CURATED COLLECTION

Redefining Success and Failure

The standard definitions were written by people who wanted something from you — here are better ones.

62 quotes found

“
Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, to truth, we can be deaf.

—Marcel ProustNovelist

Early Modern ERA • Western Europe

“
Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.

—Oscar WildePlaywright & Poet

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

“
There are no second acts in American lives.

—F. Scott FitzgeraldNovelist & Essayist

Early Modern ERA • North America

“
To know that you do not know is the best. To think you know when you do not is a disease.

—Lao TzuPhilosopher

Ancient World ERA • East Asia

“
I wisely started with a map.

—J.R.R. TolkienNovelist & Academic

Post-War ERA • Western Europe

“
I lost my key inside the house, but I'm looking for it here because there's light.

—Nasreddin HodjaPhilosopher & Satirist

Medieval ERA • MENA

“
Fear is the most fertile of emotions.

—Jorge Luis BorgesWriter & Essayist

Early Modern ERA • Latin America

“
Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.

—F. Scott FitzgeraldNovelist & Essayist

Early Modern ERA • North America

“
I know that I know nothing.

—SocratesPhilosopher

Ancient World ERA • Southern Europe

“
Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance.

—Jane AustenNovelist

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

“
Human nature is evil, and its goodness is acquired.

—XunziConfucian Philosopher

Ancient World ERA • East Asia

“
The greatest sorrow is that a person cannot decide his own destiny.

—Lu XunWriter, Essayist & Critic

Early Modern ERA • East Asia

“
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

—Percy Bysshe ShelleyPoet & Thinker

Industrial Age ERA • Western Europe

“
Hope is a tricky thing. It can be a balm or a burden.

—K. Sello DuikerNovelist

Contemporary ERA • Southern Africa

“
Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.

—Eleanor RooseveltDiplomat & Activist

Post-War ERA • North America

“
Everything I know, I know from life, not from books.

—Bohumil HrabalWriter & King

Late Modern ERA • Eastern Europe

“
Who trusts in deceit, deceives himself.

—Torquato TassoPoet

Renaissance ERA • Southern Europe

“
You can be whatever you want to be, just not everything at once.

—Bernardine EvaristoAuthor

Digital Age ERA • Western Europe

“
Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

—Bill GatesEntrepreneur & Philanthropist

Late Modern ERA • North America

“
Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I would like to see you living in better conditions.

—HafizLyric Poet

Medieval ERA • MENA

Loading more...