Famous quotes
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Success and failure
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“Success is counted sweetest By those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires a sorest need.Not one of all the purple Host Who took the Flag today Can tell the definition So clear of VictoryAs he defeated – dying – On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Burst agonized and clear!”
Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) said by 1886 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.”
John D. Rockefeller (1839–1937) said by 1937 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Steps to the Top (1985) by Zig Ziglar, p. 16
“Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses...And now, as all the world is in error, I, though I know the true path,—how shall I guide? If I know that I cannot succeed and yet try to force success, this would be but another source of error. Better, then, to desist and strive no more. But if I strive not, who will?”
Zhuangzi (369–288 BC) said by 288 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ch. 12 (tr. Herbert A. Giles, 1889)
“For honest merit to succeed amid the tricks and intrigues which are now so lamentably common, I know is difficult; but the honor of success is increased by the obstacles which are to be surmounted. Let me triumph as a man or not at all.”
Rutherford B. Hayes (1822–1893) first seen 1841 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Diary (7 November 1841)
“I believe that to succeed in any sphere of human activity, it is not enough to have the dispositions. Even if we are very talented, if we are not supported by those who are able to recognize and encourage a talent, success is impossible p. 99”
Alexander Zinoviev (1922–2006) said by 2006 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I cannot say that Malm is wrong, and that non-violent action is more likely to succeed. After all, none of us have been here before. But if you are pushing other people towards decades in prison while risking a backlash that would close down the last possibility of success, you need to be pretty confident that the strategy will work. I have no such confidence.”
George Monbiot (born 1963) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: I back saboteurs who have acted with courage and coherence, but I won't blow up a pipeline. Here's why" The Guardian (28 April 2023)
“Time and persistence has shown me that I can succeed at sharing my art with others as a musician while running my own music business. And that kind of success is as good as I could have ever wished for.”
Bradley Joseph (born 1965) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To have success in science, you need some luck. But to succeed in science, you need a lot more than luck. And it's not enough to be smart — lots of people are very bright and get nowhere in life. In my view, you have to combine intelligence with a willingness not to follow conventions when they block your path forward.”
James D. Watson (1928–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[T]he prediction of [my disruption] theory would be that Apple won't succeed with the iPhone. They've launched an innovation that the existing players in the industry are heavily motivated to beat: It's not [truly] disruptive. History speaks pretty loudly on that, that the probability of success is going to be limited.”
Clayton M. Christensen (1952–2020) first seen 2007 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Clayton Christensen's Innovator's Dilemma says iPhone will fail" in Jeremy's Blog (28 June 2007)
“India has been a cauldron of dreams, ideas and aspirations of the humankind and this is a distinctive character of India, and India in that sense represents the world in miniature. If a system can succeed in India, it will indicate the possibility of such success in the world as a whole.”
K. R. Narayanan (1920–2005) said by 2005 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sadly, we must report that despite the success stories described in previous chapters, many companies that begin reengineering don’t succeed at it... Our unscientific estimate is that as many as 50 to 70 percent of the organizations that undertake a reengineering effort do not achieve the dramatic results they intended.”
Michael Hammer (1948–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the end, however, the success of a rebellion depends on the crossing of a fear barrier by enough people, not simply the small group of dedicated dissidents. A judgment that the risk is worth it and the rebellion might actually succeed. [...] It is at this point, when fear is gone, that whole nations say no. And it is when tyrants fall.”
Peter Beaumont (journalist) first seen 2011 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How dictators fall" The Observer (2 March 2011).
“In our company we believe in celebrating success because it creates, and maintains, momentum,” she noted. “Everyone celebrates even the little things that we succeed in doing, and we have a jolly good time. That is how people look forward to winning and being successful. Because they know there are rewards of celebration”
Divine Ndhlukula (born 1960) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Government alone cannot succeed. It is through efforts such as these that many dreams can be realised. I cannot express my happiness at the success of such a tournament because it does not only bring people together but it also helps expose the talent that we have.”
Gladys Kokorwe (1947–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My advice to Nigerian women is not to lose their dignity as women in order to succeed in life. Hard work brings success. They should not depend on men for everything but work hard to get their own.”
Daniella Okeke (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not here to reinvent the wheel. The wheel is there. We just have to make it work. We have to oil it. We have to grease it. We have to put everything we can to make this machine work. Because like I said earlier, if we succeed, Nigeria succeeds, and we will all be part of this success story.”
Aisha Rimi wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Many young people are impatient and want to succeed without putting in the time. The formula for success, if there is one, is hard work and opportunity. No one likes the hard work bit, but they are on the look-out for opportunities so they move from job to job, and from sector to sector, without actually staying in one place to learn anything or add value to anyone.”
Sope Willams Elegbe wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If a warrior is to succeed in anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.”
Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have noticed that doctors who fail in the practice of medicine have a tendency to seek one another's company and aid in consultation. A doctor who cannot take out your appendix properly will recommend you to a doctor who will be unable to remove your tonsils with success.”
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The "mountain-sea" spirit means that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy. There may be no help but to do something twice, but do not try it a third time. If you once make an attack and fail, there is little chance of success if you use the same approach again.”
Miyamoto Musashi (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Care not for time and success. Act out thy part, whether it be to fail or to prosper.”
Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Catering to populist anger with proposals that are certain to fail is not a viable strategy for political success.”
“The greatest success goes to the person who is not afraid to fail in front of even the largest audience.”
David Packard (1912–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Some women still fail to embrace and appreciate the success of other women in and outside the music circles. They would instated prefer to talk publicly about their misfortunes.”
Magdeline Lesolebe (born 1984) first seen 2021 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Charma Gal Siile release Ko Kgotleng, DailyNews, (29 April 2021)
“Don’t be afraid to think big, and, most importantly, don’t be afraid to fail along the way, because no one learns when they only experience success,”
Claudette Irere first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: , Several youth innovative projects won cash and other prizes during the closure of an initiative dubbed ‘Pitch Night’ in Kigali on Wednesday. ( 18 May 2018)
“Civics curriculum is an important part of an education that prepares students for lives of leadership and service, but allowing partisan groups like The New Georgia Project to advocate for liberal policies in the classroom is wrong. Schools fail to serve the best interests of their students when they promote a political agenda and push them into partisan activism rather than academic success.”
Kelly Loeffler (born 1970) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why choose to fail when success is an option?”
Jillian Michaels (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Life is not easy. If you speak to people who have achieved, they will tell you their stories. When you do something now and you fail, there is no shortcut to success”
Barbara Asher Ayisi (born 1976) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The success haters. ... That's what I call them—the people who have never got what they want and turned sour on everybody who has. The world's full of them. ... As soon as you've made good they begin to watch for you to fail. ...”
Zoe Akins (1886–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Research shows that the same men who agree to female appointments give them tasks they’re highly likely to fail. Instead of doing that, equip them for success when you select them for assignments.”
Kendi Ntwiga (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If nobody likes your work, you have to go on just for the sake of the work. And you're in no danger of letting the public make you repeat yourself. Every artist ought to pray that he may not be "a success". If he's a failure he stands a good chance of concentrating upon the best work of which he's capable.”
Gustav Holst (1874–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remark to Clifford Bax, reported in Imogen Holst Gustav Holst: A Biography (1969) p. 81.
“It is not a disaster to discover that you are not the person you assumed you were. To the contrary, it is the beginning of the end of disaster. Experiment: How you feel if you were neither a success or failure in life? How would you feel if you were neither popular nor unwanted?”
Vernon Howard (1918–1992) said by 1992 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Frank Harris has no feelings. It is the secret of his success. Just as the fact that he thinks other people have none either is the secret of the failure that lies in wait for him somewhere on the way of Life.”
Frank Harris (1856–1931) first seen 1897 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Oscar Wilde, letter to More Adey, May 12, 1897, quoted in Hugh Kingsmill Frank Harris (1932) p. 102.
“If one asks for success and prepares for failure, he will get the situation he has prepared for.”
Florence Scovel Shinn (1871–1940) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Game of Life and How to Play It (1925), p. 17.
“Success requires no explanations, failure presents no alibis.”
Fred Shero (1925–1990) said by 1990 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the bureaucracy, incentives will forever be inverted. Failure results in success: in more funds, more training, more time off.”
Ilana Mercer first seen 2013 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Why Government ‘Care’ Will Never, Ever Work" Economic Policy Journal, October 26, 2013.
“You may be a dreadful failure. Christ is a Divine success. "Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.”
Edward Thomson (1810–1870) said by 1870 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is so much uncertainty in cricket. One day you can get a hundred, the next day you can be dismissed for a zero. It makes you become practical about things. Teaches you to accept both success and failure. I think I have learnt a lot about life from cricket.”
Mahela Jayawardene (born 1977) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted in S. Dinakar, "I have learnt a lot about life from cricket," Sport Star, vol. 24, no. 38 (2001-09-22).
“The it-ish understand: failure is a part of success.”
Craig Groeschel (born 1967) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.”
Coco Chanel (1883–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Believing in Ourselves (1992) by Armand Eisen, p. 15
“There may not always be a way where there's a will, but on the other hand - if success isn't certain, neither is failure.”
Stephen Vizinczey (1933–2021) first seen 1969 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Rules of Chaos (1969), p. 87
“In my mind, partial failure is always better than delusory success.”
William A. Henry III (1950–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The value of a moment is immeasurable. The power of just ONE moment can propel you to success and happiness or chain you to failure and misery.”
Steve Maraboli (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm a raging success as a failure.”
Tod A (born 1965) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 7th Avenue Static", Psychopharmacology(July 10, 2001).
“To the eye of failure success is an accident.”
Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914) said by 1914 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“How do we convince people that in programming simplicity and clarity —in short: what mathematicians call "elegance"— are not a dispensable luxury, but a crucial matter that decides between success and failure?”
Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Elegance is not a dispensable luxury but a quality that decides between success and failure.”
Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Any one who attempts to translate from one tongue into another will know moods of despair when he feels he is wasting his time upon an impossible task. But, irrespective of success or failure, the mere attempt can teach a writer much about his own language which he would find it hard to learn elsewhere.”
W. H. Auden (1907–1973) said by 1973 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A minute's success pays the failure of years.”
Robert Browning (1812–1889) first seen 1887 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Apollo and the Fates", line 210 (1887).