James Baldwin Quotes

Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it's a shield.

Ever since I can remember, over-expectation and pressure have been my worst enemies.

Great success always comes at the risk of enormous failure.

The more failure you can accept, the greater your chance of success.

There can be no freedom without freedom to fail.

I'm terribly afraid of failure. When your identity is wrapped up in writing and you've written something that doesn't work, it's a tough pill to swallow.

In order to succeed spectacularly you have to be willing to fail spectacularly.

Much of life is about failure, whether we acknowledge it or not, and your destiny is profoundly shaped by how effectively you learn from and adapt to failure.

If your life is free of failures, you're not taking enough risks.

Everyone fails. Everyone is constantly failing. It is all part of life, and especially this job of being an actor.

Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously, that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case you have failed by default. Failure gave me an inner security that I had never obtained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things that I could not have learned any other way. I discovered I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected.

Succes is really nothing more than the record of failure. To be successful means you must be willing to fail more than anyone else.

Never having failed, I could not picture what failure meant.

Successful people just don't let failure define them or keep them from doing what they want to do. For example, I'd have people come up to me after my shows, and they'd say they want to do stand-up but are scared they're going to fail. I'd tell them, "You are going to fail, and anyone who is success has powered through many, many failures."

What a shame to be so afraid of failure that you stop living. My wife has a great one-liner about failure: "Never consider yourself a failure-you can always serve as a bad example." She is right. Failure can be a better teacher than success.

And I’m drawn to failure. I often write about it, and I’m sympathetic with it, I think, because I feel I’m contending with it constantly in my own life.

Failure is a prerequisite for great success. If you want to succeed faster, double your rate of failure.

If failure had no penalty success would not be a prize.

Unless you're willing to fail miserably in the pursuit of your dreams, you'll never make it.

People don't know the consolations of being unsuccessful ... If I had been successful I should have had no peace or time.

One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.

But what if I fail? You will. A better question might be, ‘after I fail, what then?’ If you’ve chosen well, after you fail you will be one step closer to succeeding, you will be wiser and stronger and you almost certainly will be more respected by all of those that are afraid to try.

Do not simplify. Do not worry about failure. Failure is a badge of honour. It means you risked failure.

I have a fear of failure.

There is nothing that teaches you more than regrouping after failure and moving on. Yet most people are stricken with fear. They fear failure so much that they fail. They are too conditioned, too used to being told what to do. It begins with the family, runs through school and goes into the business world.