--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If we are not willing to fail we will…" description: "\"If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure.\" — Madeleine L'Engle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8a/madeleine-l-engle-345_accomplish_if-we-are-not-willing-to-fail-we-will-ne_1156012.png" --- # If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish… ![“If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure.” quote by Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8a/madeleine-l-engle-345_accomplish_if-we-are-not-willing-to-fail-we-will-ne_1156012.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8a/madeleine-l-engle-345_accomplish_if-we-are-not-willing-to-fail-we-will-ne_1156012.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a8a/madeleine-l-engle-345_accomplish_if-we-are-not-willing-to-fail-we-will-ne_1156012.png) > “If we are not willing to fail we will never accomplish anything. All creative acts involve the risk of failure.” [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Without willingness to risk failure, no achievement is possible; creativity demands embracing possible loss. **In simple terms:** Risk is needed for success. Key Takeaway Embrace failure as a step. Themes creativity risk growth achievement Mood inspirational encouraging Type motivational self‑help When to use this quote - entrepreneurship - artistic projects - academic research - personal goals Key Concepts psychology motivation learning Questions to Reflect On - What failure have you avoided? - How can you reframe risk? A Different Perspective Fear of failure can paralyze action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative/) [Creative act](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creative-act/) [Creativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creativity/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) ## Related quotes > [“Walking away won’t accomplish anything. Find the creative spark in that brilliant head of yours, and we can share your vision with the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-bishop/walking-away-won-t-accomplish-anything-find-the-creative-spark-in/) Emily Bishop > [All that you accomplish or fail to accomplish with your life is the direct result of your thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/all-that-you-accomplish-or-fail-to-accomplish-with-your-life-is-the/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [When you accept that you may fail, you can accomplish anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-kaplan-thaler/when-you-accept-that-you-may-fail-you-can-accomplish-anything/) [Linda Kaplan Thaler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-kaplan-thaler/) > [What I want is to be willing to fail rather than stagnate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-dickey/what-i-want-is-to-be-willing-to-fail-rather-than-stagnate/) [James Dickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-dickey/) > [Succes is really nothing more than the record of failure. To be successful means you must be willing to fail more than anyone else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-van-booy/succes-is-really-nothing-more-than-the-record-of-failure-to-be/) [Simon Van Booy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-van-booy/) > [To succeed you must be willing to fail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-baruzzini/to-succeed-you-must-be-willing-to-fail/) Mark Baruzzini > [Nobody said that becoming successful would ever be an easy task by any means. One must be willing to fail and fail time again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/nobody-said-that-becoming-successful-would-ever-be-an-easy-task-by/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [Anything I've ever attempted, I was always willing to fail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-schwarzenegger/anything-i-ve-ever-attempted-i-was-always-willing-to-fail/) [Arnold Schwarzenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-schwarzenegger/) > [The degree of talent, the size of the gift, is immaterial. All artists must listen, but not all hear great symphonies, see wide canvasses,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/the-degree-of-talent-the-size-of-the-gift-is-immaterial-all-artists/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Reading is a creative activity. You have to visualize the characters, you have to hear what the voices sound like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/reading-is-a-creative-activity-you-have-to-visualize-the-characters/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [It's really a great asset to be willing to fail and blow it, so to speak, and to be okay with just making stuff,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chase-jarvis/it-s-really-a-great-asset-to-be-willing-to-fail-and-blow-it-so-to/) [Chase Jarvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chase-jarvis/) > [If you're willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-albee/if-you-re-willing-to-fail-interestingly-you-tend-to-succeed/) [Edward Albee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-albee/) > [In order to succeed spectacularly you have to be willing to fail spectacularly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/biz-stone/in-order-to-succeed-spectacularly-you-have-to-be-willing-to-fail/) [Biz Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/biz-stone/) > [Most people do not ever pick up the phone. They never ask, and that is what separates the people that do things from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/most-people-do-not-ever-pick-up-the-phone-they-never-ask-and-that-is/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [If you invent frequently and are willing to fail, then you never get to that point where you really need to bet the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-bezos/if-you-invent-frequently-and-are-willing-to-fail-then-you-never-get/) [Jeff Bezos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-bezos/) ## More by Madeleine L'Engle > [“One of the hardest lessons I have to learn is how not to be judgmental about people who are judgmental. When I see how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/one-of-the-hardest-lessons-i-have-to-learn-is-how-not-to-be/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Inspiration more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of an artist is to listen to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/inspiration-more-often-comes-during-the-work-than-before-it-because/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/you-have-to-write-the-book-that-wants-to-be-written-and-if-the-book/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Severe illness isolates those in close contact with it, because it inevitably narrows the focus of concern. To a certain extent this can lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/severe-illness-isolates-those-in-close-contact-with-it-because-it/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Goodness has never been a guarantee of safety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/goodness-has-never-been-a-guarantee-of-safety/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/faith-is-what-makes-life-bearable-with-all-its-tragedies-and/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“Instead of rejoicing in this glorious “impossible” which gives meaning and dignity to our lives, we try to domesticate God, to make his mighty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/instead-of-rejoicing-in-this-glorious-impossible-which-gives-meaning/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [I have never lived before...Until this summer, I did not know what it was to be alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-have-never-lived-before-until-this-summer-i-did-not-know-what-it/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [On the other side of pain, there is still love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/on-the-other-side-of-pain-there-is-still-love/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“To love is to be vulnerable; and it is only in vulnerability and risk—not safety and security—that we overcome darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/to-love-is-to-be-vulnerable-and-it-is-only-in-vulnerability-and-risk/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [“IT was the most horrible, the most repellent thing she had ever seen, far more nauseating then anything she had ever imagined with her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/it-was-the-most-horrible-the-most-repellent-thing-she-had-ever-seen/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [I feel as though I'm not breathing when I'm out of his presence. He's the oxygen in my air, the sun in my universe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/i-feel-as-though-i-m-not-breathing-when-i-m-out-of-his-presence-he-s/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [Rather than feeling lost and unimportant and meaningless, set against galaxies which go beyond the reach of the furthest telescopes, I feel that my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/rather-than-feeling-lost-and-unimportant-and-meaningless-set-against/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [My husband is my most ruthless critic... sometimes he will say, 'It's been said better before.' Of course it has. It's all been said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/my-husband-is-my-most-ruthless-critic-sometimes-he-will-say-it-s-been/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [If we aren't capable of being hurt we aren't capable of feeling joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/if-we-aren-t-capable-of-being-hurt-we-aren-t-capable-of-feeling-joy/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) [Explore all 660 Madeleine L'Engle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) ## More Accomplish quotes > [Learn to see the big picture. 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But I derive my hope above all, and most especially, from our utter incapacity, for it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-guerin/the-community-s-crosses-and-trials-give-me-confidence-but-i-derive-my/) [Theodore Guerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-guerin/) > [There's things that you want to accomplish, but to do that you have to work. That's the name of the game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-schwarber/there-s-things-that-you-want-to-accomplish-but-to-do-that-you-have-to/) [Kyle Schwarber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-schwarber/) > [To accomplish much you must first lose everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/che-guevara/to-accomplish-much-you-must-first-lose-everything/) [Che Guevara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/che-guevara/) > [We have to think about the future and what it is we want to accomplish from this party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-bernice-johnson/we-have-to-think-about-the-future-and-what-it-is-we-want-to/) [Eddie Bernice Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-bernice-johnson/) > [Everything that I have ever hoped to accomplish, she has done and done better than anyone I have ever seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/everything-that-i-have-ever-hoped-to-accomplish-she-has-done-and-done/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [There's a lot that I want to accomplish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/there-s-a-lot-that-i-want-to-accomplish/) [George W. 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