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The question

How has a setback or failure set you up for later success?
AR
Anthony Romero

American lawyer; executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
We have failed seven times up at bat, and we strike out, and I think, "How can I learn from that failure? What went wrong? What could I have done differently?" You have to take it apart to understand your failures. Failures teach you much more than your successes. Sometimes it is better just to pause on a setback, on a failure, on a screw-up, and say, "What did I learn from this?" You learn how to do it better and you recommit yourself.

Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, New York, New York, 1 April 2005 source ↗

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Richard Feynman Theoretical physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 1965
It was a brilliant idea: You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish.  I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be.
Recorded Excerpt from “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman”, Engineering and Science / Caltech Magazine, 1985 source ↗
Daniel Ek Co-founder and former chief executive of Spotify
It was like switching out the engines mid-flight. I remember the day we turned on this free service, had we probably gone on for about six more months, I think we might have died as a company. That was a defining moment and that was as late as 2013. I think every great company has at least three near-death experiences.
Recorded Slush conference, Helsinki, Music Ally, 30 November 2016 source ↗
Nora Ephron Journalist, essayist, screenwriter and film director
I wish I had learned more from failure than just mortification. I don’t think you learn much from success, and I don’t think you learn much from failure, unfortunately. It’s one of the sad things. You certainly learn that it’s more fun to have a hit than a flop.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 21 June 2007 source ↗
Steve Jobs Co-founder and chief executive of Apple; co-founder of NeXT; chief executive of Pixar
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
Recorded Stanford University 114th Commencement, Stanford News (Stanford University), 12 June 2005 source ↗

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