Neither let mistakes and wrong directions — of which every man, in his studies and elsewhere, falls into many — discourage you. There is precious instruction to be got by finding that we are wrong. Let a man try faithfully, manfully, to be right, he will grow daily more and more right.
Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Letter (1843-03-13), “Letter to a Young Man”
(Source)
The letter was in response to an unidentified correspondent seeking advice on books to help him improve himself. It was eventually published / anthologized as an essay.
Quotations about:
setback
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
Who climbs the mountain does not always climb.
The winding road slants downward many a time;
Yet each descent is higher than the last.Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1901), “Climbing,” ll. 1-3, New Thought Pastels (1906)
(Source)
For narcissists, setbacks are not opportunities to learn; they’re problems caused by somebody else who got in their way or sabotaged their plans.
Jeffrey Kluger (b. 1954) American journalist, author
The Narcissist Next Door, ch. 1 (2014)
(Source)
There is, I hope, a thesis in my work: we may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American poet, memoirist, activist [b. Marguerite Ann Johnson]
“The Art of Fiction,” Paris Review, #116, Interview with George Plimpton (1990)
(Source)
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same ….
