A miniature wooden staircase with a railing stands on a plain blue-grey tabletop.

Original artwork, not a still

J.M. Barrie

We are all failures - at least, the best of us are.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Failure is made universal, then attached especially to people who might usually be called the best. The reversal unsettles a simple division between successful lives and unsuccessful ones. It leaves room for aspiration, risk and imperfection to exist inside an admirable life rather than outside it.

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