"Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success"
About this Quote
The wording does a clever bit of emotional accounting. “Although quite painful” nods to the listener’s reality, buying credibility by admitting the obvious. Then it flips the ledger: frustration becomes “positive” and “essential,” not merely tolerable. That escalation matters. If frustration is essential, you don’t try to eliminate it; you learn to interpret it. The subtext is a modern productivity ethic: discomfort isn’t a warning sign, it’s a signal you’re stretching competence, colliding with constraints, meeting the market’s indifference. In startup culture and hustle culture, this reframing is practically doctrine.
There’s also a quiet moral promise embedded in “part of success.” It implies a causal chain: frustration isn’t random suffering; it’s the admission price. That’s persuasive because it restores meaning to a feeling that usually reads as wasted effort. The risk, of course, is the same rhetorical trick can justify bad systems and bad bets. Some frustration is growth; some is data telling you to pivot. Bennett’s intent is to keep you moving, but the sharper takeaway is to use frustration as information, not as a verdict.
Quote Details
| Topic | Success |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bennett, Bo. (2026, January 15). Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/frustration-although-quite-painful-at-times-is-a-43997/
Chicago Style
Bennett, Bo. "Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/frustration-although-quite-painful-at-times-is-a-43997/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Frustration, although quite painful at times, is a very positive and essential part of success." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/frustration-although-quite-painful-at-times-is-a-43997/. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.







