"Le travail commence enfin lorsque la peur de ne rien faire dépasse la peur de mal faire."
— Alain de Botton
Simplified Meaning:
People often don't start a task because they are scared of messing up. However, when the idea of staying idle and doing nothing becomes even more frightening, they finally decide to take action. Imagine a student who has a big test coming up. Initially, they might avoid studying because they're afraid they'll do it wrong or that their efforts won't be enough. But as the test day gets closer, the thought of failing and not doing anything at all becomes much scarier than the fear of not studying correctly. At that point, the student feels compelled to start studying, despite their initial worries. This shows that sometimes, it's the fear of negative consequences from inaction that pushes us to overcome our fear of failing. To apply this in life, remember that doing something, even imperfectly, is often better than doing nothing at all. This way, we can push ourselves to take that first step, even when we are anxious about making mistakes.