Famous quotes
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Success and failure
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“Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on ... as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you've had it, you're done, you're through! You join Tyrannosaurus Rex, one more breed that bilged its final test.”
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) said by 1988 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Believe it or not, the fact is that God is supreme and pure; people are lying on a bed of ignorance and dreams and doubts. They expect God Himself to come, they pray for it, they ask for it, they announce about it, but when He comes they fail to recognize Him. And not recognizing Him in His physical form, they cannot recognize Him within themselves. People have forgotten their Creator.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Johannesburg, South Africa, 29 April 1972 - quoted on p213 of "Who is Guru Maharaj Ji?" published by Bantam, 1973
“So this word of honor business—you believe he never breaks it?” “Well…” “He does, then.” “I have seen him do so. But the cost was huge.” “He breaks it for a price, then.” “Not for a price. At a cost.” “I fail to see the distinction.” “A price is something you get. A cost is something you lose.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve always thought—tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Children might or might not be a blessing, but to create them and then fail them was surely damnation.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The gods have no hands in this world but ours. If we fail Them, where then can They turn?”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fall of France must have been a bitter pill to Calvé. She had a poor opinion of Germans, both as people and as artists. It is sad to imagine what her last days may have been in her "robber-baron's castle" as Peggy Wood calls it. But one thing is certain; when death came, Calvé met it with spirit. No one who knew so well how to greet life could possibly fail to know how to greet death.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) first seen 1942 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Emma Calvé (1942).
“In sum: banking theory and practice, as immobilizing and fixating forces, fail to acknowledge men and women as historical beings; problem-posing theory and practice take the people's historicity as their starting point.”
Paulo Freire (1921–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To simply think about the people, as the dominators do, without any self-giving in that thought, to fail to think with the people, is a sure way to cease being revolutionary leaders.”
Paulo Freire (1921–1997) said by 1997 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“His insides are beginning to feel sickly. The pain of the world is a crater all these syrups and pills a thousandfold would fail to fill.”
John Updike (1932–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Greeks distinguished between good and bad behavior, language that enhanced or diminished persons. Being intoxicated with scientism, we fail to recognize that the seemingly technical terms used to identify psychiatric illnesses and interventions are simply dyphemisms and euphemisms.”
Thomas Szasz (1920–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There should be no bank too big to fail and no individual too big to jail.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Tweet (17 January 2016)
“Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail; Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, Newer rites of grace prevail; Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail.”
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) said by 1274 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why is everyone here so happy except me?" "Because they have learned to see goodness and beauty everywhere," said the Master. "Why don't I see goodness and beauty everywhere?" "Because you cannot see outside of you what you fail to see inside.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of all failures, to fail in a witticism is the worst, and the mishap is the more calamitous in a drawn-out and detailed one.”
Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is as his own mind comes into contact with others that truth will begin to acquire value in the child's eyes and will consequently become a moral demand that can be made upon him. As long as the child remains egocentric, truth as such will fail to interest him and he will see no harm in transposing facts in accordance with his desires.”
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) said by 1980 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You know, that might be the answer — to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. That's a trick that never seems to fail.”
Joseph Heller (1923–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The characteristic danger of great nations like the Romans or the English, which have a long history of continuous creation, is, that they may at last fail from not comprehending the great institutions which they have created.”
Walter Bagehot (1826–1877) first seen 1832 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lord Althorpe and the Great Reform Act of 1832" (1876) in Works, vol. 3 (Hartford, 1889) p. 310
“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. The Talmud tells us that by saving a single human being, man can save the world.”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Everything can collapse. Houses, bodies, and enemies collapse when their rhythm becomes deranged. In large-scale strategy, when the enemy starts to collapse you must pursue him without letting the chance go. If you fail to take advantage of your enemies' collapse, they may recover.”
Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't underrate the value of military knowledge, but if men make war in slavish obedience to rules, they will fail.”
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A History of Militarism: Romance and Realities of a Profession (1937) by Alfred Vagts, p. 27
“'It is the legacy of most intelligent beings to revel in slaughter for a time,' Haut replied. 'In this we play at being gods. In this, we lie to ourselves with delusions of omnipotence. There is but one measure to the wisdom of a people, and that is the staying hand. Fail in restraint and murder thrives in your eyes, and all your claims to civilization ring hollow.”
Steven Erikson (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We will not bend or fail until the blood of every last Jew from the youngest child to the oldest elder is spilt to redeem our land!”
Yasser Arafat (1929–2004) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In his speech "The Impending Total Collapse of Israel" at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, January 30, 1996 as quoted in “The Legacy of Islamic AntiSemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History”, by Andrew Bostom, …
“Sweeter than any sung My songs that found no tongue; Nobler than any fact My wish that failed of act. Others shall sing the song, Others shall right the wrong,— Finish what I begin, And all I fail of win.”
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) said by 1892 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Triumph, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“Given our interdependence, any world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another will inevitably fail. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners to it. Our problems must be dealt with through partnership; progress must be shared.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Freedom is not an accident. Progress is not an accident. Democracy is not an accident. These are things that have to be fought for. You’re part of that legacy. They must be won. And they’ve got to be tended to constantly and defended without fail.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks by President Obama to U.S. Troops and Personnel at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, Republic of Korea at April 26, 2014
“Dignity will win -- because every human being is born equal, with free will and inalienable rights. And any regime or system of government that tries to deny these rights will ultimately fail and countries that uphold them will only grow stronger.”
Barack Obama (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In those days kitchen matches were heavy-duty implements—more like signal flares than the weedy sticks we get today. You could strike them on any hard surface and fling them at least fifteen feet and they wouldn’t go out. Indeed, even when being beaten vigorously with two hands, as when lodged on the front of one’s sweater, they seemed positively determined not to fail.”
Bill Bryson (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God show me the way, because the Devil's trying to break me down The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now And I don't think there's nothing I can do now to right my wrongs I wanna talk to God, but I'm afraid 'cause we ain't spoke in so long.”
Kanye West (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A revolutionary in every bedroom cannot fail to shake up the status quo. And if it’s your wife who is revolting, you can’t just split to the suburbs.”
Shulamith Firestone (1945–2012) said by 2012 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What we don’t understand on either front is that the more pressure we put on our pests, the more we cause them to evolve around the pressure. The pressure is evolutionary pressure; what we fail to understand is evolution itself.”
Jonathan Weiner (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In Hollywood, you just kind of fail upwards.”
Kevin Smith (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am writing to you in the hope that the conflict in Vietnam can be brought to an end. That conflict has already taken a heavy toll-in lives lost, in wounds inflicted, in property destroyed, and in simple human misery. If we fail to find a just and peaceful solution, history will judge us harshly.”
Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Restricted immigration is not an offensive but purely a defensive action. It is not adopted in criticism of others in the slightest degree, but solely for the purpose of protecting ourselves. We cast no aspersions on any race or creed, but we must remember that every object of our institutions of society and government will fail unless America be kept American.”
Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Accepting the Republican Presidential Nomination (August 14, 1924).
“Narration: But what kept them on their feet when there was no sane reason for hope were the bonds between them, loyalty to one another, the knowledge that others depended on them even as they depended on those others. And sometimes, all too rarely, it came down to a single person it was simply unthinkable to fail. Someone they knew would never quit on them, never leave them in the lurch.”
David Weber (born 1952) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was afraid I’d fail. So I didn’t work.”
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brothers and Sisters (p. 93; first published in The Little Magazine (1976) Vol. 10, Nos. 1 & 2)
“Well-designed security systems fail gracefully.”
Bruce Schneier (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you fail, never give up because F.A.I.L. means "First Attempt In Learning". End is not the end, in fact E.N.D. means "Effort Never Dies." If you get No as an answer, remember N.O. means "Next Opportunity". So let's be positive.”
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Don’t take rest after your first victory, because if you fail in the second, more lips are waiting to say that your first victory was just luck.”
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (1931–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I ask this simple question. I ask it of you and I ask it of my fellow Americans everywhere. Why is it that we have the courage to mobilize the power of America to meet the challenge of war, but we fail to have the same courage to mobilize America to meet the challenge of peace?”
Walter Reuther (1907–1970) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address before the National Council for Social Studies of the National Education Association, Cleveland, Ohio, November 23, 1956, as quoted in Walter P Reuther: Selected Papers (1961), by Henry M. Christman, p. 184
“We must never lose sight of the fact that the law has a moral foundation, and we must never fail to ask ourselves not only what the law is, but what the law should be.”
Anthony Kennedy (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Spiritual life begins to decay when we fail to sense the grandeur of what is eternal in time.”
Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In this proud land we grew up strong; We were wanted all along. I was taught to fight, taught to win; I never thought I could fail.No fight left or so it seems; I am a man whose dreams have all deserted. I've changed my face, I've changed my name, But no one wants you when you lose.”
Peter Gabriel (born 1950) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I still feel like I gotta prove something. … There are a lot of people hoping I fail. But I like that. I need to be hated.”
Howard Stern (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The real bug here is that the design of the system even permits this class of bug. It is unconscionable that someone designing a critical piece of security infrastructure would design the system in such a way that it does not fail safe.”
Jamie Zawinski (born 1968) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we study Nature attentively in its great evolutions as in its minutest works, we cannot fail to recognize the possibility of enchantment — giving to that word its exact significance. Man does not create forces; he employs the only force that exists and which includes all others, namely Motion, the breath incomprehensible of the sovereign Maker of the universe.”
Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850) said by 1850 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The concerns which fail are those which have scattered their capital, which means that they have scattered their brains also. They have investments in this, or that, or the other, here, there and everywhere. “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is all wrong. I tell you "put all your eggs in one basket, and then watch that basket.”
Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919) first seen 1885 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech to Curry Commercial College of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 23 June 1885
“And it was from America. Progressive movement in America. Eugenics. In case you don't know what Eugenics led us to: the Final Solution. A master race! A perfect person. …. The stuff that we are facing is absolutely frightening. So I guess I have to put my name on yes, I hope Barack Obama fails. But I just want his policies to fail; I want America to wake up.”
Glenn Beck (born 1964) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have always found him to be a proud, honourable man, loyal, true, persevering, principled, caring and committed but tough and a person who lost friends easily. On behalf of the Government but in particular on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I thank him for his distinguished years of service to his constituents and his country.”
Bertie Ahern (born 1951) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking about Ray Burke (who was subsequently jailed for six months for tax evasion) after Burke's resignation. Resignation of Member: Statements. Dáil Éireann - Volume 481, 1997-10-07
“How strange to have failed as a social creature — even criminals do not fail that way — they are the law's "Loyal Opposition," so to speak. But the insane are always mere guests on earth, eternal strangers carrying around broken decalogues that they cannot read.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to his daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald (December 1940)