Famous quotes

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Success and failure

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“Zionists in the United States knew that I would never agree to the continuance of the unfair and disastrous favoring of Israel and they had to get me out of office there so that I would not succeed Nixon.”
Spiro Agnew (1918–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [hard-core pornography]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”
Potter Stewart (1915–1985) first seen 1964 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Concurring, Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964).
“The important thing is not to know who "I" is or what "I" is. You'll never succeed. There are no words for it. The important thing is to drop the labels.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is a very rare thing for a man of talent to succeed by his talent.”
Joseph Roux (1834–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a man is not bound down, he is sure to succeed.”
Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) said by 1922 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[W]here violence is with resolution repelled it commonly yields, and I owne, though a thorough friend to holding out the olive-branch, I have not the smallest doubt that, if it does not succeed, that when once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, that the Colonies will submit.”
George III (1738–1820) first seen 1768 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord North (15 February 1775), quoted in The Correspondence of King George the Third with Lord North, From 1768 to 1783, Vol. I, ed. W. Bodham Donne (1867), p. 229
“America now is stumbling through the darkness of hatred and divisiveness. Our values, our principles, and our determination to succeed as a free and democratic people will give us a torch to light the way. And we will survive and become the stronger — not only because of a patriotism that stands for love of country, but a patriotism that stands for love of people.”
Gerald Ford (1913–2006) first seen 1968 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the state conference of the Order of DeMolay, Grand Rapids, Michigan (7 September 1968); published in Gerald R. Ford, Selected Speeches (1973) edited by Michael V. Doyle
“We call ourselves a workers’ party because we want to free labor from the chains of capitalism and Marxism. In battling for Germany’s future, we freely admit to it, and accept the odium from the liberal bourgeoisie that results. We know that we will succeed in bringing new blessings out of their curses.”
Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cease negative mental chattering. — If you think a thing is impossible, you'll make it impossible. Pessimism blunts the tools you need to succeed.”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If at first you do succeed don't take any more chances.”
Kin Hubbard (1868–1930) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Back Country Folks (1914).
“To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. “I will drink the ocean”, says the persevering soul; “at my will mountains will crumble up”. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vedânta philosophy : Lectures by the Swâmi Vivekânanda on Râja Yoga (1899), Ch. VI : Pratyâhâra and Dhâraṇâm
“Where the stakes are the highest, in the war on terror, we cannot possibly succeed without extraordinary international cooperation. Effective international police actions require the highest degree of intelligence sharing, planning and collaborative enforcement.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (12 July 2004)
“Responsibility and leadership in the 21st century demand more. In an era when our destiny is shared, power is no longer a zero sum game. No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation. No world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will succeed. No balance of power among nations will hold.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech on global challenges at the United Nations (27 September 2009)
“But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2009 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Arlington, Virginia September 8, 2009
“And that kind of economic growth, where everybody has opportunity -- if you work hard, you can succeed -- that's what gets a nation moving rapidly when it comes to develop. But that kind of growth can only be created if corruption is left behind. For investment to lead to opportunity, reform must promote budgets that are transparent and industry that is privately owned.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No process of reform will succeed without national reconciliation. [...] National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country’s future, it is necessary to stop incitement and to stop violence.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This year let's all come together, Congress, the White House, businesses from Wall Street to Main Street, to give every woman the opportunity she deserves, because I believe when women succeed, America succeeds.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If any revolutionary movement can succeed at establishing an egalitarian structure, radical feminism will.”
Shulamith Firestone (1945–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is the point from which I can never return, and if I back down now then forever I burn. This is the point from which I can never retreat cause if I turn back now there can never be peace. This is the point from which I will die or succeed, living the struggle, I know I'm alive when I bleed. From now on it can never be the same as before, cause the place that I'm from doesn't exist any more”
Immortal Technique (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A political system seeking to function amongst ignorant, illiterate and barbaric people could have marvelous principles but could only succeed in being ignorant, illiterate and barbaric unless one addressed the people one by one and cured the ignorance, illiteracy and barbarism of each citizen.”
L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986) first seen 1965 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Politics" (February 13, 1965).
“If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.”
Heinz Guderian (1888–1954) said by 1954 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Panzerkrieg : The Rise and Fall of Hitler's Tank Divisions (2002) by Peter McCarthy and Mike Syron, p. 33
“Our ability to raise adequate domestic savings to finance our development efforts is a necessary precondition, if we are to succeed in re-structuring our economies to cope with the rapid transformation that is taking place in the world economy today.”
Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The government cannot succeed without full cooperation from both the public and private sectors.”
Mahathir Mohamad (born 1925) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Revolutionary tactics must harmonize with revolutionary principles. We could better hope to succeed with reactionary principles and revolutionary tactics than with revolutionary principles and reactionary tactics.”
Eugene V. Debs (1855–1926) said by 1926 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over. And I maintain that if a person can put a few common sense facts into a song and dress them up in a cloak of humor, he will succeed in reaching a great number of workers who are too unintelligent or too indifferent to read.”
Joe Hill (activist) first seen 1914 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the editor of Solidarity (1914-11-29)
“In some ways I believe I epitomise the average New Zealander: I have modest abilities, I combine these with a good deal of determination, and I rather like to succeed.”
Edmund Hillary (1919–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal. Individuals like myself are often called 'workaholics'. I question this term because that implies a pathological condition or an illness. If I do what I desire more than anything else in the world and which makes me happy, such work can never be an aberration.”
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I never saw love as luck, as that gift from the gods which put everything else in place, and allowed you to succeed. No, I saw love as reward. One could find it only after one's virtue, or one's courage, or self-sacrifice, or generosity, or loss, has succeeded in stirring the power of creation.”
Norman Mailer (1923–2007) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Harry Hubbard, in Harlot's Ghost : A Novel (1991)
“That biological jack-of-all-trades called ecologist tries to be and do all these things. Needless to say, he does not succeed.”
Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) first seen 1948 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Deer Swath" [1948]; Published in Round River, Luna B. Leopold (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1966, p. 127.
“The sadness of the world has different ways of getting to people, but it seems to succeed almost every time.”
Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Comedy is a bit of a masochistic pursuit. If you don't have a masochistic streak, I don't think you can succeed at it, 'cause so much of it is painful. You have to kind of like it, in a sick way: y'know, that this really hurts.”
Jerry Seinfeld (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To be merely good enough is to never succeed.”
Douglas Coupland (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Never help a child with a task at which he feels he can succeed.”
Maria Montessori (1870–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed in Words of Wisdom (1990), edited by William Safire and ‎Leonard Safir, p. 58
“The earth is not a mechanism but an organism, a being with its own life and its own reasons, where the support and sustenance of the human animal is incidental. If man in his newfound power and vanity persists in the attempt to remake the planet in his own image, he will succeed only in destroying himself — not the planet. The earth will survive our most ingenious folly.”
Edward Abbey (1927–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If at first you don't succeed, you're about average.”
Bill Cosby (born 1937) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the State has undertaken to provide it, is a right that must be made available to all on equal terms.”
Earl Warren (1891–1974) first seen 1954 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Writing for the court, Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
“There is no help but in defense but I can assure you... the Imperial Government will not succeed in subduing the Mexicans, and its armies will not have a single day of peace... we must stop them, not only for our country but for the respect of the sovereignty of the nations.”
Benito Juárez (1806–1872) said by 1872 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Hispanic Network Magazine: Vol. 17-18 (2005)
“I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan (born 1963) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Nike Culture : The Sign of the Swoosh (1998), by Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson, p. 49
“The narcissistic, the domineering, the possessive woman can succeed in being a "loving” mother as long as the child is small. Only the really loving woman, the woman who is happier in giving than in taking, who is firmly rooted in her own existence, can be a loving mother when the child is in the process of separation.”
Erich Fromm (1900–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was a great pleasure to make a movie again. Nothing is better; perhaps revolution, but there you have to succeed and be right, dangers which never attach themselves to making movies, and dreaming.”
Abraham Polonsky (1910–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted in The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, David Thomson, page 689, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2003, .
“The result of the struggle between the thought and the ability to express it, between dream and reality, is seldom more than a compromise or an approximation. Thus there is little chance that we will succeed in getting through to a large audience, and on the whole we are quite satisfied if we are understood and appreciated by a small number of sensitive, receptive people.”
M. C. Escher (1898–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have depended on government for so much for so long that we as people have become less vigilant of our liberties. As long as the government provides largesse for the majority, the special interest lobbyists will succeed in continuing the redistribution of welfare programs that occupies most of Congress's legislative time.”
Ron Paul (born 1935) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the House of Representatives, September 17, 1997
“I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors.”
Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800–1859) said by 1859 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Political reform need not go hand in hand with economic liberalisation. I do not believe that if you are libertarian, full of diverse opinions, full of competing ideas in the market place, full of sound and fury, therefore you will succeed.”
Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, The Straits Times (17 August 2004)
“I’m dead by then. There’ll be different voices, different standpoints, but I stand by my record. I did some sharp and hard things to get things right. Maybe some people disapproved of it. Too harsh, but a lot was at stake and I wanted the place to succeed, that’s all. At the end of the day, what have I got? A successful Singapore. What have I given up? My life.”
Lee Kuan Yew (1923–2015) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On how history will assess him, in Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going (2011)
“I'd decided to take the risk, and either I'd succeed or else.”
Yanni (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They spew all sorts of conspiracy theories about black helicopters and the New World Order, but in their hearts, they'd love nothing more than to be a Green Beret or a Delta commando or HRT operator. They're well aware they can't pass the physicals, let alone the intelligence or psychological tests. In fact, they never succeed in anything they tackle.”
Danny Coulson (born 1941) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We've gotten into the bad habit of overlegislating. I believe in the America people's ability to govern themselves. If government would just get out of the way and allow them to lead their lives as they choose, they will succeed.”
Jesse Ventura (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To his sunny creed A thousand gloomy, warring sects succeed.”
Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) first seen 1877 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Agamemnon's Tomb", st. 5 (c. 1877)
“The American people are doing their job today. They should be given a chance to show whether they wish to preserve the principles of individual and local responsibility and mutual self-help before they embark on what I believe to be a disastrous system. I feel sure they will succeed if given the opportunity.”
Herbert Hoover (1874–1964) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Press statement (3 February 1931)