Life can be tough. As my mother used to wryly remind me, “No one gets out alive.” We all have plenty of less-than-perfect moments. Not even the most gifted, telegenic and charming people live every day in the sunshine. The same is true for entrepreneurs. Just as “bad things happen to good people,” every great entrepreneur regularly stares down the barrel of failure.

Graham Weaver, the founder of Alpine Investors and a frequent visitor to my business classes, reminds would-be entrepreneurs that the only failures they should fear are the ones of character and effort. It’s an uncertain world, and there are only so many things you can control. Even when you’re giving 100% and doing your best to be an honorable and ethical leader, things go wrong.

What you can control is how you deal with those setbacks. However stressful failure can be, if you pick yourself up and get back on the horse, you’ve passed the real test. And when you do, you’ll start to see more silver linings than you expected. In pushing through failure, you’ll learn who your real friends are – the ones who know what you’re made of and believe in what you’ll do next. You’ll discover reserves of energy, persistence and confidence that you didn’t know you had. And you’ll feel a new sense of creativity, the ingenuity to solve hard problems, that might have remained fallow without the challenges.

One way I’ve prepared for my own unanticipated, but nonetheless certain, failures is by memorizing these 10 quotes:

1. "What does not destroy me, makes me stronger." – Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900

2. "Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance." Samuel Johnson 1709-84.

3. "Sweet are the uses of adversity." – William Shakespeare, 1564-1616

4. "When it’s darkest, men see the stars." – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

5. "Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom." – General George S. Patton, 1885-1945

6. "When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water." – Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790

7. "A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with the wind." – John Neal, 1793-1876

8. "Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." – Anon

9. "He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity." – Ben Jonson, c.1573-1637

10. "Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes playing a poor hand well." – Jack London, undated.

One last quote I always keep nearby is this one from Theodore Roosevelt -- about the value of “daring greatly”. It's an excerpt of a speech he gave at Paris’s Sorbonne in April, 1910:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

It’s nice to remind yourself that anyone who fails at trying to do something great is in pretty good company. This group knew that the best dreams can often temporarily disguise themselves as nightmares – better to press forward and leave the fear behind.

Written by Joel C. Peterson.

Culled from
http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130907072209-11846967-10-quotes-all-entrepreneurs-should-memorize?trk=tod-home-art-list-small_1

Good ones. God is great o. On this same tread, I achieved d rare feat of being d first, the 2nd and the 3rd to comment. Thank God o.

Great!

Wonderful!

Perseverance is the key

NICE ONE OP.

.

Nothing good comes easy

Now i'm feelin' like a businessman

[size=15pt] summarry~ Never give up[/size]

"When it’s darkest, men see the stars." ...
i really like dis.

Quote 1 2 4 5 8 is for me after I placed bet on 13 matches yesterday and all won but stewpid madrid d last match drew and i lost 20K. BTW, i for dey dance limpopo by nw NO TNX 2 #madtt madrid

nice one

God bless nairaland ..its been motivation upon motivations qoutes upon qoutes nairaland has made me a better man bookmarking this awesome quote like forever africandope.net loves this nairaland

#we see the stars when the its dark'' loved that alot means alot '''
Hope our upcomming stars never gives up but jump as they land (bottom) dont worry nairaland and africandope.net will give you all the motivation and help you need

Plz i just want to shout out to the op and all those who help helped improve my skills seun px guru javanian etc.... Thank you all God loves you

Happy Sunday

Very useful quotes. Thanks OP

Oh! It got here...
Nice one to me.
My first topic on NL hit FP.

You are fired - Donald Trump

Dreaming to keep the above rules.nice one

Quite innovative quote.. Sparkled my desires again. Thanks. Please also visit www.iamaslucker.com

Atleast I have read something good today...not all this empress that...rita dis...chelsea hell fire jersey.

Breathing fresh air...thnx OP...am encouraged.

Just like yours dearly...I have been struggling right from time immemorial but I have always refused to give up and I will never give up until the sky becomes my consultation office.

k

"Don't create a new account when banned for breaking a rule. If you do, make sure we don't find out".




Which Threat Pass This One?

You are the creator of your own destiny

NICE ONE !!!

nice write-up

Nice one

"Great works are performed
not by strength but by
perseverance." Samuel Johnson
1709-84.

^^My all-time favourite quote.

Hardwork, perseverance and enthusiasm are indeed the condiments needed to make the wine of success.

Apeem nti live! Nwa carry go!

Good job op

Cant believe ma eyes,a guy beside me dey shout notjustok.com during praise and worship.i can nw believe in end time tinz