What have you failed at this week?

When I was a child, my father used to encourage my brother and me to fail. At the dinner table, instead of asking about…

— Sara Blakely

I failed, I think, seven [or] eight times before I finally got my first [championship]. It was just, you know, just about me growing…

— Shaquille O'Neal

Paradox: how do we know what we have failed to see because we have no language to express it, thus we cannot know that…

— Joyce Carol Oates

“Humility is what you strive for when you've failed at everything else.”

— Stephan Pastis

When the enemy is driven back, we have failed, and when he is cut off, encircled and dispersed, we have succeeded.

— Alexander Suvorov

I wanted to be a huge star and I have failed.

— John Otway

The very first company I started failed with a great bang. The second one failed a little bit less, but still failed. The third…

— Max Levchin

I recognize I am essentially a failed human being in the sense that I can't possibly live up to the expectations of an Almighty.

— George W. Bush

Before I was a champion, I failed, and I was afraid.

— Chris Long

“Somehow it had come to pass that this man was her whole world, and she had failed to take his measure.”

— Barbara Kingsolver

When I started out I was a failed actor.

— David Mamet

I tried to go to college; I just picked a trade, did a plumbing test - and failed. And then I thought, 'I may…

— Luke Campbell

“WASHINGTON—Citigroup Inc. failed to get Federal Reserve”

— Anonymous

Actually, I failed drama in high school because of nerves. I wasn't able to memorize the words. I had complete stage fright.

— Constance Marie

I almost failed out of high school. I nearly gave in to the deep anger and resentment harbored by everyone around me... Whatever talents…

— J. D. Vance