"Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others"
About this Quote
The line about men is doing double work. On the surface, it’s an equality claim: women deserve the same arenas, the same tests. Underneath, it’s a critique of how those arenas are policed. Men are allowed to treat failure as part of the process, even a kind of romance. Women, especially in high-stakes public feats like aviation, are expected to represent their entire sex, to succeed flawlessly or be used as evidence that they never belonged there. Earhart refuses that rigged accounting. If she fails, the failure isn’t proof; it’s a prompt.
The final sentence is the sharpest. She doesn’t ask readers to be inspired by her triumph. She asks them to weaponize her setback against complacency. That’s how a single life becomes leverage: by turning the spectacle of a woman attempting the hazardous into a transferable mandate. The context is the early 20th century’s cramped idea of womanhood; the intent is to widen it by taking the most unforgiving stage available and daring the crowd to learn the right lesson.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Amelia Earhart, The Fun of It (1932) — Earhart’s memoir contains the passage often cited as: “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others.” |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Earhart, Amelia. (2026, January 17). Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/please-know-that-i-am-aware-of-the-hazards-i-want-29777/
Chicago Style
Earhart, Amelia. "Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/please-know-that-i-am-aware-of-the-hazards-i-want-29777/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/please-know-that-i-am-aware-of-the-hazards-i-want-29777/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.









