Stephen J. Dubner Quotes

Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.

How you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.

Failure. It doesn't exist. 'Failure' is just what happens when we lose perspective.

We will all fail in life, but nobody has to be a failure. Failing at a thing doesn't make you a failure. You are only a failure when you quit trying.

I knocked a lot of guys out from the seventh round on - so if I gave up, I would never have achieved what I did. There was no giving up. It's weak to give up. The easiest thing in the world is to quit.

I'm a big believer that success is never final and failure is never fatal.

We are not a failure just because we fail at something. Nobody is a failure unless they quit trying!

Unless you stop trying, how can you not fail anymore?

If at first you don't succeed - give it up. It isn't worth the pain.

There will be many failures sprinkled among the successes you enjoy.

No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences, so-called trauma - but we make out of them just what suits our purposes.

When you fail by your own standards, it's a form of success.

Men do not fail; they give up trying.

My big philosophy is: Try and work with good people, because the process is your life. That's going to be really, really hard. I'm glad I learned the lesson, 'Failure is OK.'

Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do.

The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.

A failure is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to stop trying.

Success isn't permanent and failure isn't fatal.

Failure is your invention.

I learned a lot from not having success, and realizing when you do have success, how hard it is to maintain it, and what you have to do to maintain it.

Failure at some point in your life is inevitable, but giving up is unforgivable.

Common sense would suggest that having ability, like being smart, inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges. People with a growth mindset welcome setbacks with open arms.

There's nothing wrong with being a loser, it just depends on how good you are at it.

To be ready to fail is to be prepared for success.