“The greatest glory in life lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” – Teach Different with Nelson Mandela

Transcript

Dan Fouts (00:03)

Hey everybody, welcome to the Teach Different podcast. We’re really excited today to share a quote from such an amazing leader, Nelson Mandela. We have a quote already in the library from Nelson Mandela that is actually similar in spirit to the one we’re doing today. And it’s on resilience. And this is one that I really think that everybody can really connect with. So we’re really pumped up about doing this with Nelson Mandela. I’m gonna share the quote in a minute. When I do or after I do, Steve is gonna weigh in. We don’t have any guests tonight. It’s just gonna be Steve and me rapid fire back and forth going through the claim and the counterclaim as we know from previous episodes. After we share the quote, we’re gonna agree with it. We’re gonna disagree with it. We’re gonna ask questions. And we’re gonna try to do this at a nice little pace. For all the listeners, we wanna just envision how could I use this quote with the people I work with? This could be the kids at home, this could be your students or your coworkers or friends or whatever. We’re learning that there are so many different contexts where you can use the teach different method. So here we go. I’ll read the quote twice and then we’ll… Steve’s gonna start in on the claim. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid leader. Served as the first black president of South Africa, an amazing human being. Steve, what do think he’s saying here?

 

Steve Fouts (02:10)

Obviously, rising every time we fall is what I’m taking from this. And what he’s saying is that life is built on failure. Success is built on failure. And our judgment as a human being and our greatest glory comes from picking ourselves  up, trying again, and not letting things deter us. So resilience, perseverance, grit, that is what creates the greatest glory of life. And it’s based on failure. So life shouldn’t be rosy. And you can understand why he would say this. He was in prison for, is it 24 years, 26 years, something like that. And he comes out of prison. Okay, wow. He comes out of prison.

 

Dan Fouts (03:00)

27, 27 total.

 

Steve Fouts (03:06)

and he holds his fist up, the amount of difficulties he had to overcome, right? But he came out and he had glory. So he really lives this quote.

 

Dan Fouts (03:24)

Yeah, I like that interpretation. I’m fixated on the word glory. Most quotes that relate to resiliency like this, and we’ve done a handful of these with Teach Different and they rest in our library. Most people might talk about happiness as the word, the greatest happiness. The glory is a level above happiness.

 

Steve Fouts (03:55)

Victory.

 

Dan Fouts (03:57)

Yeah, it’s almost, glory is a victory of a long battle. It’s almost like a spiritual victory. So it’s at a level that is higher than just happiness. That’s what I really like about this.

 

Steve Fouts (04:12)

I just looked up the definition of glory. I just looked up the definition of glory. It says honor won by notable achievements. So it has achievement in it. That’s important. Getting somewhere in life requires that when you fail, you have to pick yourself up. And I can relate to this absolutely. I’m gonna throw in Teach Different as my basic, you know, example. We started in 2017 and you know this, you were here, you did it with me. We didn’t always know exactly how to run a business, how to take an idea for something and bring it into a form that we could teach others in how to do it and how to create products from that and think about how to create services and knowing how to talk to people about it. There was so much failure at the beginning because we were learning it ourselves, but we picked ourselves up. It was easy in a way because it was so fun and it was something that’s really intrinsic to us and the importance of these conversations. But yeah, if we would have stopped when we failed, we wouldn’t be here and it would have been a waste, right? And we’re I don’t know if glory is the right word, but we have achieved great things with Teach Different, and we’re going to achieve more. So that’s my example.

 

Dan Fouts(05:49)

Yeah, that’s a good example. I think I’ve brought up before starting out in the teaching profession, you can appreciate this as well. We both have teaching backgrounds. Our whole family is filled with teachers. You have to fail a lot in teaching and you have to rise every time you fall.

 

Steve Fouts (06:17)

Because you have another class coming in.

 

Dan (06:19)

Sometimes the failures are from period to period. You might make mistakes first period, have to rise for second period. And maybe you have a decent pe riod there only to have third period not go as planned. And teaching becomes a roller coaster of glories and failures

 

Steve Fouts (06:24)

Yes.

 

Dan Fouts (06:43)

Where you’re in a state of falling down but also renewing yourself. And I believe that sticking with something like teaching really helps you in your life for that reason, that you are so used to working in an environment of imperfection that you get used to rising after you fall. And it’s a great life skill.

 

Steve Fouts (07:09)

Yeah, and another thing about teaching that feeds right into that is that idea of second period, let’s say, you got a bad class. You had a good lesson, but no one was really into what you were teaching. You have to wipe your mind clean for period three. You have to actively forget your failures because if you’re not able to do that, you’re going to start in the wrong spirit when you need to come up with something positive and get over the disappointment. And that ability to do that, and I call it forgetting your failures. That’s part of what I think you have to do. Yes, you can learn from them. Don’t forget them until you learn from them. But forgetting them is important. And I would just kind of give that advice to a new teacher. Just get active forgetfulness in your arsenal.

 

Dan Fouts (08:09)

Definitely. And there is a glorious, to use Mandela’s word, there’s a glorious feeling in rising after you fall. It’s this strength you get because you’ve endured something. And when there are successes –

 

Steve Fouts (08:29)

it’s better than.

 

Dan Fouts (08:30)

When there are successes after you’ve fallen, sticking with teaching the next day or the next week,  you are able to see that success in such a beautiful light because you realize in the back of your mind this success was impossible without the failure before. And that builds muscles. That’s life muscle right there.

 

Steve Fouts (08:57)

Yeah, that’s what’s really, really validating. Right, but I’m gonna do a counterclaim.

 

Dan Fouts (09:11)

Read it again.

 

Steve Fouts (09:13)

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

 

I’m thinking of things that I have done where I failed. And I kind of took it as a sign that maybe I should switch up an approach to something and do something else. That’s different than rising every time you fall and trying something repeatedly, even though you fail and fail and fail. I think the counterclaim to this is that sometimes when you fail at something, you need to learn that that’s not the thing you should be doing and that you need to do some other things. And I think that that is definitely different here. That’s a hard choice to make, but that’s just as valid and just as wise, I would say. And the one thing I would add to that is that if you can get to a point in your life when you’re never falling, you have found that thing where you can really believe that, hey, I’m doing something, I’m successful every day, and I’ve got a habit and a routine with this, and I’m spreading that love and that joy to other people. That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. And that is what falling is the opposite of. So those are my counterclaims. I kind of mixed them up, but that’s what I would say.

 

Dan Fouts (10:58)

Yeah, the second one is the one that I would connect with more. To mess with the quote, I would say, the greatest glory is in finding success and staying there. When you’re not falling down, when you’re not falling down, you are at a constant equilibrium of success and contentment in the world. Because if you’re falling, if you’re falling, it means that there’s something in your life that is holding you back and that you need to have all of this effort and endurance to go through it, to rise and redemption,  and another glory, well, that’s actually a sign of a very difficult life. And sometimes not having a difficult life, having a life of ease and comfort and contentment can have just as much glory as the opposite. So that would be my counterclaim angle. Talk about something tough to achieve.

 

Steve Fouts (12:02)

I’m going to say that Mandela would agree with both of us on the counterclaim. Because he would say that that consistency you’re referring to, where you’re having a success every day, was what he needed while he was in prison and even before this. To keep his mind straight, to keep his mind clear from negativity, you do have to create a peace in your own mind to get through struggle. So I would say internally, he would say that the glory of being able to approach each day with your mind straight and with an ability to really conquer your obstacles is something that’s important as well. And you’re not falling when you’re doing that. You’re having to stay on a level and be like a rock.

 

Dan Fouts (13:04)

Yeah, I would agree with that. I’m thinking of a question here.

 

Dan Fouts (13:21)

I see the claim and the counterclaim very clearly with this.

 

Steve Fouts  (13:26)

Yeah.

 

Dan Fouts (13:27)

And there’s different angles you can go with. What is the best way to rise after you fall? That’s very situational, but that’s a constant question to ask yourself.

 

Steve Fouts (13:46)

What’s the best way to do it? Yeah, I mean, that’s a big question. How about this one? How do know when to quit?

 

Dan Fouts  (13:57)

How do you know when to stop rising after failure? Same thing.

 

Steve Fouts (14:03)

Same thing. I mean, how do you know when to switch it up and try something else?

 

Dan Fouts (14:14)

or something.

 

Steve Fouts (14:14)

How about what kind of mindset, describe the mindset that you need to always pick yourself back up.

 

Dan Fouts (14:24)

What are the greatest glories in my life? Just go with the definition of what glory is. take an inventory of what your definitions are. Cause then that is going to then dictate whether you think rising after you fall fits into that. my gosh. Could a five year old understand this? Could a middle schooler, high schooler, audience could connect with this quote?

 

Steve Fouts  (14:31)

Take an inventory. Yeah.

 

Dan Fouts (14:33)

Take an inventory of what your definitions are. Cause then that is going to then dictate whether you think rising after you fall fits into that. Oh,my gosh. Could a five year old understand this? Could a middle schooler, high schooler, audience could connect with this quote?

 

Steve Fouts (15:00)

Here’s another one. What glories are worth it to keep picking yourself back up? What achievements are worth it?

 

Dan Fouts (15:15)

That’s good.

 

Steve Fouts (15:20)

Good stuff. I love this quote. We gotta get a couple more from Nelson.

 

Dan Fouts  (15:22)

Yeah, it’s great.

 

Steve Fouts (15:23)

We gotta get a couple more from Nelson.

 

Dan Fouts (15:27)

Definitely. And those essential questions are so important to all the listeners out there. We find it as a great way to end a conversation, regardless of how many people you’re working with, ask them to take a minute or two in silence and develop an essential question to then share with the group as a way of ending the conversation. You’re not answering the essential question necessarily. You’re just feeding it out there into the atmosphere for people to think about when they leave. It’s a great way to end things.

 

Steve Fouts (16:04)

Great journal entry. It’s a great journal entry.

 

Dan Fouts (16:08)

Yeah. All right. Well, thanks everybody for listening in on the Teach Different podcast. Nelson Mandela coming back for another appearance on the Teach Different podcast with a great quote, the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Take care everybody until next time.

 

Steve (16:34)

Take care.