Defeat - Quotes

A defeat to a brave man is only a victory deferred. - James Ellis

A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means. - Sallust

A great many people never really discover themselves until ruin stares them in the face. They do not seem to know how to bring out their reserves until they are overtaken by an overwhelming disaster, or until the sight of their blighted prospects and of the wreck of their homes and happiness stirs them to the very centre of their beings … There is something in defeat which puts new determination into a man of mettle. - Orison Swett Marden

A wise man fights to win, but he is twice a fool who has no plan for possible defeat. - Louis L’amour

A young man is not fitted for life's battle until he has met and survived defeat. - Lewis F. Korns

Always have the situation under control, even if losing. Never betray an inward sense of defeat. - Arthur Ashe

Avoid defeat and you will avoid success. - Chinese Proverb

Be gracious in defeat. - Unknown

Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. - Marilyn vos Savant

Defeat begins with the fear that one has lost. - Kobo Abe

Defeat is always momentary. - Peter Jackson

Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. - George Edward Woodberry

Defeat isn’t bitter, if you don’t swallow it. - Unknown

Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out. - Edwin Markham

Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it. - Josephus Daniels

Defeat should never be a source of discouragement, but rather a fresh stimulus. - Bishop Robert South 

Defeat teaches us life's most valuable lessons. - Chinese Proverb

He had an idea that even when beaten he could steal a little victory by laughing at defeat. - John Steinbeck

Humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat. - Ralph Ellison

If a victory is told in detail, one can no longer distinguish it from a defeat. - Jean-Paul Sartre

It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible. - Henry Ward Beecher

Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

One test of strength is the ability to take defeat graciously. - Lewis F. Korns

Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory. - John Steinbeck

The deepest personal defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has in fact become. - Unknown

The first step in our journey of prosperity often is defeat. - Edward Counsel

The taste of defeat has a richness of experience all its own. - Bill Bradley

There is no defeat except from within. - American Proverb

To be defeated, but not to give in, is victory. - Neal Ascherson 

To me, defeat in anything is merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success and truth. - Bruce Lee

True discipline is really just self-remembering; no forcing or fighting is necessary. - Charles Eisenstein

Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. - John F. Kennedy

We learn little from victory, much from defeat. - Japanese Proverb

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated. - Maya Angelou

What is defeat? Nothing but education, nothing but the first step to something better. - Wendell Phillips

When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. - Napoleon Hill

When you are defeated, just push forward and keep going, prove to yourself that you’ll never stay down. - Unknown

Where defeat is inevitable, it is expedient to yield. - Roman Proverb

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. - Maya Angelou