“Failure is a state of mind. It’s like one of those sand traps an ant lion digs. You keep sliding back. Takes one hell of a jump to get out of it.” — John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent
(NB: I am not sure I agree with this. I do like the ant lion trap analogy.)
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote, “Self-Portrait,” The Dogs Bark
“That’s the saving grace of humor; if you fail, at least you don’t have anyone laughing at you.” — A. Whitney Brown, The Big Picture
“In nine hundred and ninety-nine instances out of a thousand, it is folly to name any success or failure as such; for either is a mystery, and the fairest evidences by which we can form an opinion of it are altogether and irremediably fallacious.” — Louise Imogen Guiney, “The Under Dog,” Patrins
“Lots of people called their ships unsinkable before the Titanic. Voicing your hubris doesn’t make failure more likely, just more memorable.” — Randall Munroe, Prescience (hovertext)
“Destiny, n.: A tyrant’s authority for crime and fool’s excuse for failure.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
“It seems success takes you away from what you know, he said, while failure condemns you to it.” — Rachel Cusk, Outline
“When failure is not an option, success can be expensive.” — Peter Stibrany, The Microsat Way in Canada
“Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.” — Jane Wagner
“No man’s a failure till he’s dead or loses his courage, and that’s the same thing.” — George Horace Lorimer, Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
Yahooey's Blog 