Source: Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011), Chapter 29, "The fourfold pattern", pages 318-319 (ISBN 9780141033570).
“Human beings are not very good at taking losses or admitting failure.”
Source: The Four Pillars of Investing (2002), Chapter 7, Misbehavior, p. 177.
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William J. Bernstein 29
economist 1948Related quotes
Richard Feynman
(1918–1988) American theoretical physicist
Rogers Commission Report (1986)
Context: It appears that there are enormous differences of opinion as to the probability of a failure with loss of vehicle and of human life. The estimates range from roughly 1 in 100 to 1 in 100,000. The higher figures come from the working engineers, and the very low figures from management. What are the causes and consequences of this lack of agreement? Since 1 part in 100,000 would imply that one could put a Shuttle up each day for 300 years expecting to lose only one, we could properly ask "What is the cause of management's fantastic faith in the machinery?"
We have also found that certification criteria used in Flight Readiness Reviews often develop a gradually decreasing strictness. The argument that the same risk was flown before without failure is often accepted as an argument for the safety of accepting it again. Because of this, obvious weaknesses are accepted again and again, sometimes without a sufficiently serious attempt to remedy them, or to delay a flight because of their continued presence.
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”
Winston S. Churchill
(1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Attribution debunked in Langworth's Churchill by Himself. The earliest close match located by the Quote Investigator is from the 1953 book How to Say a Few Words by David Guy Powers.
Misattributed
Variant: Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.
Source: 1953, How to Say a Few Words by David Guy Powers, Quote p. 109, Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York. Referenced by Quote Investigator http://quoteinvestigator.com/2014/06/28/success
“An exact science is one that admits loss.”
Genesis P-Orridge
(1950) British musician and writer
The German Order
“I admit I am not a good girl, but a very very bad girl.”
Peng Shuai
(1986) Chinese female tennis player (1986-)
Source: "Tennis star's shocking sex claims against China's former vice premier" in Yahoo Sport https://nz.news.yahoo.com/news/tennis-2021-peng-shuai-sex-claims-against-top-official-021334860.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAGYF2UYPFJLruTaEaNJmi8szorbsAdxJ_L2lU7bnZj7sqhbyy4BYpL8htEPJvxdtyPVNd0RWqZVsXTo8o_SkbCguK2xu8UbxANCllw9gHQTiE71_IEfO9HccpcQs3PA1W78zLF5xgcNKxJwzhF7vsujrbVO-jyO5oz4SO2JY8B3S (3 November 2021)
“Most of the successful people in Hollywood are failures as human beings.”
Marlon Brando
(1924–2004) American screen and stage actor
“I'm not very good at handling stupid people. I must admit.”
Source: Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs