Success and Failure

Perfection is only achieved on the point of collapse.

Unknown, (from Bjarne Stroustrup's book on C++), in Success and Failure

People will accept your ideas much more readily if you tell them that Benjamin Franklin said it first.

Unknown, in Success and Failure

Only those who do not expect anything are never disappointed. Only those who never try, never fail.

Unknown, in Success and Failure

When the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail.

Abraham Maslow, in Success and Failure

It's better to be an authentic loser than a false success, and to die alive than to live dead.

William Markiewicz, Extracts of Existence, in Success and Failure

It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Unknown, in Success and Failure and Vice and Virtue

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Unknown, in Success and Failure

It is said that the lonely eagle flies to the mountain peaks while the lowly ant crawls the ground, but cannot the soul of the ant soar as high as the eagle?

Unknown, in Success and Failure

Modesty is the opium of the mediocre.

Marty Milner, in Success and Failure

When one is trying to do something beyond one's known powers it is useless to seek the approval of friends. Friends are at their best in moments of defeat.

Henry Miller, in Success and Failure

Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.

Henry Louis Mencken, in Success and Failure

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

Herman Melville, in Success and Failure

I must catch up with the others, for I am their leader.

Tim McGowan, in Success and Failure

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.

Charlie McCarthy, in Success and Failure and Work and Recreation

It is always better to fail in doing something than to excel in doing nothing.

Unknown, in Success and Failure and Work and Recreation

After spending many years in Wall Street and after making and losing millions of dollars I want to tell you this: It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting.

Edwin Lefèvre, Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, in Success and Failure

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.

Vincent T. Lombardi, in Success and Failure

Don't let fear stop you.

William F. Light, (to someone threatening to knock him out), in Success and Failure

The average person thinks he isn't.

Larry Lorenzoni, in Success and Failure

Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success.

Christopher Lasch, in Success and Failure