DEFEAT QUOTES

quotations about defeat

It is defeat that turns bone to flint, gristle to muscle, and makes men invincible.

HENRY WARD BEECHER

Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit


Blithely to anticipate victory in defeat is like taking a cut flower, sticking it in the ground and expecting it to grow.

HUGH BUCKINGHAM

How to Be a Christian in Trying Circumstances


Where defeat is inevitable, it is expedient to yield.

ROMAN PROVERB


wringing one last spectacular defeat from the jaws of victory

CHARLES FAIR

From the Jaws of Victory


A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

The Old Man and The Sea


There's an empty room, there's a blank page
There's a picture left incomplete
Something is lost, something remains
A monument to defeat

FATES WARNING

"Monument", Chasing Time


There's only one thing you've learned in defeat,
Losing is bitter and victory is sweet

DAVID CROSBY

"Old Soldier"


Defeat doesn't finish a man -- quit does.

RICHARD NIXON

note written July 1969


You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat. Losing after great striving is the story of man, who was born to sorrow, whose sweetest songs tell of saddest thought, and who, if he is a hero, does nothing in life as becomingly as leaving it.

ROGER KAHN

The Boys of Summer


Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat.

ARTHUR ASHE

Arthur Ashe on Tennis


When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.

NAPOLEON HILL

Think and Grow Rich


Defeat is a school in which Truth always grows strong.

HENRY WARD BEECHER

Life Thoughts


To be defeated, but not to give in, is victory.

NEAL ASCHERSON

Wojtek the Bear


Defeat begins with the fear that one has lost.

KOBO ABE

The Woman in the Dunes


If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat.

JEAN-PAUL SARTRE

The Devil and the Good Lord


Sweet defeat
I'm lying helpless at your feet

JON ALLEN

"Sweet Defeat"


One man's victory is another's defeat
Yet the spirit lives on and on

JOHN WEST

"Warrior Spirit", Earth Maker


The first step in our journey of prosperity often is defeat.

EDWARD COUNSEL

Maxims


Defeat is like the house guest that won't leave. Defeat hangs around. It's got an extended family.

STEVEN SODERBERGH

interview, "Still the Smartest Guy on the Hill 30 Years after Sex, Lies & Videotape", Deadline, January 29, 2019


Avoid defeat and you will avoid success.

CHINESE PROVERB