Isn't it ironic?

I have one of those crummy calendars on my desk at work, the ones with an event from history and a wiseass saying of some sort. Yesterday's maxim read:
"You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try."
The event was from 1938: 'Adolf Hitler took command of the German Army.' Someone's having a larf, mate, someone's having a larf....