Failure comes to us all. The willingness to fail, and then to move on with no loss of enthusiasm, is a mark of character.16 The opposite of fragility, as we have discussed fragility in this chapter, is the willingness to fail. When kids are secure in the unconditional acceptance of their parents, they can find the courage to venture and to fail. When kids value the good regard of their peers or their own self-concept above the good regard of their parents, they lose the willingness to fail. They become fragile.
