"If you try to do your best there is no failure"
About this Quote
Mike Farrell offers a countercultural definition of success: when effort is wholehearted, failure loses its sting. The emphasis shifts from results to character, from trophies to integrity. To try to do your best is not a platitude but a rigorous ethic. It asks for honesty about preparation, courage in execution, and humility in learning. Outcomes still matter, but they no longer dictate self-worth.
This stance resonates with the realities of Farrells world. As an actor best known for M*A*S*H and as a long-time activist, he has worked in arenas where rejection and setbacks are routine. Auditions fall flat, projects stall, campaigns for social change drag on for years. If success were defined only by immediate wins, perseverance would be impossible. By treating effort as the true measure, he protects the inner engine that makes progress possible. The work may not yield the hoped-for result, but the person is not diminished.
The line also echoes stoic and growth-mindset traditions. Control what you can: your preparation, your choices, your response. Let outcomes inform you, not define you. Saying there is no failure does not erase consequences or lower standards. It reframes failure as information. You still analyze what went wrong, adjust, and return with better tools. The only real failure becomes the decision to quit caring or to shirk responsibility.
There is a challenge hidden here. Doing your best is easy to claim and hard to live. It demands self-scrutiny to separate genuine effort from convenient excuses. It may even require setting boundaries, resting, and building sustainable habits so that your best is actually reachable. But when best effort is genuine, it carries its own dignity. Measured by fidelity to values and sustained exertion, success becomes a daily practice rather than a verdict handed down by fortune, and resilience becomes the natural byproduct of living that way.
This stance resonates with the realities of Farrells world. As an actor best known for M*A*S*H and as a long-time activist, he has worked in arenas where rejection and setbacks are routine. Auditions fall flat, projects stall, campaigns for social change drag on for years. If success were defined only by immediate wins, perseverance would be impossible. By treating effort as the true measure, he protects the inner engine that makes progress possible. The work may not yield the hoped-for result, but the person is not diminished.
The line also echoes stoic and growth-mindset traditions. Control what you can: your preparation, your choices, your response. Let outcomes inform you, not define you. Saying there is no failure does not erase consequences or lower standards. It reframes failure as information. You still analyze what went wrong, adjust, and return with better tools. The only real failure becomes the decision to quit caring or to shirk responsibility.
There is a challenge hidden here. Doing your best is easy to claim and hard to live. It demands self-scrutiny to separate genuine effort from convenient excuses. It may even require setting boundaries, resting, and building sustainable habits so that your best is actually reachable. But when best effort is genuine, it carries its own dignity. Measured by fidelity to values and sustained exertion, success becomes a daily practice rather than a verdict handed down by fortune, and resilience becomes the natural byproduct of living that way.
Quote Details
| Topic | Motivational |
|---|
More Quotes by Mike
Add to List
