A recent biographer of Julian concluded that all his grand projects had failed, and that even his apparent victories—military, administrative, theological—were brief, even illusory. “Indeed, the ‘mighty warrior’s’ only real victory was in cleaning up the tax system.” Which made me remember EF proposing that failure can be more interesting than success, and losers tell us more than winners. Also, how we cannot tell, even on our deathbed—perhaps especially on our deathbed—how we will be judged, or, if at all, remembered.
