--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: ... And here it is: You don't win races…" description: "\"“... And here it is: You don't win races by wishing, you win them by running faster than everyone else. And to do that you have to train hard and striv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc4/philip-pullman-525_failure_and-here-it-is-you-don-t-win-races-by-wi_905765.jpg" --- # ... And here it is: You don't win races by wishing, you… ![“... And here it is: You don't win races by wishing, you win them by running faster than everyone else. And to do that you have to train hard and strive your utmost, and sometimes even that isn't enough, because another runner just might be more talented than you are. Here's the truth: If you want…” quote by Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc4/philip-pullman-525_failure_and-here-it-is-you-don-t-win-races-by-wi_905765.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc4/philip-pullman-525_failure_and-here-it-is-you-don-t-win-races-by-wi_905765.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fc4/philip-pullman-525_failure_and-here-it-is-you-don-t-win-races-by-wi_905765.jpg) > ““... And here it is: You don't win races by wishing, you win them by running faster than everyone else. And to do that you have to train hard and strive your utmost, and sometimes even that isn't enough, because another runner just might be more talented than you are. Here's the truth: If you want something, you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure. That's the problem with Karl: He was afraid of failing, so he never really tried.”” [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Success requires effort, perseverance, and acceptance of risk; talent alone isn’t enough, and fear of failure blocks trying. **In simple terms:** Hard work and risk are essential for achievement. Key Takeaway Embrace effort and risk, overcome fear. Themes effort risk failure talent perseverance Mood determined reflective motivational Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - sports competition - career advancement - creative projects - academic pursuits - personal goals Key Concepts growth mindset resilience self‑efficacy Questions to Reflect On - What are you willing to risk for your goal? - How does fear limit your attempts? A Different Perspective Talent alone cannot guarantee success without dedication and willingness to fail. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Runner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/runner/) [Train hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/train-hard/) ## Related quotes > [You don't win races by wishing, you win them by running faster than everyone else does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/you-don-t-win-races-by-wishing-you-win-them-by-running-faster-than/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Never give up. People may doubt what you say but they can't doubt what you do. Work hard, strive for excellence daily, and enjoy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-give-up-people-may-doubt-what-you-say-but-they-can-t-doubt-what/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even if it's hard, always strive to be harder than the hardness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/even-if-it-s-hard-always-strive-to-be-harder-than-the-hardness/) [Simphiwe Scientist Dumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simphiwe-scientist-dumi/) > [If I knew I couldn't win races, I would have stayed in the States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-villeneuve/if-i-knew-i-couldn-t-win-races-i-would-have-stayed-in-the-states/) [Jacques Villeneuve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-villeneuve/) > [You can't win races if you're just trying to win races yourself. You can't accomplish anything. It takes a whole team.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-burgum/you-can-t-win-races-if-you-re-just-trying-to-win-races-yourself-you/) [Doug Burgum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-burgum/) > [“We all won our first race and have the potential to win other races. We are born champions and the only way to remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-tayem-tangumonkem/we-all-won-our-first-race-and-have-the-potential-to-win-other-races/) [Eric Tayem Tangumonkem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-tayem-tangumonkem/) > [But I'm good to go through my contract with Childress, and my determination is to win races and try to win that other championship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt/but-i-m-good-to-go-through-my-contract-with-childress-and-my/) [Dale Earnhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt/) > [It's good to ski for fun, but I still want to win races as often as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-maier/it-s-good-to-ski-for-fun-but-i-still-want-to-win-races-as-often-as/) [Hermann Maier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-maier/) > [To come in and win three races already this year and maybe set a record by winning four is pretty unique. But guys like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dale-earnhardt/to-come-in-and-win-three-races-already-this-year-and-maybe-set-a/) [Dale Earnhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dale-earnhardt/) > [You either commit yourself as a professional racing driver that's designed to win races or you come second or you come third or fifth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayrton-senna/you-either-commit-yourself-as-a-professional-racing-driver-that-s/) [Ayrton Senna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayrton-senna/) > [I was confident that I not only could win races, but I could win the championship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-waltrip/i-was-confident-that-i-not-only-could-win-races-but-i-could-win-the/) [Michael Waltrip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-waltrip/) > [In my younger days, I loved to run. Although it may be hard for you to believe it, I did. And I did win…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-b-wirthlin/in-my-younger-days-i-loved-to-run-although-it-may-be-hard-for-you-to/) [Joseph B. Wirthlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-b-wirthlin/) > [Some people want to win races. Other people want to be President of the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/some-people-want-to-win-races-other-people-want-to-be-president-of/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [Wanting to win races is detrimental to courage. You tend to run too conservatively because you want to wait and sprint. If you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-lindgren/wanting-to-win-races-is-detrimental-to-courage-you-tend-to-run-too/) [Gerry Lindgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-lindgren/) > [It is funny, I have the ability to win a stage in the Tour de France and I do win races that are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-bennett/it-is-funny-i-have-the-ability-to-win-a-stage-in-the-tour-de-france/) [Sam Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-bennett/) ## More by Philip Pullman > [The state of mind which I put myself when I tell a story is one in which superstition flourishes very easily. And I welcome…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-state-of-mind-which-i-put-myself-when-i-tell-a-story-is-one-in/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Religion grants its adherents malign, intoxicating and morally corrosive sensations. Destroying intellectual freedom is always evil, but only religion makes doing evil feel quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/religion-grants-its-adherents-malign-intoxicating-and-morally/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. Thou shalt not is soon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-don-t-need-lists-of-rights-and-wrongs-tables-of-do-s-and-don-ts-we/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-stolen-ideas-from-every-book-i-have-ever-read/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [All the stories of the Bible that I know came to me first from my grandfather's lips... He would see stories in everything. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/all-the-stories-of-the-bible-that-i-know-came-to-me-first-from-my/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [What I do say is that I can write verse, and that the writing of verse in strict form is the best possible training…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/what-i-do-say-is-that-i-can-write-verse-and-that-the-writing-of-verse/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Writing is tyranny ... but reading is democracy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/writing-is-tyranny-but-reading-is-democracy/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“Middlemarch is a novel that is diminished by being put on the screen. It can't help but be, because so much of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/middlemarch-is-a-novel-that-is-diminished-by-being-put-on-the-screen/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [I have maintained a passionate interest in education, which leads me occasionally to make foolish and ill-considered remarks alleging that not everything is well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/i-have-maintained-a-passionate-interest-in-education-which-leads-me/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [And think what worrying does: has anyone ever added a single hour to the length of his life by worrying about it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/and-think-what-worrying-does-has-anyone-ever-added-a-single-hour-to/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“The question authors get asked more than any other is "Where do you get your ideas from?" And we all find a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/the-question-authors-get-asked-more-than-any-other-is-where-do-you/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“We are all subject to the fates. But we must all act as if we are not,” said the witch, “or die of despair.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/we-are-all-subject-to-the-fates-but-we-must-all-act-as-if-we-are-not/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Lonely? I don't know. They tell me this is cold. I don't know what cold is, because I don't freeze. So I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/lonely-i-don-t-know-they-tell-me-this-is-cold-i-don-t-know-what-cold/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [Just finished 'Secrecy' - truly enthralling both as a love story and as a tale of suspense - but much more than both.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/just-finished-secrecy-truly-enthralling-both-as-a-love-story-and-as-a/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) > [“As Auden is believed to have said, no poem saved a single Jew from the gas chambers. Never mind. Write the poems anyway. Play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-pullman/as-auden-is-believed-to-have-said-no-poem-saved-a-single-jew-from-the/) [Philip Pullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) [Explore all 479 Philip Pullman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-pullman/) ## 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": "“... And here it is: You don't win races by wishing, you win them by running faster than everyone else. And to do that you have to train hard and strive your utmost, and sometimes even that isn't enough, because another runner just might be more talented than you are. Here's the truth: If you want something, you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure. 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