It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.

Smiles argues against the comforting myth that achievement is built primarily on uninterrupted wins. In his view, failure is the more common and more effective teacher: it exposes weak assumptions, forces adaptation, and builds resilience in a way that secondhand instruction cannot. By contrasting “precept, study, advice, and example” with the hard lessons of experience, he elevates practical trial-and-error over purely theoretical learning. The quote reflects Smiles’s broader Victorian self-help ethos: character and competence are forged through perseverance, self-discipline, and the capacity to turn setbacks into instruction rather than discouragement.