Quote

The essence of man is imperfection. Failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success. If we learn to embrace that new definition of failure, then we are free to start moving ahead - and failing forward.

Norman Cousins

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Norman Cousins
Age: 75 †
Born: 1915
Born: June 24
Died: 1990
Died: November 30
Journalist
Literary Critic
Peace Activist
Professor
Writer
Union City
New Jersey
Start
Embrace
Free
Essence
Success
Forward
Learn
Failure
Imperfection
Moving
Failing
Definition
Men
Pay
Definitions
Achieve
Ahead
Simply
Price

More quotes by Norman Cousins

Image
Governments are not built to perceive large truths. Only people can perceive great truths. Governments specialize in small and intermediate truths. They have to be instructed by their people in great truths.
Norman Cousins
Image
Cynicism is intellectual treason.
Norman Cousins
Image
Silence must be comprehended as not solely the absence of sound. It is the natural environment for serenity and contemplation. Life without silence is life without privacy. The difference between sanity and madness is the quality of our thoughts. Silence is on the side of sanity.
Norman Cousins
Image
Pessimism is a waste of time.
Norman Cousins
Image
Words have to be crafted, not sprayed. They need to be fitted together with infinite care.
Norman Cousins
Image
Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.
Norman Cousins
Image
Although a man may have no jurisdiction over the fact of his existence, he can hold supreme command over the meaning of existence for him.
Norman Cousins
Image
To talk about the need for perfection in man is to talk about the need for another species.
Norman Cousins
Image
Death is not the greatest tragedy in life. The greatest tragedy is what dies inside us while we live. We need not fear death. We need fear only that we may exist without having sensed something of the possibilities that lie within human existence.
Norman Cousins
Image
Progress begins with the belief that what is necessary is possible.
Norman Cousins
Image
Laughter serves as a blocking agent. Like a bullet-proof vest, it may help protect you against the ravages of negative emotions that can assault you in disease.
Norman Cousins
Image
The control center of your life is your attitude.
Norman Cousins
Image
The old emphasis upon superficial differences that separate peoples must give way to education for citizenship in the human community.
Norman Cousins
Image
The human body experiences a powerful gravitational pull in the direction of hope
Norman Cousins
Image
The doctor knows that it is the prescription slip itself, even more than what is written on it, that is often the vital ingredient for enabling a patient to get rid of whatever is ailing him.
Norman Cousins
Image
The marvelous pharmacy that was designed by nature and placed into our being by the universal architect produces most of the medicines we need.
Norman Cousins
Image
It makes little difference how many university courses or degrees a person may own. If he cannot use words to move an idea from one point to another, his education is incomplete.
Norman Cousins
Image
People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.
Norman Cousins
Image
It is no longer correct to regard higher education solely as a privilege. It is a basic right in today's world.
Norman Cousins
Image
Just as there is no loss of basic energy in the universe, so no thought or action is without its effects, present or ultimate, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt.
Norman Cousins