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Failure Quotes — 35 Failure Quotes, Each Checked to Its Source

For defeat there is only one answer … victory.

Winston Churchill · House of Commons, 10 June 1941

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

Truman Capote · Capote on failure.

There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.

Oprah Winfrey · Harvard Commencement address, 30 May 2013.

Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers.

Albert Einstein · To Auguste Hochberger, 30 July 1919.

I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won.

Walt Whitman

If we look back on our past life we shall see that one of its most usual experiences is that we have been helped by our mistakes.

Winston Churchill · Article “A Second Choice”, Strand Magazine, March 1931

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

James Joyce

If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly.

Edward Albee · The playwright on failure.

A young man cannot expect to get very far in life without some good smacks in the eye.

Winston Churchill · Churchill on youth.

No boy or girl should ever be disheartened by lack of success in their youth, but should diligently and faithfully continue to persevere and make up for lost time.

Winston Churchill · Churchill, who failed his Sandhurst entrance twice.

The penalties for misfortune and failure are terrible today: they are wholly disproportionate, even when they are brought on by a man’s own fault.

Winston Churchill · House of Commons, 25 May 1911

I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed that letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them!

Albert Einstein · Written down by Linus Pauling after a conversation on 16 November 1954.

Even man’s greatest neglects or failures may bring him good. Even his greatest achievements may work him ill.

Winston Churchill · Marlborough: His Life and Times (1933 to 1938)

Here lies one who meant well, tried a little, failed much:—surely that may be his epitaph, of which he need not be ashamed.

Robert Louis Stevenson

A supreme enterprise was cast away, through my trying to carry out a major and cardinal operation of war from a subordinate position. Men are ill-advised to try such ventures. This lesson had sunk into my nature.

Winston Churchill · The Second World War, vol. I, The Gathering Storm (1948)

Perhaps I have made a number of other mistakes of which you have not heard.

Winston Churchill · House of Commons, 18 January 1945

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

Bill Gates

Never take No for an answer. Never submit to failure.

Winston Churchill · Churchill on resolution.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Often credited to Winston Churchill · Churchill never said it; Quote Investigator traces the idea to a 1938 Budweiser beer advertisement ("success was never final and failure never fatal. It was courage that counted") and finds the Churchill credit only from the 1960s.

Everyone threw the blame on me. I have noticed that they nearly always do.

Winston Churchill · My Early Life (1930)

Yes, I won the race—and now they have warned me off the turf.

Winston Churchill · After the 1945 election defeat

My own idea is that it does not matter how many mistakes one makes in politics, so long as one keeps on making them. It is like throwing babies to the wolves; once you stop, the pack overtakes the sleigh.

Winston Churchill · Recorded in the official biography by Randolph Churchill and Martin Gilbert, 15 November 1901

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.

Maya Angelou · Said in a 1983 interview with Claudia Tate; Angelou had used almost the same words in a 1970 Los Angeles Times profile.

Men may make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes. Men may have bad luck, and their luck may change.

Winston Churchill · House of Commons, 2 July 1942

Failure Quotes

For defeat there is only one answer … victory.

Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.

Failure and deprivation are the best educators and purifiers.

I also say it is good to fall, battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won.

If we look back on our past life we shall see that one of its most usual experiences is that we have been helped by our mistakes.

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

If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly.

A young man cannot expect to get very far in life without some good smacks in the eye.

No boy or girl should ever be disheartened by lack of success in their youth, but should diligently and faithfully continue to persevere and make up for lost time.

The penalties for misfortune and failure are terrible today: they are wholly disproportionate, even when they are brought on by a man’s own fault.

I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed that letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them!

Even man’s greatest neglects or failures may bring him good. Even his greatest achievements may work him ill.

Here lies one who meant well, tried a little, failed much:—surely that may be his epitaph, of which he need not be ashamed.

A supreme enterprise was cast away, through my trying to carry out a major and cardinal operation of war from a subordinate position. Men are ill-advised to try such ventures. This lesson had sunk into my nature.

Perhaps I have made a number of other mistakes of which you have not heard.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

Never take No for an answer. Never submit to failure.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Everyone threw the blame on me. I have noticed that they nearly always do.

Yes, I won the race—and now they have warned me off the turf.

My own idea is that it does not matter how many mistakes one makes in politics, so long as one keeps on making them. It is like throwing babies to the wolves; once you stop, the pack overtakes the sleigh.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.

Men may make mistakes, and learn from their mistakes. Men may have bad luck, and their luck may change.

Frequently asked questions

We Value Your Opinion Comments

Failure Quotes

“There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.”

“The penalties for misfortune and failure are terrible today: they are wholly disproportionate, even when they are brought on by a man’s own fault.”

“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”

“Yes, I won the race—and now they have warned me off the turf.”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.”

Frequently asked questions

We Value Your Opinion Comments

There is no such thing as failure. Failure is just life trying to move us in another direction.

The penalties for misfortune and failure are terrible today: they are wholly disproportionate, even when they are brought on by a man’s own fault.

Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Yes, I won the race—and now they have warned me off the turf.

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.