn how to deal with it and not let it beat you.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 25 October 2012 source ↗
Frederick W. Smith Founder and long-serving chairman of FedEx Corporation
I was a student at Yale and wrote a paper about the computerized society that was on the horizon. ... Then I sort of let that lie. I didn’t get a particularly good grade on it, as I recall.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 23 May 1998 source ↗
Whitney Wolfe Herd Founder and chief executive of Bumble
Don't be scared of the ‘what ifs,’ because the truth is, the only failure is not trying. That's the only way you can fail. Trying and having it not work out isn't failure.
Recorded CNBC Make It interview, conducted 2019, 11 February 2021 source ↗

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