When I thought about why I was sometimes reluctant to push myself, I realized that it was because I was afraid of failure—but in order to have more success, I needed to be willing to accept more failure.

—Gretchen Rubin

fear acceptance failure reluctance

About Gretchen Rubin

Portrait of Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Craft Rubin (born December 14, 1965) is an American author, blogger and speaker.

More quotations from Gretchen Rubin

The things that go wrong often make the best memories.

—Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project

planning surprise memories

The belief that unhappiness is selfless and happiness is selfish is misguided. It's more selfless to act happy. It takes energy, generosity, and discipline to be unfailingly lighthearted, yet everyone takes the happy person for granted. No one is careful of his feelings or tries to keep his spirits high. He seems self-sufficient; he becomes a cushion for others. And because happiness seems unforced, that person usually gets no credit.

—Gretchen Rubin in The Happiness Project

happiness belief effort generosity feelings discipline energy unhappiness selfishness care selflessness lightheartedness

The days are long, but the years are short.

—Gretchen Rubin

time perception

There's a great satisfaction in knowing that we've made good use of our days, that we've lived up to our expectations of ourselves.

—Gretchen Rubin in Better Than Before

satisfaction expectations good use

Although people sometimes assume that the happy are self-absorbed and complacent, just the opposite is true. In general, happiness doesn't make people want to drink daiquiris on the beach; it makes them want to help rural villagers gain better access to clean water.

—Gretchen Rubin in Happier at Home

More quotations tagged with “failure”

And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened.

—Douglas Coupland in Life After God

failure youth sadness

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.

—Charles Horton Cooley

success failure art

One fails forward toward success.

—Charles Kettering

success failure

Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.

success failure luck

Failure is when you talk yourself out of becoming something amazing.

—Rudy Francisco

wonder amazing becoming failure

History

8 May 2016 Added
15 Jun 2018 Edited (details weren’t recorded yet)