is it a MISTAKE to FAIL.....or is it a FAILURE to Commit a MISTAKE?

Question

when is MISTAKE the same as FAILURE......
When are they Different?

Answer 1

The only time a mistake is a failure, or a failure is a mistake is when we refuse to learn anything from it, or try again. Mistakes and failures are a natural part of the learning process, and they are a test of character.

As to when they are different, if you make a mistake that leads to success, it is not a failure. This often happens in the scientific community, which is why they put such a high emphasis on observation and analysis. If a failure leads to the realization that you need to go in a different direction, it is most certainly not a mistake.

Answer 2

One may always fail by a mistake, but it's not a mistake to do so. Similarly it's surely no failure to commit a mistake. It's what you do after it that matters. Mistakes are only the paving stones of learning, and doing better. They can open an unseen opportunity. None matter if they're not fatal. The only mistake that matters is failing to see you're made one. There's a lot of that about. Seeing them often requires a long-range rear-view mirror, and we all look different in one of those, so it's a shock most avoid.

Answer 3

mistake is the same as failure when you don't accomplish what you set out to do; literally speaking, you have failed, however, whether that mistake is really a failure is a totally different question, as it is almost always ok to make mistakes, unless you wind up seriously hurting someone or yourself in the process. mistakes are how we learn. the thing is to press on and do better the next time. failure is a much harsher sounding word and does connotate a lot more melancholia, but again, it's all relative. go easy on yourself when necessary and be harder on yourself when you really have done something very wrong. the answer is perspective.

Answer 4

I would consider failure in an attempt simply a mistake and I would consider it a mistake not to attempt at all.

It is my opinion that a mistake is a failure to try at all. Mistake and failure would then be considered the same, when, in trying for another attempt you have committed the same mistake as before in the attempt, not learning from the previous mistake.

A Buddhist perspective...

Answer 5

I think when one makes a mistake, then tries to right it, and that decision makes things even worse, and it just keeps getting worse until the original intent is overtaken and one can't see the intent anymore but only the calamity, then it's a failure.
Or a mistake can be big enouph to be a failure in and of itself. But even then it's most likely not a failed life, just that aspect of life.
And you know what? All mistakes and failures can be forgiven. One can move on....

Answer 6

Failing is not necessarily a mistake, though making a mistake is a failure. The idea is that you can learn from mistakes, but not all failures are so obvious or even perceived as failures such that one can learn from them.

Answer 7

"It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose. That is not a fallacy; that's life." (Jon-Luke Picard, "Star Trek TNG")

A mistake equals a failure only when it causes the failure. However, as the quote above states, one can fail even when they don't make any mistakes and in this case the two would be different.

Answer 8

A mistake is known as a human error. As humans we make some wrong dissions. Most of the time, we learn from our mistakes (doing a math problem wrong for example). Failing is known as "giving up", not trying anymore to succed because it may seem impossible. (Not studying for a test because you "think" that you will just get a low score anyways).
Sometimes a mistake can lead to being a failure... (Taking drugs)...

Answer 9

I don't think they equate in any way. What is your definition of mistake, or failure? What I defined, in the past, to be a mistake has in retrospect become quite positive. (Subjectively, of course.) Failure is the same. The concept isn't carved in stone, isn't objective. An action, an inaction, an incident is not a place in time, but travels journeys over time. We may perceive it as a mistake, or a failure at the time, or later, but was it? What you seem asking, is for an absolute. I CANNOT answer in absolutes, since I don't believe in them.

Answer 10

unless you where purposely failing then it is a mistake... it is not a failure to commit a mistake but a failure not to fix a mistake