Failure. It’s a word that stings, but it’s also one of life’s greatest teachers. Too often, we see it as the end of the road, when in truth, it’s a stepping stone: an essential part of growth, resilience, and success.
Every leader, creator, and innovator has failed: not once, but many times. The difference is that they didn’t let failure define them. They embraced it, learned from it, and used it to fuel their progress.
I know this personally. As I approached my 40th birthday years ago, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had failed. There were dreams I hadn’t yet achieved, goals that still felt far away, and a lingering voice in my head that whispered, “You should be further along by now.”
Then came a road trip from Miami to Key West with my sister – the one person who has always had a way of challenging my perspective. Somewhere along the miles of highway and endless ocean views, she asked me to stop seeing my setbacks as dead ends and start seeing them as invitations. Invitations to step into my fears, to embrace the so-called failures, and to recognize that trying, really trying, was already progress.
That conversation changed everything. I made the decision to actively show up, even if it meant stumbling. And that choice led me here, to the work I do today. Along the way, I began journaling with quotes like the ones in this post. They became reminders that failure is a compass.
I share this collection of 78 powerful failure quotes with the hope that they do the same for you; that they encourage you to see your own stumbles with new eyes, and remind you that every setback is shaping your next breakthrough.
Resilience in the Face of Failure
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.”
Confucius
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”
Henry Ford
“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.”
J.K. Rowling
“Fall seven times and stand up eight.”
Japanese Proverb
“Every failure carries with it the seed of an equal or greater success.”
Napoleon Hill
“Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.”
Henry Ford
“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.”
George Edward Woodberry
“Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”
John Wooden
“Failure is delay, not defeat.”
Denis Waitley
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
Failure as Progress
“Failure is success in progress.”
Albert Einstein
“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”
Henry Ford
“Failure is simply the price we pay to achieve success.”
Jack Canfield
“Failure is the key to success; each mistake teaches us something.”
Morihei Ueshiba
“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from failures as from successes.”
John Dewey
“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”
James Joyce
“Failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success.”
Arianna Huffington
“Don’t fear failure. Fear being in the exact same place next year as you are today.”
“Failure is nature’s plan to prepare you for great responsibilities.”
Napoleon Hill
“Failure is success if we learn from it.”
Malcolm Forbes
Growth Through Setbacks
“Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.”
Zig Ziglar
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
Stephen McCranie
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
Truman Capote
“A failure is not always a mistake. It may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances.”
B.F. Skinner
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker.”
John C. Maxwell
“Failure is a bruise, not a tattoo.”
Jon Sinclair
“Failure isn’t something to be embarrassed about. It’s just proof that you’re trying.”
“Growth begins the moment you accept failure as feedback.”
“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, stronger than before.”
“Success is built on a pile of failures.”
Dave Ramsey
Courage, Risk, and Failure
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Robert F. Kennedy
“Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try.”
Michael Jordan
“Failure is the tuition you pay for success.”
Walter Brunell
“I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Michael Jordan
“If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
Ken Robinson
“The person who makes no mistakes makes nothing at all.”
“Failure shows us the way – by showing us what isn’t the way.”
“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”
Benjamin Franklin
“Failure is an event, not a person. Yesterday ended last night.”
Zig Ziglar
“Failure is simply courage in disguise.”
Learning From Failure
“Failure is simply the opportunity to learn what doesn’t work.”
Thomas Edison
“Failure is the best teacher if you are open to its lessons.”
“Failure is education. It teaches us what we can’t learn in success.”
“Failure is information. We label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work. I’m a problem solver, so I’ll try something else.’”Oprah Winfrey
“Failure is the raw material from which progress is made.”“The lessons of failure are the stepping stones of wisdom.”
“Failure makes you humble, and humility makes you teachable.”
Rick Warren
“Each failure brings you closer to success.”
“Failure is the rehearsal for success.”
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”Thomas Edison
Innovation and Failure
“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”C.S. Lewis
“Failure is success’s constant companion.”“Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.”
Napoleon Hill
“Failure is simply the foundation upon which innovation stands.”
“Success is often built on the rubble of past failures.”
“Innovation is born from the courage to fail.”
“Failure paves the way to breakthroughs.”
“Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.”
Thomas Edison
“Failure is simply the blueprint for improvement.”
“Behind every success story is a trail of failures no one talks about.”
Inspiring Perspectives on Failure
“There is no failure except in no longer trying.”
Elbert Hubbard
“Failure is success turned inside out.”“Failure is the mother of success.”
Chinese Proverb
“Failure is the stepping stone to greatness.”
“Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
“Failure is the fertilizer that nourishes the seed of success.”
“Failure is the proof that you’re pushing your limits.”
“Failure is life’s way of nudging you toward your true path.”
“Failure isn’t the end. It’s the beginning of something new.”
“Behind every successful person are failures that shaped them.”
Short and Powerful Failure Quotes
“Failure is feedback.”
“Failure is not the end.”
“Failure is growth in disguise.”
“Failure is progress in motion.”
“Failure is part of the plan.”
“No failure, no growth.”
“Failure fuels resilience.”
“Every failure is a lesson.”
“Failure creates stronger foundations.”
“Failure is the courage to begin again.”
Turning Failure Into Fuel
Looking back, I can see that what I once called “failure” was really preparation. Those moments of disappointment, doubt, and fear weren’t wasted; they were stepping stones that shaped the person I am today.
That road trip conversation with my sister is still a turning point I carry with me. Her challenge to embrace, not run from, failure gave me the courage to step forward; even imperfectly. And it’s a lesson I remind myself of often: failure isn’t final, unless you stop moving.
Failure is the very thing that shapes success. Each mistake, setback, and disappointment carries wisdom, resilience, and proof that you’re still in the arena – still daring, still growing.
So, when failure visits you (and it will), don’t see it as defeat. See it as direction. As progress. As a reminder that every great achievement was once born out of resilience, persistence, and the courage to keep going.
As you sit with these quotes, I invite you to ask yourself:
- What fear might be quietly holding you back from your next step?
- What lesson could be waiting for you inside your latest setback?
- How could failure become the very fuel that propels you toward your next breakthrough?
Failure doesn’t mean you’re off track. Sometimes, it means you’re exactly where you need to be – to grow, to stretch, and to rise stronger.
So, here’s to progress. To resilience. To trying again. And to the extraordinary version of you that failure is quietly shaping.
Thank you for being a VCC reader.