5 Powerful Quotes from 5 Books on the Beauty of Failure

1. Illuminations: Essays and Reflections by Walter Benjamin

“To do justice to the figure of Kafka in its purity and peculiar beauty one must never lose sight of one thing; it is the purity and beauty of failure. The circumstances of this failure are manifold. One is tempted to say: once he was certain of eventual failure, everything worked out for him en route as in a dream. There is nothing more memorable that the fervor with which Kafka emphasized his failure.”

2. Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution. by Brené Brown

“Yes, there can be no innovation, learning, or creativity without failure. But failing is painful. It fuels the ‘shouldas and couldas,’ which means judgment and shame are often lying in wait”

3. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Ed Catmull

“Failure isn’t a necessary evil. In fact, it isn’t evil at all. It is a necessary consequence of doing something new.”

4. Very Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination by J.K. Rowling

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.”

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“I must have no fear of failure. It was my fear of failure that first kept me from attempting the Master Work. Now, I’m beginning what I could have started ten years ago. But I’m happy at least that I didn’t wait twenty years.”