Cause of failure number one, is the habit of quitting when the going gets hard. No matter who you are or how skilled you may be in your occupation, there will be times when the going gets hard and unpleasant circumstances will overtake you. If you yield easily to these obstacles, you may as well write yourself off as far as becoming a great success is concerned. But, assuming that you will follow the success rules when you meet with opposition of any nature, instead of quitting, you will turn on more willpower, stoke the fires of a stronger faith in your own ability, and make up your mind that come what may you will not sell yourself short. Do that and you will soon succeed.
I had one of the greatest insights of my life when Thomas A. Edison told me how he reacted to failure when he was trying to perfect the incandescent electric lamp. Before he found the solution to his problem he tried more than ten thousand different ideas, every one of which was a failure. Just think of that, a man keeping on despite ten thousand failures with faith unshaken, and at long last being crowned with victory. One failure is sufficient to make the average person quit. Perhaps this is why there are so many average persons and there was only one Thomas A. Edison.
What extraordinary quality of Edison has been mentioned in the passage?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Strong and unshaken faith in himself
The writer asks the reader to think of "a man keeping on despite ten thousand failures with faith unshaken". This faith in his own ability is the quality the passage singles out in Edison.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: A simple and disciplined life — Incorrect. Not mentioned: the passage says nothing about Edison's way of life.
Option 3: A brilliant scientific aptitude — Incorrect. Wrong focus: aptitude means a natural ability to do something well. The passage does not praise his scientific talent; it praises his persistence.
Option 4: Yielding before the obstacles — Incorrect. Contradicted: yielding to obstacles is what the passage warns against; Edison did the opposite.