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Failure Quotes

Because life can't always be sunshine and lollipops.

ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT

Failure Quotes

Failure is no fun... but it has inspired some pretty great quotes. Click on any failure quote below to see it in context and find out where it falls on Shmoop's pretentious scale. We'll give you details on who said it, when they said it, and in some cases, why on earth they thought it was okay to say it.

"A salesman is got to dream, boy."

Source: Death of a Salesman | Author: Arthur Miller

"Abby… normal."

Source: Young Frankenstein | Speaker: Igor

"All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

Source: Eleanor Rigby | Speaker: The Beatles

"And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Source: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! | Speaker: Various Villains

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good."

Source: East of Eden | Author: John Steinbeck

"And that's how you play "Get the Guests.""

Source: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Speaker: George

"and then she would smile, to show me how, and it was the saddest smile I ever saw"

Source: A Smile to Remember | Author: Charles Bukowski

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

Source: None. | Speaker: Edward Murphy

"April is the cruellest month"

Source: The Waste Land | Speaker: T.S. Eliot

"As if!"

Source: Clueless | Speaker: Cher Horowitz

"Belong to any club."

Source: Annie Hall | Speaker: Alvy Singer

"But rumour has it he's the one I'm leaving you for."

Source: "Rumour Has It" | Speaker: Adele

"But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out."

Source: Casey at the Bat | Author: Ernest Lawrence Thayer

"Bye, bye Miss American Pie"

Source: American Pie | Speaker: Don McLean

"Can you pay my bills?"

Source: "Bills Bills Bills" | Speaker: Destiny's Child

"Come buy, come buy"

Source: Goblin Market | Author: Christina Rossetti

"D'oh!"

Source: The Simpsons | Speaker: Homer Simpson

"Dave, stop. Stop, will you? Stop, Dave. Will you stop, Dave? Stop, Dave. I'm afraid."

Source: 2001: A Space Odyssey | Speaker: HAL 9000

"Democracy is so overrated."

Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood

"Die a hero or...become the villain."

Source: The Dark Knight | Speaker: Harvey Dent

"Don't let the sun go down on me."

Source: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" | Speaker: Elton John

"Do…or do not. There is no try."

Source: Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back | Speaker: Yoda

"Eddie, you're a born loser."

Source: The Hustler | Speaker: Bert Gordon

"Errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous."

Source: A Treatise of Human Nature | Author: David Hume

"Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement."

Source: Henry Ford's Marketing Team | Speaker: Henry Ford

"Everybody in the whole cell block was dancing to the jailhouse rock!"

Source: "Jailhouse Rock" | Speaker: Elvis Presley

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

Source: National Lampoon's Animal House | Speaker: Dean Vernon Wormer

"Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown."

Source: Chinatown | Speaker: Lawrence Walsh

"Four legs good, two legs bad."

Source: Animal Farm | Author: George Orwell

"Frak!"

Source: Battlestar Galactica | Speaker: Various characters

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Source: Gone with the Wind | Speaker: Rhett Butler

"God'll get you for that."

Source: Maude | Speaker: Maude Findlay

"Good grief!"

Source: A Charlie Brown Christmas | Speaker: Charlie Brown

"have done it again. One year in every ten I manage it—"

Source: Lady Lazarus | Author: Sylvia Plath

"He chose poorly."

Source: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Speaker: Grail Knight

"He slimed me."

Source: Ghostbusters | Speaker: Dr. Peter Venkman

"He who marches out of step hears another drum."

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | Author: Ken Kesey

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Source: The Mourning Bride | Author: William Congreve

"Hey! Teacher! Leave them kids alone."

Source: "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" | Speaker: Pink Floyd

"Hi, my name is George. I'm unemployed, and I live with my parents."

Source: Seinfeld | Speaker: George Costanza

"Hit the road, Jack."

Source: "Hit the Road Jack" | Speaker: Ray Charles

"I am a sick man… I am a spiteful man. I am an unattractive man."

Source: Notes from the Underground | Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"I am big. It's the pictures that got small."

Source: Sunset Boulevard | Speaker: Norma Desmond

"I coulda been a contender!"

Source: On the Waterfront | Speaker: Terry Malloy

"I done another bad thing."

Source: Of Mice and Men | Author: John Steinbeck

"I drink your milkshake."

Source: There Will Be Blood | Speaker: Daniel Plainview

"I fell into a burning ring of fire."

Source: "Ring of Fire" | Speaker: Johnny Cash

"I got a bad feeling about this."

Source: Star Wars | Speaker: Han Solo

"I live in a van down by the river."

Source: Saturday Night Live, Motivation | Speaker: Matt Foley

"I never knew me a better time, and I guess I never will."

Source: "Crocodile Rock" | Speaker: Elton John

"I never want to hear you say, I want it that way."

Source: "I Want It That Way" | Speaker: Backstreet Boys

"I set fire to the rain."

Source: "Set Fire to the Rain" | Speaker: Adele

"I want to play a game."

Source: Saw | Speaker: Jigsaw

"I was born a poor black child."

Source: The Jerk | Speaker: Navin R. Johnson

"I was thrown out of NYU my freshman year for cheating on my metaphysics final […] I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me."

Source: Annie Hall | Speaker: Alvy Singer

"I won't be ignored, Dan!"

Source: Fatal Attraction | Speaker: Alex Forrest

"I wouldn't give you two cents for all your fancy rules."

Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith

"I'd consider myself a realist, alright?"

Source: True Detective | Speaker: Rust Cohle

"I'm a monster!"

Source: Arrested Development | Speaker: Buster Bluth

"I'm going back to the start"

Source: "Scientist" | Speaker: Coldplay

"I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Source: "Failure," a Nike TV Commercial | Speaker: Michael Jordan

"If I go crazy then will you still call me Superman?"

Source: "Kryptonite" | Speaker: 3 Doors Down

"If I was alone I could live so easy. I could go get a job an' work, an' no trouble."

Source: Of Mice and Men | Author: John Steinbeck

"If you don't like how the table is set, turn over the table."

Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood

"If you'd have been there, if you'd have seen it, I betcha you would have done the same!"

Source: "Cell Block Tango" | Speaker: Prison Girls

"It rained fire and brimstone from heaven."

Source: Luke 17:29 | Author: Luke

"It's no surprise to me, I am my own worst enemy."

Source: "My Own Worst Enemy" | Speaker: Lit

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!"

Source: The Godfather: Part III | Speaker: Michael Corleone

"K-Mart sucks."

Source: Rain Man | Speaker: Ray Babbitt

"Let the sky fall. When it crumbles, we will stand tall."

Source: "Skyfall" | Speaker: Adele

"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

Source: Matthew 15:14 | Author: Matthew

"Life for me ain't been no crystal stair."

Source: "Mother to Son" | Author: Langston Hughes

"Man is the only creature that consumes without producing."

Source: Animal Farm | Author: George Orwell

"Man serves the interests of no creature except himself."

Source: Animal Farm | Author: George Orwell

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

Source: The Brady Bunch | Speaker: Jan Brady

"Match me, Sidney."

Source: Sweet Smell of Success | Speaker: J.J. Hunsecker

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much."

Source: Hamlet | Author: William Shakespeare

"Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father's passing."

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird | Speaker: Reverend Sykes

"Mr. Christian!"

Source: Mutiny on the Bounty | Speaker: Captain Bligh

"No arts; no letters; no society."

Source: Leviathan | Author: Thomas Hobbes

"No more half measures, Walter."

Source: Breaking Bad | Speaker: Mike Ehrmantraut

"No rest for the wicked"

Source: Isaiah 48:22 or Isaiah 57:20 | Author: The Lord

"Oh, bother."

Source: The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh | Author: A.A. Milne

"One of you shall betray me."

Source: The Gospel of Matthew | Speaker: Jesus of Nazareth

"Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young."

Source: Mildred Pierce | Speaker: Ida Corwin

"Shake it off."

Source: Shake It Off | Speaker: Taylor Swift

"Sherif Ali, so long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe…"

Source: Lawrence of Arabia | Speaker: T.E. Lawrence

"Sometimes I can feel my bones straining"

Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close | Author: Jonathan Safran Foer

"That is just the way with some people. They get down on a thing when they don't know nothing about it."

Source: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn | Author: Mark Twain

"That's the way love goes."

Source: "That's the Way Love Goes" | Speaker: Janet Jackson

"The best thing about human beings is that they stack so neatly."

Source: House of Cards | Speaker: Frank Underwood

"The fathers have eaten sour grapes"

Source: Ezekiel 18:2 | Author: Ezekiel

"The Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart."

Source: 1 Samuel 13:14 | Author: The Deuteronomists

"The neighbors' dog will not stop barking."

Source: Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House | Author: Billy Collins

"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat"

Source: Wide World of Sports | Speaker: Jim McKay

"The tribe has spoken."

Source: Survivor | Speaker: Jeff Probst

"There are simply too many notes."

Source: Amadeus | Speaker: Emperor Joseph II

"There's a sucker born every minute."

Source: P.T. Barnum | Speaker: P.T. Barnum

"There's no crying in baseball!"

Source: A League of Their Own | Speaker: Jimmy Duggan

"There's something in our world that makes men lose their heads—they couldn't be fair if they tried."

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird | Author: Harper Lee

"They tried to make me go to rehab; I said "no, no, no.""

Source: Rehab | Speaker: Amy Winehouse

"This fella's a regular Belasco."

Source: The Great Gatsby | Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald

"This thing called love, I just can't handle it."

Source: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" | Speaker: Queen

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Source: Reason in Common Sense | Author: George Santayana

"Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter."

Source: Dr. Seuss | Speaker: Dr. Seuss

"Tomorrow is another day."

Source: Gone with the Wind | Speaker: Margaret Mitchell

"Tonight I can write the saddest lines"

Source: Tonight I Can Write the Saddest Lines | Author: Pablo Neruda

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

Source: The Lorax | Author: Dr. Seuss

"Very superstitious, writing's on the wall. Very superstitious, ladder's 'bout to fall."

Source: Superstition | Speaker: Stevie Wonder

"War is not won by victory."

Source: A Farewell to Arms | Author: Ernest Hemingway

"War—huh yeah—what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

Source: War | Speaker: Edwin Starr

"we are all trapped by a singular fate"

Source: Alone with Everybody | Author: Charles Bukowski

"We belong dead."

Source: Bride of Frankenstein | Speaker: The Monster

"We can't go on together with suspicious minds."

Source: "Suspicious Minds" | Speaker: Elvis Presley

"We didn't need dialogue. We had faces."

Source: Sunset Boulevard | Speaker: Norma Desmond

"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."

Source: Seduction of the Minotaur | Author: Anaïs Nin

"Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!"

Source: Sons of the Desert | Speaker: Oliver Hardy

"What a dump!"

Source: Beyond the Forest | Speaker: Rosa Moline

"What I do have is a particular set of skills."

Source: Taken | Speaker: Bryan Mills

"What is your major malfunction?"

Source: Full Metal Jacket | Speaker: Sgt. Hartman

"What we've got here…is failure to communicate."

Source: Cool Hand Luke | Speaker: Captain

"When today fails to offer the justification for hope, tomorrow becomes the only grail worth pursuing."

Source: Death of a Salesman | Author: Arthur Miller

"You ain't nothing but a hound dog, crying all the time."

Source: "Hound Dog" | Speaker: Elvis Presley

"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war."

Source: 1946 Letter | Author: Albert Einstein

"You come at the king, you best not miss."

Source: The Wire | Speaker: Omar Little

"You got mud on your face, you big disgrace."

Source: We Will Rock You | Speaker: Queen

"You know what the weirdest part about having a job is?"

Source: Girls | Speaker: Jessa Johansson

"You know, Billy. We blew it."

Source: Easy Rider | Speaker: Wyatt

"You think I'm licked. You all think I'm licked. Well, I'm not licked."

Source: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington | Speaker: Jefferson Smith

"You were always on my mind."

Source: "Always on My Mind" | Speaker: Elvis Presley

"You'll shoot your eye out."

Source: A Christmas Story | Speaker: Ralphie's mom

"You're fired."

Source: The Apprentice | Speaker: Donald Trump

"You're so money and you don't even know it."

Source: Swingers | Speaker: Trent Walker

"You're tearing me apart!"

Source: Rebel Without a Cause | Speaker: Jim Stark