"When we can begin to take our failures seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves"
About this Quote
Mansfield treats failure like a stage fright problem: the disaster isn’t the flop, it’s the trembling anticipation of it. Her opening move is almost paradoxical - “take our failures seriously” doesn’t mean wallowing or self-flagellation. It means looking directly at what went wrong without the melodrama that fear demands. Seriousness, here, is a form of steadiness. Once you can face failure as an object to examine rather than a verdict on your worth, you’ve already loosened its grip.
The second sentence sharpens the point with a pivot that feels distinctly Mansfield: comedy as a moral skill. “Laugh at ourselves” isn’t a cute, self-deprecating slogan; it’s an antidote to the ego’s tyranny. Mansfield wrote in a modernist moment obsessed with exposure - of hypocrisy, of social performance, of the private self behind polite conversation. Laughter becomes a way to puncture the rigid persona that insists it must always appear competent, tasteful, in control. If you can laugh, you can survive the social gaze.
There’s also an implicit class-and-culture critique humming beneath it. Fear of failure is often fear of being seen failing: the embarrassment tax, the reputational cost, the sense that one misstep becomes a permanent identity. Mansfield suggests a quieter freedom: treat failure as information, not shame; treat yourself as a character capable of revision. The humor she argues for isn’t cruelty, but perspective - the kind that turns a life from a fragile performance into something sturdier, playable, human.
The second sentence sharpens the point with a pivot that feels distinctly Mansfield: comedy as a moral skill. “Laugh at ourselves” isn’t a cute, self-deprecating slogan; it’s an antidote to the ego’s tyranny. Mansfield wrote in a modernist moment obsessed with exposure - of hypocrisy, of social performance, of the private self behind polite conversation. Laughter becomes a way to puncture the rigid persona that insists it must always appear competent, tasteful, in control. If you can laugh, you can survive the social gaze.
There’s also an implicit class-and-culture critique humming beneath it. Fear of failure is often fear of being seen failing: the embarrassment tax, the reputational cost, the sense that one misstep becomes a permanent identity. Mansfield suggests a quieter freedom: treat failure as information, not shame; treat yourself as a character capable of revision. The humor she argues for isn’t cruelty, but perspective - the kind that turns a life from a fragile performance into something sturdier, playable, human.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning from Mistakes |
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