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Failure Quotes

Failure isn't a dead end; it is the raw material for future success. Even history’s most accomplished figures stumbled before they soared, proving that setbacks are vital course corrections rather than final verdicts.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Thomas Edison
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Source: Interview: Interview with B.C. Forbes for Forbes Magazine

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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena."
Theodore Roosevelt
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Source: Speech: Citizenship in a Republic

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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
Winston Churchill
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Source: Speech: Address to Harrow School, 1941

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"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all."
J.K. Rowling
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Source: Speech: Harvard University Commencement Address

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"The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition."
ryan holiday
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Source: Book: The Obstacle Is the Way

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"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."
Maya Angelou
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Source: Interview: Interview with Psychology Today

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"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
Thomas Edison
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Source: Interview: Harper's Monthly Magazine, 1914

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"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
Michael Jordan
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Source: Inspired by: Commercial: Nike 'Failure' Campaign, 1997

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"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."
Steve Jobs
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Source: Biography: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

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"Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again."
Steve Jobs
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Source: Speech: Stanford Commencement Address 2005

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"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."
Paulo Coelho
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Source: Book: The Alchemist

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"Optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure."
Stephen King
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Source: Book: On Writing

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"Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another steppingstone to greatness."
Oprah Winfrey
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Source: Speech: Harvard Commencement 2013

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"Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again."
Richard Branson
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Source: Blog: Virgin Website

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"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
Confucius
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Source: Book: The Analects

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"Pain + Reflection = Progress."
Ray Dalio
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Source: Book: Principles

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"Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street."
Zig Ziglar
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Source: Book: Over the Top

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"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure."
Napoleon Hill
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Source: Book: Think and Grow Rich

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"We are all failures—at least the best of us are."
J.M. Barrie
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Source: Speech: Rectorial Address at St. Andrews

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"A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."
George Bernard Shaw
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Source: Play: The Doctor's Dilemma

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"There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time."
Malcolm X
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Source: Autobiography: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

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"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm."
Winston Churchill
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Source: Biography: Churchill: A Life

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"Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts on the road to achievement. One fails forward toward success."
C.S. Lewis
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Source: Letter: Letters to an American Lady

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"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently."
Henry Ford
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Source: Book: My Life and Work

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"Failure is not the opposite of success; it's part of success."
Arianna Huffington
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Source: Book: Thrive

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"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."
Albert Einstein
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Source: Book: Einstein: The Life and Times

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"If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough."
Elon Musk
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Source: Interview: Fast Company

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"99 percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
George Washington Carver
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Source: Biography: The Man Who Talked with Flowers

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"Fail early, fail often, but always fail forward."
John C. Maxwell
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Source: Book: Failing Forward

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"My dad encouraged us to fail. Growing up, he would ask us what we failed at that week. If we didn't have something, he would be disappointed."
Sara Blakely
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Source: Interview: CNBC Make It

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"Most people fail in life because they major in minor things."
Tony Robbins
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Source: Talk: Unleash the Power Within

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"We often treat quitting as a failure, but quitting is a skill."
Annie Duke
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Source: Podcast: The Tim Ferriss Show

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"Being able to quit things that don't work is integral to being a winner."
Tim Ferriss
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Source: Book: Tools of Titans

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"If you can’t successfully do something, it’s because you have a mental model that’s wrong."
Ray Dalio
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Source: Book: Principles: Life and Work

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"Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success."
Dale Carnegie
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Source: Inspired by: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

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Why these quotes matter

Understanding failure is critical because the fear of it paralyzes potential more than any lack of ability. By normalizing mistakes, we build the psychological safety required to take risks, innovate, and eventually achieve mastery in any field.

How to apply them daily

Apply these insights by conducting 'blameless post-mortems' on your own mistakes to extract lessons rather than guilt. When you stumble, consciously reframe the narrative from 'I am a failure' to 'I am learning what doesn't work,' allowing you to pivot quickly and try again.

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"Ultimately, failure is not a verdict on your worth but a mechanism for your growth; embrace it as the tuition you pay for success."