Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

—William Saroyan

About William Saroyan

Portrait of William Saroyan

William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an American novelist, playwright, and short story writer of Armenian descent. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film The Human Comedy. When the...

More quotations from William Saroyan

Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.

—William Saroyan

Doctors don't know everything really. They understand matter, not spirit. And you and I live in spirit.

—William Saroyan

understanding knowledge spirit doctors

The most solid advice… for a writer is this, I think: Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep, really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell, and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.

—William Saroyan

advice laughter living writing death taste food anger sleep

More quotations tagged with “failure”

Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

—Walt Whitman

A minute's success pays the failure of years.

—Winston Churchill

We all have a few failures under our belt. It's what makes us ready for the successes.

—Samuel McChord Crothers

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

—Randy K. Milholland

You always pass failure on the way to success.

—Quentin Crisp

History

11 Jul 2015 Added