Skip to content

The question

How has a setback or failure set you up for later success?
Cal Ripken Jr.

Baseball player; holder of the record for consecutive games played

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
No. I mean if you fail 70 percent of the time, you had a great year. You're dealing with failure seven out of ten times as a hitter.

Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, Washington, D.C., 18 August 2020 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 69 →
Derek Sivers Founder of CD Baby; author of Anything You Want
In the end, I had to pay $3.3 million dollars to buy back that 90%.
Recorded Essay on sive.rs, Derek Sivers, 27 May 2009 source ↗
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 ↗
Mike Krzyzewski Basketball coach at Duke University, 1980-2022; winner of five NCAA championships
The world would say it was failure. But the difference was so small between us. They played great, but they lost.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, Durham, North Carolina, 1 May 2001 source ↗
Jensen Huang Co-founder, president and chief executive of NVIDIA
One setback after another, we shook it off and skated to the next opportunity. Each time, we gain skills and strengthen our character. No setback that comes our way doesn't look like an opportunity these days.
Recorded n/a, California Institute of Technology 130th Annual Commencement, 14 June 2024, NVIDIA Blog, 15 June 2024 source ↗

More from Cal Ripken Jr.

View profile →

More on failure & regret

Also answered this

Adam Peaty, Susan Butcher, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Krzyzewski, Li Na, Sir Roger Bannister

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer