The religious message that whatever happens, even tragedy, is a meaningful part of a divine plan is ancient, and however one feels about religion there’s no question that this sort of thinking can be consoling and help people endure the otherwise unendurable. Oprah Winfrey, a woman who overcame adversity to achieve stupendous success, personifies and promotes the idea. Using secular language, she said in a commencement address at Harvard University that “there is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction. … Learn from every mistake because every
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