It's all about the drama, the flair, the catastrophic implosion of expectations. You try, you fail, you try again, you fail harder. It's like the inverse law of conservation of momentum: the more you fail, the more momentum you gain.
Take the example of our beloved, our illustrious, our utterly disastrous, Emperor Penguin Empire. We set out to conquer the world, or at the very least, the fridge. But, alas, we ended up with a fridge full of half-eaten takeout boxes and a crippling debt to the pizza delivery guy.
So, if you're feeling like a failure, take heart: it's not the end of the world (although it probably is, and it's definitely a world where the fridge is still stocked with pizza boxes). You're a failure, and failures are sexy. Click here to read more about the allure of success, and why it's so... boring.
Practice your failure skills with our interactive failure simulator! (Disclaimer: not actually a real thing)
The Art of Failing is a comprehensive guide to the nuances of failure, covering everything from the perfect failure-to-success ratio to the art of crafting a really good excuse.
And, for the sake of completeness, here's a counterargument from our resident success guru.