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Success and failure

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• “I never hear the word "escape" Without a quicker blood, A sudden expectation, A flying attitude.I never hear of prisons broad By soldiers battered down, But I tug childish at my bars,— Only to fail again!”

  Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “It might be easier To fail with land in sight, Than gain my blue peninsula To perish of delight.”

  Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Who has not found the Heaven – below – Will fail of it above – For Angels rent the House next ours, Wherever we remove –”

  Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Who has not found the heaven below Will fail of it above. God's residence is next to mine, His furniture is love.”

  Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Movement will fail sooner than usefulness.”

  Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “O admirable impartiality of Thine, Thou first Mover; Thou hast not permitted that any force should fail of the order or quality of its necessary results.”

  Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) said by 1519 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”

  Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in The Wright Style (1992) by Carla Lind, p. 3

• “We will make a great and awful mistake if we fail to settle Hebron, neighbor and predecessor of Jerusalem, with a large Jewish settlement, constantly growing and expanding, very soon. This will also be a blessing to the Arab neighbors. Hebron is worthy to be Jerusalem's sister.”

  David Ben-Gurion (1886–1973) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in "Hebron Is Jerusalem's Sister", Sdeh Boker, 18 Shvat 5730 (25 January 1970)

• “There is no make-believe about heaven, future bliss, and compensation, to alleviate the bitter majesty, but only utter darkness, the void of unfulfillment, to receive and eat back the lives that have been tossed forth from the womb only to fail.”

  Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “(...) we today (in so far as we are unbelievers, or, if believers, in so far as our inherited beliefs fail to represent the real problems of contemporary life) must face alone, or, at best, with only tentative, impromptu, an not often very effective guidance. This is our problem as modern 'enlightened' individuals, for whom all gods and devils have been rationalized out of existence.”

  Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Chapter 2, page 87 (New World Library, 2008)

• “Hang (hang without fail, so the people see) no fewer than one hundred known kulaks, rich men, bloodsuckers.”

  Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) first seen 1918 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Lenin's Hanging Order" (11 August 1918), an order for the execution of kulaks, as translated in The Unknown Lenin : From the Secret Archive (1996) by Richard Pipes, p. 50

• “He who accepts the class struggle cannot fail to accept civil wars, which in every class society are the natural, and under certain conditions inevitable, continuation, development and intensification of the class struggle… To repudiate civil war, or to forget about it, is to fall into extreme opportunism and renounce the socialist revolution.”

  Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The uprising of the five kulak districts should be mercilessly suppressed... Hang (hang without fail, so the people see) no fewer than one hundred kulaks, rich men, bloodsuckers... Do it in such a way that for hundreds of versts [km] around, the people will see, tremble, know, shout: they are strangling and will strangle to death the bloodsucker kulaks.”

  Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As quoted in Richard Pipes, The Unknown Lenin: From the Secret Archive (1996), page 50.

• “To find the cause of our ills in something outside ourselves, something specific that can be spotted and eliminated, is a diagnosis that cannot fail to appeal. To say that the cause of our troubles is not in us but in the Jews, and pass immediately to the extermination of the Jews, is a prescription likely to find a wide acceptance.”

  Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There can be no freedom without freedom to fail.”

  Eric Hoffer (1902–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “People pay lip service to saving the planet, but they don't – they fail to make the big leap that if you want to save the planet, kill your fucking self. The planet will be saved without you. And what a delightful place it'll be. Welcome. It's a new thing I'm working on, called "The Comedy of Hate". Join in.”

  Bill Hicks (1961–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Block the passages, shut the doors, And till the end your strength shall not fail. Open up the passages, increase your doings, And till your last day no help shall come to you.”

  Laozi (580–501 BC) said by 501 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: translated by Arthur Waley (1934)

• “They die and leave their wives their money. I should know, shouldn't I? Sometimes they're driving home from their mistress's apartment and their brakes suddenly fail. An accident, Delores, can be an unhappy woman's best friend.”

  Stephen King (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Crime, folly, sickness and all phenomena must be contemplated with complete freedom from fear aversion or shame. Otherwise we shall fail to see accurately, and interpret intelligently; in which case we shall be unable to outwit and outfight them.”

  Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I am Manuel, and I follow after my own thinking and my own desire. Of course it is very fine of me to be renouncing so much wealth and power for the sake of my wonderful dear Niafer: but she is worth the sacrifice, and, besides, she is witnessing all this magnanimity, and cannot well fail to be impressed.”

  James Branch Cabell (1879–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I could not fail to disagree with you less.”

  Boris Johnson (born 1964) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: 2004 winner of the Foot in Mouth Award from the Plain English Campaign, for his comment on the 12 December 2003 edition of Have I Got News For You

• “Writing non-free software is not an ethically legitimate activity, so if people who do this run into trouble, that's good! All businesses based on non-free software ought to fail, and the sooner the better.”

  Richard Stallman (born 1953) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: On the kde-licensing mailing list, (April 13, 1998)

• “All the people in the Kuo-ch'ing monastery— They say, "Han-shan is an idiot." "Am I really an idiot:" I reflect. But my reflections fail to solve the question: for I myself do not know who the self is, And how can others know who I am?”

  Hanshan (born 800) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Whoever has used what means he is capable of, for the informing of himself, with a readiness to believe and obey what shall be taught and prescribed by Jesus, his Lord and King, is a true and faithful subject of Christ's kingdom; and cannot be thought to fail in any thing necessary to salvation.”

  John Locke (1632–1704) said by 1704 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Part of the test,” said Sillain, “is seeing how well you obey orders.” “Then I fail,” said John Paul.”

  Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “So long as antimilitarists propose no substitute for war's disciplinary function, no moral equivalent of war, analogous, as one might say, to the mechanical equivalent of heat, so long they fail to realize the full inwardness of the situation.”

  William James (1842–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A black man failing black history... ain't that some sad shit..... cuz you know, fat people don't fail cooking!”

  Chris Rock (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Another reason people don't work on big projects is, ironically, fear of wasting time. What if they fail? Then all the time they spent on it will be wasted. (In fact it probably won't be, because work on hard projects almost always leads somewhere.)”

  Paul Graham (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “You ever see guys with nothing on their desk? They always fail. I don't know what it is. I've seen it for years.”

  Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.”

  Donald Trump (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Kergan Banbeck threw up his hands, turned once more to the sacerdote. “How can I halt his nonsense? How can I make him see reason? The sacerdote reflected. “He speaks not nonsense, but rather a language you fail to understand. You can make him understand your language by erasing all knowledge and training from his mind, and replacing it with patterns of your own.”

  Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Our ancient creed is correct. Rather than submitting to change we must divert the influences which conduce in such a direction.” Ramus Imph listened with patient good humor. “The remarks of the sagacious Servant are persuasive, even though they fail to correspond with reality.”

  Jack Vance (1916–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “I doubt that even if this evidence could be upgraded to 100 per cent it would persuade the sort of people who go on self-appointed missions of mediation to Baghdad. These people further fail to see that governments now have a further responsibility to their citizens — namely to see that something is done to prevent future assaults on civilisation.”

  Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “If the Republican party shall fail to carry out this purpose, God will raise up another party that will be faithful.”

  Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) said by 1895 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The slow-rising central horror of "Watergate" is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it.”

  Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) first seen 1973 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Rolling Stone (2 August 1973)

• “They say that "he who flies highest, falls farthest" — and who am I to argue? But we can't forget that "he who doesn't flap his wings, never flies at all". And with that, I'll stop trying to convince myself that I can't fail; how dull the whole thing would be if that were true.”

  Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to Larry Callen (30 October 1957), p. 71

• “I also very well remember that on another occasion the father dean said: In order that at responsible age a man may be a real man and not a parasite, his education must without fail be based on the following ten principles. From early childhood there should be instilled in the child:”

  G. I. Gurdjieff (1866–1949) said by 1949 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”

  J. K. Rowling (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Kemi Badenoch and I might not agree on a lot, but how often are male politicians called "spiteful"? And what's the issue with her manner? Did she fail in womanly sweetness, kindness and deference?”

  J. K. Rowling (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “You have absolute control over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man! It reflects man's Divine nature. This Divine prerogative is the sole means by which you may control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else. p. 173”

  Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Things have never been so swell I have never failed to fail”

  Kurt Cobain (1967–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Now civilizations, I believe, come to birth and proceed to grow by successfully responding to successive challenges. They break down and go to pieces if and when a challenge confronts them which they fail to meet.”

  Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) said by 1975 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Some philosophers fail to distinguish propositions from judgments; … But in the real world it is more important that a proposition be interesting than that it be true. The importance of truth is that it adds to interest.”

  Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) first seen 1933 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: As extended upon in Adventures of Ideas (1933), Pt. 4, Ch. 16.

• “Stewart: You have a responsibility to the public discourse, and you fail miserably. Carlson: You need to get a job at a journalism school, I think. Stewart: You need to go to one. [...] Carlson: Wait. I thought you were going to be funny. Come on. Be funny. Stewart: No. No. I'm not going to be your monkey.”

  Jon Stewart (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The overwhelming majority of theories are rejected because they contain bad explanations, not because they fail experimental tests.”

  David Deutsch (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The remarkable protection granted to the Army of the Andes by its Patron and General, Our Lady of Cuyo, cannot fail to be observed. I am obliged as a Christian to acknowledge the favour and to present to Our Lady, who is venerated in your Reverence's church, my staff of command which I hereby send: for it belongs to her and may it be a testimony of her protection to our Army.”

  José de San Martín (1778–1850) first seen 1818 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Letter to the superior of the Franciscans at Cuyo (12 August 1818), as quoted in "Virgin of Cuyo" in The Catholic Encyclopedia (1914)

• “One of the uses of depression is the exposure of what auditors fail to find.”

  John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There is one thing no head of a country can know, and that is: how good is his intelligence system? He finds out only by having it fail him.”

  Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else.”

  Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Evolution is a process that never stops. Baboons who fail to exhibit moral behavior do not survive; they wind up as meat for leopards.”

  Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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