We are called upon not to be successful, but to be faithful.

We are not called to be successful, but faithful.

God has not called me to be successful. He has called me to be faithful.

God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful.

If all of the issues that I have worked on were depending on some measure of success, it would be a total failure. I don't anticipate success. We're not asked to be successful, we are only asked to be faithful. I couldn't even tell you what success is.

We can be truly successful only at something we’re willing to fail at. If we’re unwilling to fail, then we’re unwilling to succeed.

You can't do this if you're not dedicated and determined, and have a strong faith. Because it's extremely hard, especially trying to work a job and do it.

God doesn't ask that we succeed in everything, but that we are faithful. However beautiful our work may be, let us not become attached to it. Always remain prepared to give it up, without losing your peace.

It is only possible to succeed at second-rate pursuits — like becoming a millionaire or a prime minister, winning a war, seducing beautiful women, flying through the stratosphere or landing on the moon. First-rate pursuits involving, as they must, trying to understand what life is about and trying to convey that understanding — inevitably result in a sense of failure. A Napoleon, a Churchill, a Roosevelt can feel themselves to be successful, but never a Socrates, a Pascal, a Blake. Understanding is for ever unattainable. Therein lies the inevitability of failure in embarking upon its quest, which is none the less the only one worthy of serious attention.

God hasn't called us to be successful, just faithful.

We can be truly successful only at things we are willing to fail at.

"Can I do it? I'd rather not try and fail."

"That's stupid talk, Maya. Every try will not succeed. But if you're going to live, live at all, your business is trying. And if you fail once, so what? Old folks say, Every shuteye ain't sleep and every goodbye ain't gone. You fail, you get up and try again."

Since I was a young boy the thrust of my prayers — at least when I was trying to make a good impression on God — has always been that I not fail to use fully and effectively the one life I have on earth. I have always enjoyed difficult challenges. At the same time I have faced the realization that it is not easy to take a chance or confront the prospect of failure and embarrassment. But my feeling is that if we refuse to try something that might fail, we lack faith either in ourselves or in our causes and goals.

It is impossible to succeed without failing.