The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
I have known men who could see through the motivations of others with the skill of a clairvoyant; only to prove blind to their own mistakes. I have been one of those men.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
—Rita Mae Brown (b.1944) American Writer, Feminist
He is foolish to blame the sea who shipwrecked twice.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
No man is a failure who is enjoying life.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
We have forty million reasons for failure, but not a single excuse.
—Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) British Writer, Poet, Novelist, Short Story Author
Life is a series of relapses and recoveries.
—George Ade (1866–1944) American Humorist, Playwright
And what if I did run my ship aground; oh, still it was splendid to sail it.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.
—Daniel Webster (1782–1852) American Statesman, Lawyer
Failure is a school in which the truth always grows strong.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
What is defeat?—Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.
—Wendell Phillips (1811–84) American Abolitionist, Lawyer, Orator
He only is exempt from failures who makes no effort.
—Richard Whately (1787–1863) English Philosopher, Theologian
Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and God.
—Charles Cooley (1864–1929) American Sociologist
Many a man never fails because he never tries.
—Norman MacEwen (1881–1953) British Military Leader
To avoid an occasion for our virtues is a worse degree of failure than to push forward pluckily and make a fall.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
It is human to err, but it is devilish to remain willfully in error.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Losses are comparative, imagination only makes them of any moment.
—Blaise Pascal (1623–62) French Mathematician, Physicist, Theologian
They say President Wilson has blundered. Perhaps he has, but I notice he usually blunders forward.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
The action of a fool cannot serve as a precedent.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they’re necessary to reach the places we’ve chosen to go.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Writer, Aviator
Failure is not in losing, but in no longer believing that winning is worthwhile.
—Unknown
Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures.—In the assurance of strength there is strength; and they are the weakest, however strong, who have no faith in themselves or their powers.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.
—Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian Head of State
We all choke, and the man who says he doesn’t choke is lying like hell. We all leak oil.
—Lee Trevino (b.1939) American Golfer, Commentator
An error is simply a failure to adjust immediately from a preconception to an actuality.
—John Cage (1912–92) American Composer
Intelligence is not to make no mistakes, but quickly to see how to make them good.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
Failure is often God’s own tool for carving some of the finest outlines in the character of his children; and, even in this life, bitter and crushing failures have often in them the germs of new and quite unimagined happiness.
—Thomas Hodgkin (1798–1866) English Physician, Pathologist
There are some defeats more triumphant than victories.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Disappointments are to the soul what a thunder-storm is to the air.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
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