quotations about defeat
A defeat in war is not the greatest of all evils; but when the defeat has been inflicted by enemies who are not worthy of you, then the calamity is doubled.
AESCHINES
attributed, Day's Collacon
And the bittersweet of every new defeat
Is I'm stronger than before
Baby, on my knees, but I still believe
These broken wings will soar
BIRDY
"Silhouette", Beautiful Lies
Every defeat is a feather in your cap.
THE VANDALS
"Failure Is the Best Revenge"
When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do. More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them.
NAPOLEON HILL
Think and Grow Rich
Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan.
JOHN F. KENNEDY
John F. Kennedy on Leadership (Barnes)
Next to victory, there is nothing so sweet as defeat, if only the right adversary overcomes you.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
Defeat is a one-time occurrence. There is no direct relation between this one-time fact of defeat, resulting in a secondary defeat at the hands of the self -- a defeat which is therefore all the more decisive.
YOSHIMI TAKEUCHI
What Is Modernity?
To be defeated, but not to give in, is victory.
NEAL ASCHERSON
Wojtek the Bear
Defeat is a glimpse into mortality. It's seeing death through a looking glass.
MATTHEW JOHNSON
"On Noble Defeat", The Good Men Project, March 11, 2019
Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.
MUHAMMAD ALI
attributed, Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing
Defeat teachus us life's most valuable lessons.
CHINESE PROVERB
It is defeat that lives on and takes the years to smother.
BEN ROBERTSON
Red Hills and Cotton
In the morning I brush my teeth with hope, and at night before bed I brush them with defeat. Both are mint flavored, so I try not to get them mixed up.
JAROD KINTZ
At Even One Penny
Defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it.
GRENVILLE KLEISER
Dictionary of Proverbs
The taste of defeat is like cold iron in my mouth, like the bit for an unbroken filly.
PHILIPPA GREGORY
The Other Queen
A young man is not fitted for life's battle until he has met and survived defeat.
LEWIS F. KORNS
Thoughts
What is defeat? Nothing but education, nothing but the first to something better.
W. PHILLIPS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.
JOHN STEINBECK
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
Defeat is three-legged.
SINHALESE PROVERB
Defeat is like shortbread: it rarely stops with one.
STEPHEN BUSH
"What Happened in the 1974 election?", New Statesman, April 20, 2015