'Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.'

'If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.'

- Billionaire John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

'Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.'

- Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925–1968)

'Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.'

- Harper Lee from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.'

- Inventor Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

'In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.'

- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (1953–2018)

'One man can make a difference and every man should try.'

- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (1929-1994)

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

'No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different.'

- Apple CEO Tim Cook (1960 - present)

'I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.'

-Comedian George Burns (1896-1996)

A quote by Howard Hughes

"Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies."

'Until you're ready to look foolish, you'll never have the possibility of being great.'

- Cherilyn "Cher" Sarkisian (1946-present)

'When you're climbing Mount Everest, nothing is easy. You just take one step at a time, never look back and always keep your eyes glued to the top.'

- Author Jacqueline Susann (1918-1974)

'Do one thing every day that scares you.'

-Mary Schmich (1953-present), a columnist for the Chicago Tribune

'The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.'

- Roger Bannister (1929-2018)

'Adversity, if you allow it to, will fortify you and make you the best you can be.'

-American beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings (1978-present)

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

- Former President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858–1919)

'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.'

- Author James Baldwin (1924–1987)

'Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.'

- Pablo Picasso

'Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.'

- 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life"

'Don't gain the world and lose your soul; wisdom is better than silver or gold.'

-Reggae pioneer Bob Marley (1945-1981)

'Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.'

- Judy Garland

'Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.'

- Ted Turner, on his secret to success (1938-2026)

Learn more about Ray Dalio's formula for progress

Across interviews and in his books, Dalio often emphasizes the importance of learning as much as possible to avoid making bad decisions. However, Dalio also often speaks about failure being a great teacher. One of his core principles is "Pain + Reflection \= Progress."

'Mediocrity is always invisible until passion shows up and exposes it'

- Graham Cooke

'You only go around once, but if you play your cards right, once is enough.'

- Frank Sinatra (1915–1998)

'May your future be limited only by your dreams.'

- Teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)

'It's those who lie outside ordinary experience who have the most to teach us.'

- Author Malcolm Gladwell (1963 - present)

A quote from Sally Ride

“Three Secrets to Success: Be willing to learn new things. Be able to assimilate new information quickly. Be able to get along with and work with other people.”

A failed resolution still defines directional exploration

The new year practice of making resolutions is so popular it can often inspire ironic dismissal from those all-too-aware of how many fail. This piece argues failure doesn't matter: Making the resolution itself helps define one's focus in life, arguably more important than racking up achievements.

'Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You’ve got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.'

- Golf great Jack Nicklaus (1940-present)

'Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.'

- Maya Angelou

'A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.'

- Jackie Robinson, the first Black MLB player (1919-1972)

'It's the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.'

- Legendary boxer Muhammad Ali (1942–2016)

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'I am a writer who came from a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within.'

- American novelist Eudora Welty (1909-2001)

'When you come to a fork in the road, take it.'

- Baseball great Yogi Berra (1925-2015)

Senator John McCain on fighting

"In the end, it matters less that you can fight. What you fight for is the real test."

'Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be … when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am.'

-Author Arthur Miller (1915-2005) in "Death of a Salesman"

'Mutual ignorance breeds mutual distrust.'

- Businessman Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)

A quote by Ralph Bunche

"The well-being and the hopes of the peoples of the world can never be served until peace - as well as freedom, honor and self-respect - is secure."

'We are on the move now ... Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom ...'

- Martin Luther King Jr. at the conclusion of the five-day, 54-mile march

Existentialism inspired Franklin Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr.

The Danish philosopher, sometimes called “the father of existentialism,” believed that individuals needed to resist the temptation of conformity and instead discover their authentic selves. His work became remarkably influential in the 20th century. In 1944, Roosevelt said that reading Kierkegaard made him understand how the Nazis could’ve enacted so much violence. In 1959, King wrote that existentialism was “especially meaningful for our time.”

'Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.'

- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in "Elenora"

A quote by broadcast legend Walter Cronkite

"In seeking truth you have to get both sides of a story."

Watch President John F. Kennedy's speech on going to the moon

The case for optimism

Author, editor, and thinker Kevin Kelly makes an argument for optimism. Not only as a personal philosophy, but as a moral obligation, focusing on the need for optimism in overcoming challenges. Drawing examples ranging back to the Wright brothers,...

'I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.'

- "Superman" actor Christopher Reeve (1952 - 2004)

Richard Feynman exposed NASA's safety failures on the Rogers Commission

The Nobel Laureate served on the Rogers Commission investigating Challenger, famously demonstrating O-ring failure with ice water and eventually criticizing NASA's culture of risk normalization and management pressure in the final report.

'A lion never roars after a kill.'

-Coaching legend Dean Smith (1931-2015)