“Failure doesn't kill you... it increases your desire to make something happen.”
Failure is not the opposite of success; it is part of it. These quotes reframe setbacks, mistakes, and flat-out disasters as the raw material of growth. Not empty optimism — real talk from people who fell down, got back up, and learned something useful on the way.
“There is but one cause of human failure. And that is man's lack of faith in his true Self.”
“Failure doesn't kill you... it increases your desire to make something happen.”
“You'll never convince me there is a hopeless situation or there is any finality in any success or any failure.”
“If you get into a Broadway show and it doesn't work, you're a failure. And if it does work, you may be stuck for who knows how long. It just doesn't sound great to me!”
“Failure is more frequently from want of energy than want of capital.”
“I read less and less. I have not forgiven books for their failure to tell me the truth and make me happy.”
“Greatly begin. Though thou have time, but for a line, be that sublime. Not failure, but low aim is crime.”
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
“The attributes for entrepreneurs cut both ways. You need the ability to ignore inconvenient facts and see the world as it should be and not as it is. This inspires people to take huge leaps of faith. But this blindness to facts can be a liability, too. The characteristics that help entrepreneurs succeed can also lead to their failure.”
“Failure's a natural part of life.”
“There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.”
“I get asked, 'How can you have such failures in your films?' Well, what else is life about? There's some sense of constant failure in something. Humor gives you a distance from it.”
“For every failure, there's an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”
“To establish true self-esteem we must concentrate on our successes and forget about the failures and the negatives in our lives.”
“In high school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure.”
“Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and God.”