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Susan Butcher Dog musher; four-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
I feel that because I challenge myself so often, sometimes I will fail. This is, to me, the essence of competition — that there will be both winners and losers. But I have great faith in myself that I will turn this loss into something positive.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interview, 29 June 1991 source ↗
Brian Chesky Co-founder and chief executive of Airbnb
When we started Airbnb, no one wanted to invest. I felt like a failure so many days. It was small, it wasn't growing... A sane person probably would have quit. But we kept going through obscurity, through rejection. We couldn't raise money — but over time, it started growing.
Recorded Carlos Watson, The Carlos Watson Show, quoted by Yahoo Finance source ↗
Mike Krzyzewski Basketball coach at Duke University, 1980-2022; winner of five NCAA championships
The world would say it was failure. But the difference was so small between us. They played great, but they lost.
Recorded Academy of Achievement interviewer, Academy of Achievement interview, Durham, North Carolina, 1 May 2001 source ↗
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Novelist and essayist
But after one year of medical school I fled. I realized I would be a very unhappy doctor and I really did not want to be responsible for the inadvertent death of my patients. Leaving medical school was a very unusual decision, especially in Nigeria where it is very difficult to get into medical school. Later, people told me that it had been very courageous of me, but I did not feel courageous at all. What I felt then was not courage but a desire to make an effort. To try.
Recorded Wellesley College 137th Commencement, 29 May 2015 source ↗

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