Failure Quotes
“Success and failure are not the point—to enjoy whatever you are doing is the point. Each success is followed by failure, each day is followed by a night, and each love is followed by a darkness. Life is a progression, a movement; nothing is static. Now you are young; one day you will be old. Now you have so many friends, one day you will not have any. Now you have money, one day you will not. If you are playful, nothing is wrong. Just one quality has to be developed—playfulness.”
Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 260)
“I find that most people who believe ‘society’ is going to judge their failures harshly are actually just surrounded by 1-2 people who judge their failures harshly—usually a friend or family member. Ultimately, you want to surround yourself with people who understand that trying and failing are a natural part of life and will encourage you to overcome mistakes. If those people aren’t around you right now, make an effort to find them and surround yourself with them as soon as possible.”
Mark Manson
“The pursuit of success can be a catalyst for failure. Put another way, success can distract us from focusing on the essential things that produce success in the first place.”
Greg McKeown, Essentialism (Page 13)
“I realized that the past failures had strengthened me, taught me that no one is immune from mistakes. True leaders must learn from their failures, use the lessons to motivate themselves, and not be afraid to try again or make the next tough decision.”
William A. McRaven, Make Your Bed (Page 54) | ★ Featured on this book list.
“One of the great gifts of sports is learning how to fail in public. People never go to the gym because they’re scared of looking stupid, never share their writing because they’re scared of judgment, never open their heart because they’re scared of rejection. Sports train you to face your fear.”
James Clear, Blog
“All of us can live a much easier existence if we stopped expecting greatness and started expecting something less. At least when you expect failure in everything that you do, you start living your life doing the shit you actually want to do versus doing the shit you think will help you achieve some unpromised outcome.”
Cole Schafer
“Keep ignoring feedback and life will keep teaching you the same lesson.”
James Clear, Blog
“Failure and opportunity cannot be separated. It’s your choice which side of the coin you focus on.”
Benjamin (Joy Protocol), Twitter
“What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 100)
“If you’re always right, you’re not learning. If you’re never failing, you’re not reaching. The objective is to be right. The objective is to succeed. But if you’re always winning, you’re undershooting your potential.”
James Clear, Blog
“There’s a phrase out there that says, ‘Sometimes you win. Sometimes you learn.’ I can’t stand that phrase. And the reason I can’t stand that phrase is because it implies two things. It implies that you can’t learn from winning. Like you win or you learn? No, you can learn a lot from winning. Success leaves clues. What it also implies, losing is some word that no one says of, ‘Oh, I didn’t lose. I learned.’ No, you lost. Own it. You lost, you got beat today, and that’s life you’re going to lose sometimes. And instead of flowering it up and saying, “No, no, I didn’t lose. I just ran out of time. I didn’t lose.” No, you lost.”
Justin Su’a, via Farnam Street Blog
“When a machine malfunctions, you do not take it personally or grow despondent. It is in fact a blessing in disguise. Such malfunctions generally show you inherent flaws and means of improvement. You simply keep tinkering until you get it right.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 96)
“Have no single point of failure. Have no single path to success.”
James Clear, Blog
“Most people, consciously or unconsciously, seek to avoid tedium, pain, and any form of adversity. They try to put themselves in places where they will face less criticism and minimize their chances of failure. You must choose to move in the opposite direction. You want to embrace negative experiences, limitations, and even pain as the perfect means of building up your skill levels and sharpening your sense of purpose.”
Robert Greene, The Daily Laws (Page 34)
