-^-for posterity-^-

in vietnamese, there is an expression: 'failure is the mother of success.'

i don't think we have this expression in the west. we have expressions that deal with trying and then succeeding, but i'm not sure whether we have an expression that can be translated directly. we do not see failure as being important in success.

'if at first you don't succeed, try, try again.' says nothing about the need to fail in order to actually succeed.

i think there is a lot of merit in the vietnamese phrase. failure is such a vital part of sustainable success that one must be more than eager to try, fail and try again. this is especially true of someone learning languages. ask anyone who speaks a second language well and they'll tell you that one of the most important things in learning another language is the willingness to try and fail. one can not hesitate to use a new word or phrase. one must speak, speak incorrectly and do so hundreds of times. only then can one have success.

do we have any other phrases that talk about the need to fail and how that influences success? if we don't, we should definitely adopt some.