Quotes on Failure

A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

Fear seems to have many causes. Fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, and so on, but ultimately all fear is the ego's fear of death, of annihilation. To the ego, death is always just around the corner. In this mind-identified state, fear of death affects every aspect of your life.

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

It is commonly said that a teacher fails if he has not been surpassed by his students. There has been no failure on our part in this regard considering how far they have gone.

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.

Success requires persistence, the ability to not give up in the face of failure. I believe that optimistic explanatory style is the key to persistence.

Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.

The danger that keeps me just a little frightened with every book I write, however, is that I'll overreach myself once too often and try to write a story that I'm just plain not talented or skilful enough to write. That's the dilemma every storyteller faces. It is painful to fail. But it is far sadder when a storyteller stops wanting to try.

Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

The biggest job we have is to teach a newly hired employee how to fail intelligently. We have to train him to experiment over and over and to keep on trying and failing until he learns what will work.

It is not enough that we do our best; sometimes we must do what is required.

Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.

Discontent is the first necessity of progress.

I'd rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.

If we try and fail, we have temporary disappointments. But if we do not try at all, we have permanent regrets.

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying.

Pleasures, riches, honor and joy are sure to have care, disgrace, adversity and affliction in their train. There is no pleasure without pain, no joy without sorrow. O the folly of expecting lasting felicity in a vale of tears, or a paradise in a ruined world.

How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.