Success and Failure

Prophecy is many times the principal cause of the events foretold.

Thomas Hobbes, in Science and Religion and Success and Failure

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter's Law into account.

Doug Hofstadter, in Success and Failure

Success is like a fart -- only your own smells nice.

James P. Hogan, in Success and Failure

Action cures fear, inaction creates terror.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

Change occurs in direct proportion to dissatisfaction, but dissatisfaction never changes.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

Desperation is like stealing from the mafia: you stand a good chance of attracting the wrong attention.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

First rule of Economics 101: our desires are insatiable. Second rule: we can stomach only three Big Macs at a time.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

Perfection is perfectly simple; fouling things up requires true skill.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

Good ideas are a dime a dozen, bad ones are free.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

If wishes were fishes we'd all be throwing nets. If wishes were horses we'd all ride.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there.

Doug Horton, in Success and Failure

A celebrity is a person who is known for his well-knownness.

Daniel Boorstin, in Success and Failure

A conclusion is simply the place where someone got tired of thinking.

Arthur Block, in Success and Failure

The majority of the time, the thing that gets in the way of success... is your brain.

Chris Blake, in Success and Failure

99% of the game is half mental.

Yogi Berra, in Success and Failure

Misfortune: The kind of fortune that never misses.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in Success and Failure

Hatred: A sentiment appropriate to the occasion of another's superiority.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in Love and Hate and Success and Failure

Happiness: An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another.

Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary, in Love and Hate and Success and Failure

You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.

Yogi Berra, in Success and Failure

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it's been though a blender first.

Les Barker, An Infinite Number of Occasional Tables, in Success and Failure and Wisdom and Ignorance