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About this quote

What does it mean?
Failing is better than not trying at all. Action is more valuable than safety.
In plain terms
Try to succeed even if you might fail.
What can you take from it?
Trying is better than not trying even if you fail.

Where it applies

  • Motivating others
  • Discussing risk

Putting it to work

  • Take calculated risks
  • Embrace failure as learning

Questions to consider

  • Is safety more important than achievement?
  • What do you regret not trying?

Another view

Some risks can lead to catastrophic harm rather than just failure.

More from Theodore Roosevelt

  1. It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man …

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  2. It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.

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  3. In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated o…

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