“All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail.”

—  Dorothea Brande

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail." by Dorothea Brande?
Dorothea Brande photo
Dorothea Brande2
American writer and editor 1893–1948

Related quotes

“Act as if it were impossible to fail.”

Dorothea Brande (1893–1948) American writer and editor

V. P. Singh photo

“Gandhi, Nehru and all did try to improve the situation. They tried to break a lot of economic and social stratifications. But inertia and the system prevail.”

V. P. Singh (1931–2008) Indian politician

We are ruled by an upper caste Hindu raj

Stephen Baxter photo

“There were other ways for primates to live, other kinds of societies that could be imagined. But once the pattern had been set, it was all but impossible to break.”

Stephen Baxter book Evolution

Source: Evolution (2002), Chapter 9 “The Walkers” section I (p. 257)

Don McLean photo

“Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell”

Don McLean (1945) American Singer and songwriter

Song lyrics, American Pie (1971), American Pie
Context: So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the Devil's only friend
Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died.

Gustav Radbruch photo

“Because a judgement on the truth or error of the differing convictions in law is impossible, and because on the other hand a uniform law for all citizens is necessary, the law-giver faces the task of cleaving with a stroke of the sword the Gordian knot which jurisprudence cannot untangle. Since it is impossible to ascertain what is just, it must be decided what is lawful. In lieu of an act of truth (which is impossible) an act of authority is required. Relativism leads to positivism.”

Gustav Radbruch (1878–1949) German politician

Der Relativismus in der Rechtsphilosophie (1934).

Zach Galifianakis photo

“I failed kindergarten because I couldn't spell my last name.”

Zach Galifianakis (1969) American actor and comedian

Live at the Purple Onion (2007)

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien photo

“The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed.”

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien book On Fairy-Stories

On Fairy-Stories (1939)
Context: The story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator'. He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true': it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed.

“In order for us to maintain our way of living, we must, in a broad sense, tell lies to each other, and especially to ourselves. It is not necessary that the lies be particularly believable. The lies act as barriers to truth. These barriers to truth are necessary because without them many deplorable acts would become impossibilities.”

Derrick Jensen book A Language Older Than Words

A Language Older Than Words (2000)

“I try to be good but sometimes
a person just has to break out and
act like the wild and springy thing
one used to be. It's impossible not
to remember wild an want it back.”

Mary Oliver (1935–2019) American writer

Related topics