Success and Failure

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw, in Success and Failure

When I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.

George Bernard Shaw, in Success and Failure and Work and Recreation

You see things and you say, "Why?" But I see things that never were; and I say, "Why not?"

George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah, Part I, Act I (1921), in Success and Failure

To deny we need and want power is to deny that we hope to be effective.

Liz Smith, in Success and Failure

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much.

Bessie Stanley, in Happiness and Misery and Success and Failure

There are really not many jobs that actually require a penis or a vagina, and all other occupations should be open to everyone.

Gloria Steinem, in Men and Women and Success and Failure

The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate me away from those who are still undecided.

Casey Stengal, in Success and Failure

Bravery and stupidity go hand in hand.

David Summers, in Success and Failure and Wisdom and Ignorance

Opportunities multiply as they are seized.

Sun Tzu, in Success and Failure

Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.

Publilius Syrus, in Success and Failure and Wisdom and Ignorance

If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest.

Publilius Syrus, in Success and Failure

Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.

Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower, in Success and Failure

When one burns one's bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.

Dylan Thomas, in Success and Failure

Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time, to figure out whether you like it or not.

Virgil Thomson, in Success and Failure

He is the best sailor who can steer within fewest points of the wind, and exact a motive power of the greatest obstacle.

Henry David Thoreau, in Success and Failure

Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.

Lily Tomlin, in Success and Failure

Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.

Henry Ford, in Success and Failure

Whether you think that you can or that you can't, you are usually right.

Henry Ford, in Success and Failure

To accomplish great things, you must not only act but also dream, not only dream but also believe.

Anatole France, in Success and Failure

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked throughout the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, in Success and Failure