“plans are one thing and fate another. when they coincide, success results. yet, success musn’t be considered the absolute. it is questionable, for that matter, whether success is an adequate response to life. success can eliminate as many options as failure.”
-Tom Robbins, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
(thanks Liz Filardi)
2 Comments
A bit cryptic but I think I get the point: failure actually pushes you to explore other options, whereas once you’ve succeeded it take a very brave person to try something new. However, I’m not sure “success” is stable; it’s always contingent on other factors (like fate) which are always changing. Because of this your success, if routinized, will likely turn to failure.
We need to make sure to remember to comment upon the fluidity of success (and failure) in our writings
I was thinking he’s commenting on the unreliability of our collective successometer. As in, even if circumstances outside our control allow for the fruition of our plans, it’s questionable they were even the best plans for us in the first place.