--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is only one failure in life…" description: "\"There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.\" — George Eliot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png" --- # There is only one failure in life possible, and that is… ![“There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.” quote by George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png) > “There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.” [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Only true failure is not staying true to one's deepest convictions. **In simple terms:** Failure is not being honest with yourself. Key Takeaway Stay true to your best knowledge. Themes integrity self-awareness truth failure growth Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - career decisions - personal relationships - creative projects - leadership Key Concepts moral philosophy personal authenticity ethical living Questions to Reflect On - What conviction guides you most? - How do you balance truth with diplomacy? A Different Perspective People may misinterpret honesty as stubbornness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Failure in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure-in-life/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) ## Related quotes > [There is only one real failure in life that is possible, and that is, not to be true to the best one knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-william-farrar/there-is-only-one-real-failure-in-life-that-is-possible-and-that-is/) Frederic William Farrar > [“What we call the 'just possible' is sometimes true and the thing we find it easier to believe is grossly false.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-we-call-the-just-possible-is-sometimes-true-and-the-thing-we/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Anything is possible if you're true to yourself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haresh-sippy/anything-is-possible-if-you-re-true-to-yourself/) [Haresh Sippy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haresh-sippy/) > [The greatest failure in life is to stop trying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/the-greatest-failure-in-life-is-to-stop-trying/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [“With one failure in life, you shouldn't put your dreams on the back burner. Trust and believe that you'll have more failures in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcia-m-edwards/with-one-failure-in-life-you-shouldn-t-put-your-dreams-on-the-back/) [Marcia M Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcia-m-edwards/) > [The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-real-failure-in-life-is-not-to-be-true-to-the-best-one-knows/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [As a musician, you kinda get used to failure in life, and then when things actually start succeeding, it's a very interesting feeling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-sudol/as-a-musician-you-kinda-get-used-to-failure-in-life-and-then-when/) [Alison Sudol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-sudol/) > [A man who has never made a woman angry is a failure in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/a-man-who-has-never-made-a-woman-angry-is-a-failure-in-life/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) > [In the place of failure in life, it does not exist unless an individual gives up on its future achievement therefore failure does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justice-ogali/in-the-place-of-failure-in-life-it-does-not-exist-unless-an/) [Justice Ogali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justice-ogali/) > [There is but one failure in life and that is the failure to try.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-sharma/there-is-but-one-failure-in-life-and-that-is-the-failure-to-try/) [Robin Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-sharma/) > [The greatest failure in life is the failure to participate in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-khoo/the-greatest-failure-in-life-is-the-failure-to-participate-in-life/) Adam Khoo > [The only real failure in life is one not learned from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-j-d-angelo/the-only-real-failure-in-life-is-one-not-learned-from/) [Anthony J. D'Angelo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-j-d-angelo/) > [Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously, that you might as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-k-rowling-2/some-failure-in-life-is-inevitable-it-is-impossible-to-live-without/) [J. K. Rowling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-k-rowling-2/) > [If you want to know whether you are destined to be a success or a failure in life, you can easily find out. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-j-hill/if-you-want-to-know-whether-you-are-destined-to-be-a-success-or-a/) [James J. Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-j-hill/) > [No man who has managed to keep out of an office can be called a failure in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-aldington/no-man-who-has-managed-to-keep-out-of-an-office-can-be-called-a/) [Richard Aldington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-aldington/) ## More by George Eliot > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-the-effect-of-her-being-on-those-around-her-was-incalculably/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Scepticismcan never be thoroughly applied, else life would come to a standstill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/scepticismcan-never-be-thoroughly-applied-else-life-would-come-to-a/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Under every guilty secret there is hidden a brood of guilty wishes, whose unwholesome infecting life is cherished by the darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/under-every-guilty-secret-there-is-hidden-a-brood-of-guilty-wishes/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [The most powerful movement of feeling with a liturgy is the prayer which seeks for nothing special, but is a yearning to escape from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/the-most-powerful-movement-of-feeling-with-a-liturgy-is-the-prayer/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [ “\[W\]e must learn to accommodate ourselves to the discovery that some of those cunningly-fashioned instruments called human souls have only a very limited range… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/w-e-must-learn-to-accommodate-ourselves-to-the-discovery-that-some-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Mr. Casaubon had never had a strong bodily frame, and his soul was sensitive without being enthusiastic: it was too languid to thrill out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/mr-casaubon-had-never-had-a-strong-bodily-frame-and-his-soul-was/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“... she took her husband's jokes and joviality as patiently as everything else, considering that "men would be so", and viewing the stronger sex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/she-took-her-husband-s-jokes-and-joviality-as-patiently-as-everything/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [What is opportunity to the man who can't use it? An unfecundated egg, which the waves of time wash away into nonentity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/what-is-opportunity-to-the-man-who-can-t-use-it-an-unfecundated-egg/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/and-of-course-men-know-best-about-everything-except-what-women-know/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But let the wise be warned against too great readiness at explanation: it multiplies the sources of mistake, lengthening the sum for reckoners sure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-let-the-wise-be-warned-against-too-great-readiness-at-explanation/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“But any one watching keenly the stealthy convergence of human lots, sees a slow preparation of effects from one life on another, which tells…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/but-any-one-watching-keenly-the-stealthy-convergence-of-human-lots/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [Perspective, as its inventor remarked, is a beautiful thing. What horrors of damp huts, where human beings languish, may not become picturesque through aerial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/perspective-as-its-inventor-remarked-is-a-beautiful-thing-what/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“Sane people did what their neighbours did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/sane-people-did-what-their-neighbours-did-so-that-if-any-lunatics/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [even those who call themselves 'intimate' know very little about each other - hardly ever know just how a sorrow is felt, and hurt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/even-those-who-call-themselves-intimate-know-very-little-about-each/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) [Explore all 1,492 George Eliot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Eliot" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possible-and-that-is-not-to-be-true/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possible-and-that-is-not-to-be-true/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/876/george-eliot-84_failure_there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possib_291863.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is only one failure in life possible, and that is not to be true to the best one knows.” — George Eliot", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "George Eliot", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is only one failure in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possible-and-that-is-not-to-be-true/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-is-only-one-failure-in-life-possible-and-that-is-not-to-be-true/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```