What makes this particular observation sharp is its suggestion that failure and success operate on different teaching mechanisms—one actively builds character through resistance, while the other merely confirms what we already believe. A pianist who sight-reads a piece perfectly learns nothing about her technique, but one who stumbles on a difficult passage and works through it develops both skill and the resilience to face harder pieces. The real wisdom here isn't that failure is good (it plainly stings), but that we're wired to extract knowledge only from situations where our assumptions crack open and demand reassessment. Without that discomfort, we remain untested versions of ourselves.