Quotes about setback

A collection of quotes on the topic of setback, doing, life, experience.

Quotes about setback

George Orwell photo
Barack Obama photo
Henry Ford photo
Adolf Hitler photo

“I never lost my belief, in the midst of setbacks which were not spared me during my period of struggle. Providence has had the last word and brought me success.”

Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) Führer and Reich Chancellor of Germany, Leader of the Nazi Party

As quoted in The Third Reich: A New History by Michael Burleigh, p.1884
1930s

Morihei Ueshiba photo
Georgy Zhukov photo
Ronald Reagan photo
Barack Obama photo
Barack Obama photo

“Having encountered many setbacks, Havel lived with a spirit of hope”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

Statement of President Obama on the death of Vaclav Havel (18 December 2011) http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/18/statement-president-obama-death-vaclav-havel
2011
Context: Having encountered many setbacks, Havel lived with a spirit of hope, which he defined as “the ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.” His peaceful resistance shook the foundations of an empire, exposed the emptiness of a repressive ideology, and proved that moral leadership is more powerful than any weapon. He played a seminal role in the Velvet Revolution that won his people their freedom and inspired generations to reach for self-determination and dignity in all parts of the world.

Barack Obama photo

“The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote, or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all, and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, it requires vigilance. And we'll suffer the occasional setback. But we will win these fights.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2013, "Let Freedom Ring" Ceremony (August 2013)
Context: To dismiss the magnitude of this progress -- to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed -- that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years. Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Martin Luther King Jr. -- they did not die in vain. Their victory was great. But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn’t bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote, or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all, and the criminal justice system is not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails, it requires vigilance. And we'll suffer the occasional setback. But we will win these fights. This country has changed too much. People of goodwill, regardless of party, are too plentiful for those with ill will to change history’s currents.

Niki Lauda photo
Lance Armstrong photo
Sarah Mlynowski photo
Robert Greene photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“The road to freedom is a difficult, hard road. It always makes for temporary setbacks.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
Louise L. Hay photo
T.D. Jakes photo
Dag Hammarskjöld photo
Chinua Achebe photo
Dag Hammarskjöld photo

“Setbacks in trying to realize the ideal do not prove that the ideal is at fault.”

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) Swedish diplomat, economist, and author

As quoted by Rolf Edberg, Swedish Ambassador to Norway, accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of Hammarskjöld in Oslo, Norway (10 December 1961) http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1961/hammarskjold-acceptance.html

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor photo
Thomas Sowell photo
Ernest King photo
Sadao Araki photo

“Setbacks there and at home will only increase our strength…”

Sadao Araki (1877–1966) Japanese general

About Japanese soldiers sent to Kiska. Quoted in "Out on the Causeway" - Time Magazine - May 24, 1943

Mao Zedong photo

“New things always have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they grow. It is sheer fantasy to imagine that the cause of socialism is all plain sailing and easy success, without difficulties and setbacks or the exertion of tremendous efforts.”

Mao Zedong (1893–1976) Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China

On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People
Source: (zh-CN) 任何新生事物的成长都是要经过艰难曲折的。在社会主义事业中,要想不经过艰难曲折,不付出极大努力,总是一帆风顺,容易得到成功,这种想法,只是幻想。

David Mermin photo
Ted Malloch photo
Hillary Clinton photo

“You know, everybody has setbacks in their life, and everybody falls short of whatever goals they might set for themselves. That's part of living and coming to terms with who you are as a person.”

Hillary Clinton (1947) American politician, senator, Secretary of State, First Lady

People interview (December 28, 1992) http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20109507,00.html
White House years (1993–2000)

Gerald Ford photo
Tim Storey photo

“If you have a setback, Don’t take a step back- Get ready for a comeback!”

Tim Storey (1960) motivational speaker

Comeback & Beyond: How to Turn Your Setback into Your Comeback (2010)

“It-owners know that setbacks can be setups for better things to come. They study their failures and learn from them.”

Craig Groeschel (1967) American priest

It – How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It (2008, Zondervan)

Firuz Shah Tughlaq photo

“Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic empire in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines….
After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where 'nearly 100,000 men of Jajnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations'. The swordsmen of Islam turned 'the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers'. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sirat-i-Firuz Shahi records: 'Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.' Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan 'broke the idols of Jvalamukhi, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nosebags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.”

Firuz Shah Tughlaq (1309–1388) Tughluq sultan

S.R. Goel, The Story of Islamic Imperialism in India

Amir Taheri photo
John McCain photo
George W. Bush photo
John F. Kennedy photo

“We have a long way to go. Many weeks and months and years of long, tedious work lie ahead. There will be setbacks and frustrations and disappointments. There will be, as there always are, pressures in this country to do less in this area as in so many others, and temptations to do something else that is perhaps easier. But this research here must go on. This space effort must go on. The conquest of space must and will go ahead. That much we know. That much we can say with confidence and conviction.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1963, President John F. Kennedy's last formal speech and public words
Context: I think the United States should be a leader. A country as rich and powerful as this which bears so many burdens and responsibilities, which has so many opportunities, should be second to none. And in December, while I do not regard our mastery of space as anywhere near complete, while I recognize that there are still areas where we are behind — at least in one area, the size of the booster — this year I hope the United States will be ahead. And I am for it. We have a long way to go. Many weeks and months and years of long, tedious work lie ahead. There will be setbacks and frustrations and disappointments. There will be, as there always are, pressures in this country to do less in this area as in so many others, and temptations to do something else that is perhaps easier. But this research here must go on. This space effort must go on. The conquest of space must and will go ahead. That much we know. That much we can say with confidence and conviction.

Abimael Guzmán photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
David Sedaris photo
Joe Biden photo
Tom Crean (basketball coach) photo
Cho Jung-tai photo

“The [mask-wearing] ban [by Hong Kong protesters] represents a setback in democracy.”

Cho Jung-tai (1959) Taiwanese politician

Source: Cho Jung-tai (2019) cited in " HK’s mask ban not a solution: MAC http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2019/10/06/2003723473" on Taipei Times, 6 October 2019.

Daniel Salamanca photo