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Quotes about failure

95 quotes from 79 people

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There is not a fiercer hell than the failure in a great object.
John Keats1795–1821Endymion (1818), Preface
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert F. Kennedy1925–1968Day of Affirmation Address (1966)
If you can dream⁠—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think⁠—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same
Rudyard Kipling1865–1936If— (1910)In context
- Character
- Success
Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
C. S. Lewis1898–1963
Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.
Vince Lombardi1913–1970
If you can’t accept losing, you can’t win.
Vince Lombardi1913–1970
We do not have to live the same mistakes over again if we can look at them, learn from them, and build upon them.
Audre Lorde1934–1992Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches (1984), “Learning from the 60s”
- Experience
Historically, the errors committed by a truly revolutionary movement are infinitely more fruitful than the infallibility of the cleverest Central Committee.
Rosa Luxemburg1871–1919Leninism or Marxism? (1904)
- Politics
When we can begin to take our failures nonseriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.
Katherine Mansfield1888–1923Journal entry (October 1922), published in The Journal of Katherine Mansfield (1927)
- Laughter
It is cruel to discover one’s mediocrity only when it is too late.
W. Somerset Maugham1874–1965Of Human Bondage (1915), Chapter LIIn context
Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix.
John Mayerborn 1977Mayer, John (2004). “Jimi Hendrix” RollingStone.com (accessed March 21, 2007)
- Music
The specialist is one who never makes small mistakes while moving towards the grand fallacy.
Marshall McLuhan1911–1980Understanding Media (1964) (p. 154)
- Clever Jabs
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.
Michel de Montaigne1533–1592Essais (wr. 1571–92; pub. 1580–95), Book I, Ch. 30. Of Cannibals (tr. Cotton, rev. W. Hazlitt, 1842)
- Success
Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that to-morrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?
L. M. Montgomery1874–1942Anne of Green Gables (1908), Chapter XXIIn context
- Hope
Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.
Nasreddin1208–1284Often credited to Jim Horning
- Experience