Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,808 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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Success and failure
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“We have an opportunity, now, to achieve for humankind a prosperous, enduring future. If we fail, through inability to resolve thorny issues, or by default born of indifference, greed, or lack of knowledge, our kind might well be a passing short-term phenomenon, a mere three or four million-year blip in the ancient and ongoing saga of life on Earth.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“it's still there - the habit of thinking that the ocean is too big to fail. And we're still taking life in the ocean for granted. We still think that we have the capacity to take fish on a scale that we currently are and continue to do it forever.”
Sylvia Earle (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The term dissociation is here used for a condition in which the organizing process in an individual fail to develop one characteristic form, and two or more mutually incompatible systems of behavior compete for control. (p. 62)”
Lancelot Law Whyte (1896–1972) said by 1972 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ultimate stakes in politics are the qualities of the direct relations among people.... This fine texture of routinized human relations is the primary social reality. Even the boldest transformative efforts often take it for granted or, having acknowledged its importance, fail to alter it.”
Roberto Mangabeira Unger (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The US military fails in places like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan because it is operating under a doctrine designed to fail.”
Curtis Yarvin (born 1973) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Andrew Bacevich, Reluctant Obamacon", 2Blowhards (September 9, 2008).
“I never fail to be mystified by those who regard the revision of a former opinion as a sign of weakness.”
Don Paterson (born 1963) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When the Union needs my poor support, in peace or in war, I induge the hope that I shall not fail in the performance of any duty which may be required me. At any rate, I hope not to fall behind that class of men who are, on all occasions, blurting their devotion to the Union into the unwilling ears of the country.”
Henry Wilson (1812–1875) said by 1875 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If only he had manifested himself one single time after his resurrection in the temple, before the people and the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, visibly, audibly, tangibly, then it could not fail that the entire Jewish nation would have believed in him; thus many thousands of souls plus millions of souls of their descendants would have been saved from destruction, who are now so hardened and stubborn.”
Hermann Samuel Reimarus (1694–1768) said by 1768 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Celsus, Contra Celsum 2.63. From Celsus, True Discourse, cited by Origen in Contra Celsum, trans. Henry Chadwick, Origen Contra Celsum, rev. edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965), p. 114; as quoted and repo…
“Politics is as much a regular business as the grocery or the dry-goods or the drug business. You've got to be trained up to it or you're sure to fail. p. 19”
George Washington Plunkitt (1842–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you're afraid to fail in a startup, you're destined to do so.”
Steve Blank (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What would you do if you could not fail. Answer that question and do that.”
Cory Booker (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The notion of miracles had a nice ring. But we were all alone… The natural laws of cruel reality were going to win out. Not only would the cavalry fail to save the day, but they also probably never got their marching orders. If goodness existed somewhere on the planet, it was probably on an extended sick leave.”
L. K. Samuels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Resist the temptation to use special effects. Think about science fiction movies with lots of special effects: If you notice that special effects are special effects, they will fail.”
Stephen Kosslyn (born 1948) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ajdukiewicz's view, published in the Erkenntnis, certainly did not fail to influence the opinions held by the neo-positivist supporters of semantic philosophy. But Ajdukiewicz was not alone in his opinions which fitted Carnap's principle of tolerance and, e.g., the theories of C. G. Hempel.”
Adam Schaff (1913–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If I have tried to observe the personal courtesies of public life, it is not because I fail to hate the political enemy’s creed. If I have sought to find some humour in the conflict, it is not because I under-estimate the gravity of the battle. The best years of my life have been given to what I deeply believe is a struggle for freedom.”
Robert Menzies (1894–1978) first seen 1949 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1949 election campaign speech delivered in Melbourne (10 November 1949)
“Never be so arrogant that you fail to give people the benefit of being as stupid as they actually are.”
Arthur Jones (inventor) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And even if I fail—this is always the archivist’s consolation—perhaps I will have laid a foundation for someone wiser.”
Robin Sloan (born 1979) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Minutes and seconds are strictly city preoccupations. In the city people hurry, hurry so as not to waste a single minute, and fail to realize that they are throwing a lifetime away.”
Giovannino Guareschi (1908–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A fact rarely suspected, let alone understood, is that businessmen are by no means the chief beneficiaries of the free market, private ownership, limited government way of life. Many business ventures fail entirely. Who then are the beneficiaries? The masses!”
Leonard E. Read (1898–1983) said by 1983 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was the test I hadn’t studied for, the quiz I was bound to fail. Out of my depth.”
Maria V. Snyder (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We all lose sometimes. We fail to get what we want. Friends and loved ones leave. We make a decision we regret. We try our hardest and come up short. It's not the losing that defines us. It's how we lose. It's what we do afterward.”
Scott Jurek (born 1973) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In go, when my stones are in difficulty I look for a ko to try to live—when those possibilities all fail there is nothing I can do.”
Honinbo Sansa (1559–1623) said by 1623 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Last words, as reported in Dictionary of Basic Tesuji by Fujisawa Shuko, trans. Steven Bretherick (Slate & Shell, 2007), Vol. IV, p. 23
“[T]he Five Ways fail […] principally because it is much more difficult than at first appears to separate them from their background in medieval cosmology. Any contemporary cosmological argument would have to be much more different from the arguments of Aquinas than scholastic modernizations customarily are.”
Anthony Kenny (1931–2026) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Five Ways: St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of God's Exustence, New York: Routledge (2003), pp. 3-4
“I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law.”
David Dinkins (1927–2020) said by 2020 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We want Trump to be hugely successful, so we don’t want to handle a bill that’s going to fail in a few years, Trump ran on price-discovery and competition across state lines, getting the price down — the price is going up by 20 percent and the bill we are getting ready to vote on, once again, goes back and does too much emphasis on the coverage aspect”
Dave Brat (born 1964) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rep. Dave Brat: RyanCare a Perverse Economic System (March 17, 2017)
“The difference between the radicals and the other groups is often only this: that the radicals fail to recognize what they are doing, and continue to speak as though they were separated from the world.”
H. Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A Southern farm is beau idea of Communism; it is a joint concern, in which the slaves consume more than the master, of the coarse products, and is far happier, because although the concern may fail; he is always sure of a support.”
George Fitzhugh (1806–1881) said by 1881 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When all other methods fail, it is proper to hold the sword in hand. [22]”
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) said by 1708 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We're now quickly losing our Korea heroes as well--veterans of "the forgotten war." Let's not forget them or fail to honor and cherish them.”
Robert P. George (born 1955) first seen 2017 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Twitter post (12 November 2017)
“Dear Comrade Stalin. My nerves fail me. I can not act like a Bolshevik; I especially feel the pain of my words in our personal conversation. I offered you and the Party my whole life. I am absolutely devastated. We have been taken by many people in recent years.”
Lev Mekhlis (1889–1953) first seen 1938 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A fragment of a letter to Stalin by Mekhlis in 1938, after two years of constant purges of people. Quoted in Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar.
“The universe will never allow you to fail.”
Marcus Orelias (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As late as the fourteenth century Ziyauddin Barani wrote that “if they (the Hindus) do not find a mighty sovereign at their head, nor behold crowds of horse and foot with drawn swords and arrows threatening their lives and property, they fail in their allegiance, refuse payment of revenue, and excite a hundred tumults and revolts’’.”
Ziauddin Barani (1285–1357) said by 1357 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Malik Alaulmulk, quoted in K.S. Lal, Twilight of the Sultanate (1963) p. 287
“Leaders stand up for their men. They encourage them to try and defend them when they fail.”
Tom Tugendhat (born 1973) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said on Twitter about the failure of Boris Johnson to defend Kim Darroch after a diplomatic cable leak. Cited in "Sir Kim Darroch: UK ambassador to US resigns in Trump leaks row", BBC News (10 July 2019).
“Pagan temples are to be closed; access to them is denied, and violators face capital punishment. The property of a violator will be given to the state treasury. Governors who fail to carry out this punishment will be punished.”
Constantius II (317–361) said by 361 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Those who fail to provide for themselves will eventually injure their friends and those who always provide for their friends will eventually injure themselves.”
Zhang Chao (1650–1707) said by 1707 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Lin Yutang's With Love and Irony (1945), 'In Defence of Gold Diggers', p. 221
“In this realm of India, although King Aurangzeb destroyed numerous temples, there does not thereby fail to be many left at different places, both in his empire and in the territories subject to the tributary Princes. All of them are thronged with worshippers; even those that are destroyed are still venerated by the Hindus and visited for the offering of alms.”
Niccolao Manucci (1638–1720) said by 1720 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Storia do Mogor’ of Niccolo Manucci, p. 244-5, (Vol. 3, p. 244-5, London, John Murray, published for the Government of India, 1907) quoted in Kishore, Kunal (2016). Ayodhyā revisited. ch 8
“It’s a point so blindingly obvious that only an extraordinarily clever and sophisticated person could fail to grasp it.”
John Bercow (born 1963) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: During a May 2016 debate in the House of Commons.
“Like the pain of a bad wound, the effect of a deep shock takes some while to be felt. When a child is told, for the first time in his life, that a person he has known is dead, although he does not disbelieve it, he may well fail to comprehend it and later ask — perhaps more than once — where the dead person is and when he is coming back.”
Richard Adams (1920–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we look at the reality of the world from the viewpoint of the industrial era, it is clear that there is no hope But there is another way to look at our situation. We can discover the large number of people who have decided to change. ... If we do this, it seems equally impossible that we shall fail to solve our problems.”
Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our intention in making Threads was to step aside from the politics and – I hope convincingly – show the actual effects on either side should our best endeavours to prevent nuclear war fail.”
Barry Hines (1939–2016) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Kibble-White, J., "Let's All Hide in the Linen Cupboard", Off The Telly (September 2001)
“These truly sublime ideas cannot fail to convince us that the Vedas recognize only one God, who is Almighty, Infinite, Eternal, Self-existent, the Light and the Lord of the Universe.”
Magnus Björnstjerna (1779–1847) said by 1847 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: quoted from Quoted from Gewali, Salil (2013). Great Minds on India. New Delhi: Penguin Random House.
“Climate change and its impacts are here. Expect superstorms, extreme heat, high humidity, and increased spread of deadly diseases. Plants and non-human animals will die in ever-larger numbers. Civilisation will fail, leading to greatly exacerbated impacts.”
Guy McPherson (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It would be the "sin of our generation" if we fail to provide a good environment for our children.”
Lee Chia-fen (born 1963) first seen 2016 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lee Chia-fen (2016) cited in "Megaport Festival made mothers cry: Han’s wife" on Taipei Times, 7 October 2019.
“They relish seeing strong women like you and me humiliated. They cannot forgive us that we triumphed where so many others fail...Courage is a virtue appreciated in a male but considered a defect in our gender. Bold women are a threat to a world that is out of balance, in favor of men. That is why they work so hard to mistreat and destroy us." (p264)”
Isabel Allende (born 1942) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But then as time passed, I learned the lesson that parents do early on. You fail sometimes. No matter how much you love your children, there are times you slip. There are moments you can't give, stutter, lose your temper, or simply lose face with the world, and you can't explain this to a child. (p236)”
Louise Erdrich (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Cities serve and sustain the whole region around them in cultural, social and economic terms. If cities fail, so to a large extent does our society. That is the urgency of tackling the problem, and why it has to be of concern to everyone in this land.”
Peter Shore (1924–2001) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in Manchester (17 September 1976), quoted in Christopher Warman, 'Mr Shore's new policy to bring back jobs to inner cities', The Times (18 September 1976), p. 1
“That’s how it has always been. Ayoola would break a glass, and I would receive the blame for giving her the drink. Ayoola would fail a class, and I would be blamed for not coaching her. Ayoola would take an apple and leave the store without paying for it, and I would be blamed for letting her get hungry.”
Oyinkan Braithwaite (born 1988) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...If we fail to act to bring down our carbon emissions over the next decade, this will lock in disastrous melting of the ice sheets, sea level rise, and a rise in devastating weather extremes down the road. (2019)”
Michael E. Mann (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Awakening late to the pandemic, authoritarian or authoritarian-minded leaders have turned it into an opportunity both to shore up their power and to conceal their stunning ineptitude. To fail to see through their manufactured , as many in the media are doing, can only further endanger the long-term moral and political health of their societies.”
Pankaj Mishra (born 1969) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From Modi to Johnson, leaders are using the pandemic to suppress their critics", (9 May 2020)
“The war on multiculturalism can also confuse liberals because, unlike conservatives, they usually do not perceive or accept the connection between racism and domination. They fail to see that racism has never been just a matter of negative attitudes but rather an institutionalized set of power relations.”
Elizabeth Martinez (1925–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source