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Need to make better decisions about Failure? Napoleon Hill's quotes serve as decision-making shortcuts, distilling complex thinking into clear principles. This collection is organized for quick reference, with full source context for every entry. Whether you're facing immediate choices or building long-term strategy around Failure, these insights give you the clarity ambitious professionals demand.
"Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. The habit is as old as the human race, and is fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because THEY CREATE them! A man's alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature to defend one's own brain-child. p. 173"
"Procrastination is one of the most common causes of failure.... Procrastination stands within the shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one's chances of success."
"Psychologists have correctly said that when one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance. When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form, and from a different direction than... expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity... p. 13"
"Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan. Millions of men go through life in misery and poverty, because they lack a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune. p. 73"
"Most of us are good "starters" but poor "finishers" of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for persistence. Failure cannot cope with Persistance. p. 86"
"Thomas A. Edison "failed" ten thousand times before he perfected the incandescent electric light bulb. That is--he met with temporary defeat ten thousand times, before his efforts were crowned with success. p. 73"
"There is something radically wrong with a civilization, and a system of education, which permit 98% of the people to go through life as failures. But I did not write this book for the purpose of moralizing on the rights and wrongs of the world; that would require a book a hundred times the size of this one. p. 85"
Seeing how Napoleon Hill approaches Failure helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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"Use this collection whenever you need Napoleon Hill's lens on Failure."