150 Motivational Quotes To Learn, Grow & Become Stronger After Failing
Failure is something that everyone experiences at some point in their lives, and it can be an incredibly difficult thing to navigate.
As someone who has experienced my fair share of failures, I know first hand how discouraging and demotivating it can be.
However, I have also learned that failure is an inevitable part of the journey towards success, and that it can actually be a powerful learning opportunity.
One thing that has helped me to keep a positive perspective when facing failure is reading quotes about the topic.
Quotes about failure can serve as a powerful reminder that setbacks and mistakes are simply part of the process, and that they do not define us or our abilities.
Instead, they can help us to learn, grow, and ultimately become stronger and more resilient.
In this article, I want to share some of my favorite quotes about failure.
These quotes have helped me to reframe my perspective on failure and view it as a necessary step on the path to success.
Some of my favorite quotes include:
- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
- "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison
- "Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
- "It's not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts." - Zig Ziglar
These quotes and many others like them have helped me to see failure in a new light.
Rather than something to be feared or avoided, failure can be viewed as an opportunity for growth and learning.
By embracing failure as part of the process, we can become more resilient, more determined, and ultimately more successful.
So if you're currently facing a setback or feeling discouraged by a failure, take heart.
Remember that failure is not the end of the road, but simply a stepping stone towards greater things.
And when you need a little extra inspiration or motivation, turn to these quotes about failure and let them remind you of your own strength and potential.
35 Inspirational Quotes On Learning From Failure
1. “Successful people don’t fear failure but understand that it’s necessary to learn and grow from.” — Robert Kiyos
2. “I'm done with those; regrets are an excuse for people who have failed.”
3. “When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.” – Eloise
4. “Do not judge me by my successes; judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” ― Nelson Mandel
5. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
6. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” ― Confucius
7. “It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success.” – Ellen DeGeneres
8. “Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success.” ― Dale Carnegie
9. “Failure is success in progress.” ― Albert Einstein
10. “If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.” – Zig Ziglar
11. “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of a greater or equal benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
12. “Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo.” – Jon Sinclair
13. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
14. “Failure doesn’t kill you… it increases your desire to make something happen.” – Kevin Costner
15. “You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.”
16. “All my successes have been built on my failures”. – Benjamin Disraeli
17. “My reputation grows with every failure.” – George Bernard Shaw
18. “There is no failure. Only feedback.” – Robert Allen
19. “You always pass failure on the way to success.” – Mickey Rooney
20. “Don’t think of it as failure. Think of it as time-released success.” – Robert Orben
21. “Failure is success if we learn from it.” – Malcolm Forbes
22. “You have to be able to accept failure to get better.” – LeBron James
23. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
24. “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” — Bill Gates
25. “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
26. “The only thing that separates success from failure is one last attempt. Try one more time and you will get lucky.” — Apoorve Dubey
27. “Just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.” – Marilyn Monroe
28. “Failure is a detour; not a dead-end street.” — Zig Ziglar
29. “Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process of success. People who avoid.”
30. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson
31. "failure also avoid success.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki
32. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
33. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” – Robert F. Kennedy
34. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote
35. “Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson
10 Inspirational Quotes About Failure
36. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” – Paulo Coelho
37. “I have not failed. I have found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” — Thomas Edison
38. “The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” ― John C. Maxwell
39. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” ― Confucius
40. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” – Nelson Mandela
41.“Never let success get to your head; never let failure get to your heart.”
42. “Success is most often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” – Coco Chanel
43. “The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch
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44. “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein
45. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
46. “Those who truly fail in my eyes are the ones who never try at all. The ones who sit on the couch and whine and moan and wait for the world to change for them.” – Sarah Dessen
47. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” - Lance Armstrong
48. “A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.” - B. F. Skinner
49. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” – Og Mandino
50. “The one who falls and gets up is stronger than the one who never tried. Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.” ― Roy T. Bennett
51. “Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” ― Gena Showalter
52. “Failure is only the opportunity more intelligently to begin again.” ― Henry Ford
53. “Just because you fail once, doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don’t, then who will, sweetie?” - Marilyn Monroe
54. “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” — Zig Ziglar
55. “Courage allows the successful woman to fail and learn powerful lessons from the failure. So that in the end, she didn’t fail at all.” – Maya Angelou
56. “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” – James A. Michener
57. “I'd rather be partly great than entirely useless.” - Neal Shusterman
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58. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”―J.K. Rowling,
59. “I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.”—Ginni Rometty
60. “Life is full of screwups. You're supposed to fail sometimes. It's a required part of the human existance.”―Sarah Dessen
61. “To be successful, one has to be one of three bees - the queen bee, the hardest working bee, or the bee that does not fit in.”―Suzy Kassem
62. “To err is human, but it feels divine.”—Mae West, American actress
63. “Sometimes it takes a wrong turn to get you to the right place.”―Mandy Hale, American author
64. “At the end of the day, you are solely responsible for your success and your failure. And the sooner you realize that, you accept that, and integrate that into your work ethic, you will start being successful. As long as you blame others for the reason you aren’t where you want to be, you will always be a failure.”—Erin Cummings, American actress
65. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”―Maya Angelou, American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist
66. “Don’t sabotage your own greatness by succumbing to failure.”—Terry McMillan, American author
67. “Most of the reason we don’t do things is because we’re afraid to fail. I just made a decision one day that I was not going to do things in my life because of fear.”—Sara Blakely, CEO of SPANX
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68. “Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew.”—Cicely Tyson, American actress
69. “You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.”―Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano
70. “The phoenix must burn to emerge.”—Janet Fitch, British sociologist
71. “For my first show at‘SNL’, I wrote a Bill Clinton sketch, and during our read-through, it wasn’t getting any laughs. This weight of embarrassment came over me, and I felt like I was sweating from my spine out. But I realized,‘Okay, that happened, and I did not die.’ You’ve got to experience failure to understand that you can survive it.”—Tina Fey, American actress and comedian
72. “I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”—Amelia Earhart, American aviation pioneer and author
73. “Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.”—Coco Chanel, French fashion designer
74. “Don’t be afraid of solitary journeys. Being responsible for your successes and failures makes you stronger.”—Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress
75. “I enjoy the fun of failure. It's fun to fail, I kept repeating. It's part of being ambitious; it's part of being creative. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly”―Gretchen Rubin, American author and speaker
76. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,‘I will try again tomorrow.” —Mary Anne Radmacher, American author and consultant
77. "You have just one life to live. It is yours. Own it, claim it, live it, do the best you can with it.”—Hillary Clinton, American politician, diplomat, lawyer
78. “We’re born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as failure.”—Whoopi Goldberg, American actress and comedian
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79. “When I was younger, I was a bit of an achievement addict, viewing success like a ladder. I loved the high of climbing to the next rung to get a new title or raise. Today, I look at it more like a mountain with lots of beautiful peaks and valleys that are all totally worthy of my time.”—Michelle Lee, Editor-in-Chief, Allure Magazine
80. “I really don’t think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don’t mind the failure but I can’t imagine that I’d forgive myself if I didn’t try.”—Nikki Giovanni, American poet
81. “My whole career has been one rejection after another and then going back and back and pushing against everything and everybody. Getting ahead by small, ugly steps.”—Joan Rivers, American comedian and actress
82. “Just because you fail once doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything.”―Marilyn Monroe, American actress
83. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes—understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”—Arianna Huffington, Greek-American businesswoman, author, and columnist
84. "Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them.” ~ Bruce Lee
85. “If you’re constantly pushing yourself higher, higher, the law of averages—not to mention the myth of Icarus—predicts that you will at some point fall. And when you do, I want you to know this, remember this: There is no such thing as failure.”—Oprah Winfrey, American TV personality and all-around powerhouse
86. “I fell off my pink cloud with a thud.”—Elizabeth Taylor, American actress and businesswoman
87. “Even when you have doubts, take that step. Take chances. Mistakes are never a failure—they can be turned into wisdom.”—Cat Cora, American professional chef and TV personality
22 Quotes About Failure For Kids And Students
88. “Failure is an event, not a person. Yesterday ended last night.” – Zig Ziglar
89. “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with failure.” – Abraham Lincoln
90. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
91. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
92. “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
93. “When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.” – Ellen DeGeneres
94. “Failure is the opportunity to being again more intelligently.” – Henry Ford
95. “It is fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.” – Bill Gates
96. “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” – Henry Ford
97. “We are all failures – at least the best of us are.” – J.M. Barrie
98. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
99. “A man who has never made a woman angry is a failure in life.”
100. “Giving up is the only sure way to fail.” – Gena Showalter
101. “Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.” – Denis Waitley
102. “The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.” – Buddha
103. “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” – Zig Ziglar
104. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein
105. “Each mistake teaches you something new about yourself. There is no failure, remember, except in no longer trying. It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Chris Bradford
106. “You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying. To the best you can do everyday.” – Jason Mraz
107. “Failure is good as long as it does not become a habit.” - Michael Eisner
108. “You just keep pushing. You just keep pushing. I made every mistake that could be made. But I just kept pushing.” – Rene Descartes
109. “Remember that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.” – Unknown
41 Life Failure Quotes
110. “Failure is giving up and not trying further. Keep on trying to reach your goal is part of success.” ~ Invajy
111. “When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them.” ~ Katherine Mansfield
112. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” ~ Lance Armstrong
113. “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” ~ Bill Cosby
114. “Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.” ~ George Eliot
115. “No human ever became interesting by not failing. The more you fail and recover and improve, the better you are as a person. Ever meet someone who’s always had everything work out for them with zero struggle? They usually have the depth of a puddle. Or they don’t exist.” ~ Chris Hardwick
116. “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone.” ~ Johnny Cash
117. “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” ~ Henry Ford
118. “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” ~ Paulo Coelho
119. “I’d rather be partly great than entirely useless.” ~ Neal Shusterman
120. “Keep your head up in failure, and your head down in success.” ~ Jerry Seinfeld
121. “Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. ” ~ Coco Chanel
122. “Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ~ Samuel Beckett
123. “My past is everything I failed to be.” ~ Fernando Pessoa
124. “My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
125. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” ~ Truman Capote
126. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.” ~ Calvin Coolidge
127. “Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
128. “Success is often achieved by those who don’t know that failure is inevitable.” ~ Coco Chanel
129. “Most great people have achieved their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” ~ Napoleon Hill
130. “Losers quit when they fail. Winners fail until they succeed.” ~ Robert T. Kiyosaki
131. “A failure doesn’t mean you are unworthy, nor does it preclude success on the next try.” ~ Leonard Mlodinow
132. “Victory has a hundred fathers, but failure is an orphan.” ~ John F. Kennedy
133. “Failure is an important part of your growth. Don’t be afraid to fail.” ~ Michelle Obama
134. “The cost of failure is…learning.” ~ Neil Strauss
135. “In any case, you must not confuse a single failure with a final defeat.” ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
136. “When you fail to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.” ~ John Wooden
137. “Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.” ~ Ralph Ellison
138. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” ~ Suzy Kassem
139. “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.” ~ John C. Maxwell
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140. “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” ~ Winston Churchill
141. "Life is full of screwups. You’re supposed to fail sometimes. It’s a required part of the human existance.” ~ Sarah Dessen
142. “Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
143. “There are no failures – just experiences and your reactions to them.” ~ Tom Krause
144. “Failure is an attitude, not an outcome.” ~ Harvey MacKay
145. “Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.” ~ Napoleon Hill
146. “If you’re not failing, you’re not trying hard enough.” ~ Jillian Michaels
147. “There is no such thing as failure, only results.” ~ Tony Robbins
148. “A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.” ~ George Bernard Shaw
149. A man may fail many times but he isn’t a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.” ~ John Burroughs
150. "Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" - John Wooden
How Can Reading Quotes About Failure Help You?
Reading quotes about failure can have a number of benefits when it comes to navigating setbacks and setbacks in life.
Here are a few ways that these quotes can be helpful:
- They Can Provide Perspective: When we're in the midst of a failure or setback, it can be easy to feel like it's the end of the world. However, reading quotes about failure can help to provide a broader perspective and remind us that setbacks are a natural part of the journey towards success.
- They Can Inspire And Motivate: Many quotes about failure are incredibly inspiring and can help to motivate us to keep going, even in the face of adversity. When we read about other successful people who have faced and overcome failures, it can help us to feel inspired and motivated to do the same.
- They Can Help Us To Learn: Failure is often a powerful learning opportunity, and reading quotes about failure can help us to see it in this light. By reflecting on the lessons that others have learned through their failures, we can begin to identify our own opportunities for growth and development.
- They Can Boost Resilience: Resilience is the ability to bounce back from setbacks and failures, and reading quotes about failure can help to boost this important trait. By reminding us that we are not alone in our struggles, and that others have faced and overcome similar challenges, these quotes can help us to become more resilient in the face of adversity.
Next Steps
Implementing quotes about failure into daily life can be a powerful way to stay motivated and inspired, even in the face of setbacks and challenges.
Here are a few ways to do so:
- Display Quotes Where You Can See Them: One of the easiest ways to incorporate quotes about failure into daily life is to display them in places where you will see them regularly. This could mean putting up a poster in your workspace, adding an inspirational quote to your phone's lock screen, or even writing a favorite quote on a sticky note and placing it on your bathroom mirror.
- Use Quotes As Mantras: When facing a particularly challenging situation, repeating a quote about failure to yourself can help to provide a much-needed boost of motivation and inspiration. Choose a quote that resonates with you, and use it as a mantra to help you stay focused and motivated.
- Share Quotes With Others: Sharing quotes about failure with others can be a great way to spread positivity and motivation. Whether it's a friend who is going through a tough time or a colleague who needs a little extra inspiration, sharing a quote can help to brighten someone's day and provide a much-needed boost of encouragement.
- Reflect On Quotes Regularly: Finally, taking time to reflect on your favorite quotes about failure can be a powerful way to stay motivated and focused on your goals. Set aside a few minutes each day to read through some of your favorite quotes, and take time to reflect on how they apply to your own life and challenges.
- Wear Them: engrave your favorite quotes onto clothing or jewelry and wear them as a reminder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Are Quotes About Failure So Popular?
Quotes about failure are popular because they offer inspiration, motivation, and a new perspective on setbacks and challenges.
Many successful people have faced failure and overcome it, so reading about their experiences can help us to feel less alone and more motivated to keep going.
Can Quotes About Failure Really Make A Difference?
Yes, quotes about failure can make a difference.
They offer a powerful reminder that failure is a natural part of the learning process and that success often comes after multiple failures.
By providing motivation, inspiration, and a new perspective, quotes about failure can help us to stay focused and resilient in the face of challenges.
How Can I Find The Right Quote About Failure For Me?
There are many different quotes about failure out there, so finding the right one for you may take some time and reflection.
Start by thinking about what resonates with you and what kind of message you need to hear right now.
Then, search online for quotes from successful people in your field or from famous figures you admire.
You can also look for books or articles about resilience and failure that contain quotes that speak to you.
Finally, don't be afraid to create your own quote about failure that speaks to your personal experience and values.