Ten men have failed from defect in morals where one has failed from defect in intellect.

Most failures are not failures of ability. People rarely come apart because they were not clever enough; they come apart over conduct: a promise not kept, a corner cut, a truth avoided until it grew. Intelligence gets the attention because it is measurable and comfortable to discuss. Character is neither, and it is the thing more often doing the actual work.

If something in your life is going badly, check the conduct side before the competence side. Is there a conversation you have not had, an obligation quietly dropped, a small dishonesty in the accounts. Fixing one of those usually moves more than getting better at the task.