# IMHO, "Confidence comes before success" puts the cart before the horse, and often starts a vicious cycle

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-confidence-comes-before-success-puts-the-cart-before-the-horse-and-often-starts-a-vicious-cycle/982312>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [April 7, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-confidence-comes-before-success-puts-the-cart-before-the-horse-and-often-starts-a-vicious-cycle/982312 "2023-04-07T13:31:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 20

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\
**Post date:** [May 12, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-confidence-comes-before-success-puts-the-cart-before-the-horse-and-often-starts-a-vicious-cycle/982312/20 "2023-05-12T14:28:34Z")

</div>

Bumping this to add in a Browning quote that @Dr_Paprika shared in a different thread that I think is meaningful here:

> [@What are your fitness goals and how have they changed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-fitness-goals-and-how-have-they-changed/983777/31):
>
> A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a Heaven for?

As parents the hope is that our children learn to not be afraid to reach just a bit farther than they think is their grasps, and to know that failing with some regularity but sometimes not means you are reaching about right. My dad tried to teach that to me.

It come from a great bittersweet poem btw.

---

_[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imho-confidence-comes-before-success-puts-the-cart-before-the-horse-and-often-starts-a-vicious-cycle/982312)._