11. Perhaps in some instances the personal failings of great achievers are unimportant
relative to the achievements. In many cases, however, the relative significance of
personal failings can be very great, depending on two factors: the extent to which the
failing is part of the achievement process itself, and the societal impact of the
achiever's failing apart from his or her own success.
Personal failings and achievement are often symbiotically1 related. The former test
the would-be achiever's mettle2; they pose challengesnecessary resistance that drives
one to achieve despite the shortcoming. Personal failings may also compel one to focus
on one's strengths, thereby3 spawning4 achievement. For example, poor academic or job
performance may propel a gifted entrepreneur to start his or her own business. In the
arts, a personal failing may be a necessary ingredient or integral part of the process of
achieving. Artists and musicians often produce their most creative works during periods
of depression, addiction5, or other distress6. In business, insensitivity to the human
cosplayts of success has bred grand achievements, as with the questionable7 labor8 practices
of the great philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
A second type of personal failing is one that is unrelated to the achievement.
Modern politics is replete9 with examples: the marital10 indiscretions of the great leader
John F. Kennedy and the paranoia11 of the great statesman Richard Nixon, to name just
two. Were the personal failings of these two presidents less important than their
achievements? In the former example, probably so. in the latter example, probably not
since it resulted in the Watergate scandala watershed12 event in American politics. In
cases such as these, therefore, the societal impact of shortcoming and achievement must
be weighed on a case-by-case basis.
In sum, history informs us that personal failings are often part-and-parcel of great
achievements; even where they are not, personal shortcomings of great achievers often
make an important societal impact of their own.
