Risk of Failure Quotes

Achievement must be made against the possibility of failure, against the risk of defeat. It is no achievement to walk a tightrope laid flat on the floor. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement and, consequently, no happiness. The only way we can advance is by going forward, individually and collectively, in the spirit of the pioneer. We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.

You may have done 20 great shows in a row and come to one, and it doesn't work. You never presume anything.

Great success always comes at the risk of enormous failure.

The problem with taking venture capital is if you take $5m from someone, it may feel great; you may feel like they're validating your business model. But they're giving $5m out to 20 different people, hoping one of them will be a hit. They don't really care if it's you.

If you don't win, you're going to be fired. If you do win, you've only put off the day you're going to be fired.

The industry is such - there is no guarantee that a show would work only because it is airing.

I think that no number of rehearsals can guarantee the outcome of a live show.

I love Newark, but it was easy to get caught up in the wrong situation. You know, when you come from very humble beginnings, you always have that fear that everything could go away at any moment.

Every joke is an experiment. When you sit, alone, and write a script, or just a joke, you really have no idea if it will succeed.

But the higher a man mounts, the greater may be his fall; all genius is a conquering of chaos, mystery.

Predictability can lead to failure.

He that writes may be considered as a kind of general challenger, whom every one has a right to attack; since he quits the common rank of life, steps forward beyond the lists, and offers his merit to the public judgement. To commence author is to claim praise, and no man can justly aspire to honour, but at the hazard of disgrace.

You know, I'm not making top dollar, but when you're making top dollar, there are a lot of people waiting for you to fall.

I realize that as quick as you go up, you can really come down that quick. And we've seen it happen with others.

In the NFL, every practice could make or break you. If you dropped one ball, you'd worry about getting cut.

Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that's what makes it so boring.

For me, it was a lot of pressure to make another movie after 'Inglourious Basterds' because I didn't want to do something wrong. I wanted to have a beautiful project for another American movie.

You always want to have a winning car, but there is no guarantee that it will be.

After that he turned to the question of invading England. Hitler said that during the previous year he could not afford to risk a possible failure; apart from that, he had not wished to provoke the British, as he hoped to arrange peace talks.

When you're making an independent film, there is no guarantee that anyone is going to see it, ever.

Past experience, on the shuttle and the Titan rockets, suggests that large multi-segment solid rockets have a probability of failure of 0.5 to 1 per cent.

Well, it's so hard for books to take off. You give years of your life to something that probably won't happen, so when it does, it feels a little... unjust.

If you get into a Broadway show and it doesn't work, you're a failure. And if it does work, you may be stuck for who knows how long. It just doesn't sound great to me!

I prefer to do movies, just for the simple fact that in TV, there's not much of a guarantee. They can pull the plug on you.

At least, in this situation, I know my chances of coming back could be slim because of the young talent the Yankees do have.