"The biggest failure of man is that..." - Quote by Thomas Edison
The biggest failure of man is that he gives up before he realizes how close he was to success.
More by Thomas Edison
“The money one gets for selling one's soul is always spent in deadening one's conscience, so the net gain at the end of a lifetime is no greater than if the diabolic bargain had not been struck.”
“The three things that are most essential to achievement are common sense, hard work and stick-to-it-iv-ness... Unfortunately, many of life's failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.”
“Surprises and reverses can serve as an incentive for great accomplishment. There are no rules here, we're just trying to accomplish something.”
More on Failure
“Twenty-two years ago Judge [then-Senator Stephen] Douglas and I first became acquainted. We were both young then; he a trifle younger than I. Even then, we were both ambitious; I, perhaps, quite as much so as he. With me, the race of ambition has been a failure--a flat failure; with him it has been one of splendid success.”
“There are no failures, only outcomes. As long as I learn something, I am succeeding.”
“There's an old saying that victory has a hundred fathers and defeat is an orphan.... I'm the responsible officer of the Government.”
More on Perseverance
“Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. ... Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.”
“Harriet Tubman lived to see the harvest.”
“People in their handlings of affairs often fail when they are about to succeed. If one remains as careful at the end as he was at the beginning, there will be no failure.”