Dare to be bad

Posted by ESC on March 06, 2002

In Reply to: Meaning posted by psi on March 06, 2002

: : what is the meaning of phrase "You are only as good as you dare to be bad"
: : could you illustrate that few examples
: : thank you

: I've not come across that one, but it reminds me of a rather old-fashioned expression "she's no better than she ought to be", which has always made my head spin trying to understand.

: psi

I believe it means to be good or great (in art, life, etc.) a person has to take risks. An artist could paint the same pleasant scenes over and over. An actor could only do "safe" roles within his range. But to move towards greatness, they would do something new and risk failure. Risk being "bad."

On the other hand, my despair.com calendar "thought of the month" for April says, "Risks. If you never try anything new, you'll miss out on many of life's great disappointments."