'Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.'

'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.'

-Inventor and businessman Thomas Edison (1847-1931)

'In my experience, each failure contains the seeds of your next success—if you are willing to learn from it.'

- Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen (1953–2018)

A quote from Robin Williams

"There’s no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot."

'I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.'

-Comedian George Burns (1896-1996)

'Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.'

- Bobby Kennedy

'Your failures are your accomplishments because it makes you prepared for whatever it is that you are going to do next.'

- Director Lee Daniels (1959-present)

'If you want to succeed, you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.'

- Billionaire John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937)

A quote by scientist Nikola Tesla

"The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result ... His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way."

'No big challenge has ever been solved, and no lasting improvement has ever been achieved, unless people dare to try something different.'

- Apple CEO Tim Cook (1960 - present)

'Remember, no man is a failure who has friends.'

- 1946 film "It's a Wonderful Life"

'Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes you can grab it.'

- Actress Julie Andrews (1935 - present)

'I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot ... The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'

- Author Jack London (1876 - 1916)

'I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took an excuse.'

- Modern nursing innovator Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)

A quote by Magic Johnson

"Celebrate the life you had, not the life you could've had."

Learn about the relationship between Thomas Edison and Henry Ford

Despite their 16-year age difference, legendary inventor Thomas Edison and Henry Ford developed a close relationship after meeting at a convention in New York. The two—alongside environmentalist John Burroughs and Harvey Firestone, the founder of Firestone Tire—were known as the "Four Vagabonds" and were famous for their long roadtrips, which were often highly publicized.

A quote by Howard Hughes

"Do the impossible, because almost everyone has told me my ideas are merely fantasies."

'The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.'

- Roger Bannister (1929-2018)

'When you're climbing Mount Everest, nothing is easy. You just take one step at a time, never look back and always keep your eyes glued to the top.'

- Author Jacqueline Susann (1918-1974)

'I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.'

- Author Douglas Adams (1952-2001)

'Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world.'

- Albert Einstein

A failed resolution still defines directional exploration

The new year practice of making resolutions is so popular it can often inspire ironic dismissal from those all-too-aware of how many fail. This piece argues failure doesn't matter: Making the resolution itself helps define one's focus in life, arguably more important than racking up achievements.

'Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I'm concerned, that's success.'

- Musician Tom Petty (1950–2017)

'How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.' - Anne Frank

'You will never feel proud of your work if you find no joy within it; your best work is always joyful work.'

- Stevie Wonder (1950-present)

A collective effort from multiple scientists and inventors led to the light bulb

While Thomas Edison's thin carbon filament design made light bulbs commercially viable, prior contributions, such as Joseph Swan's development of the first successful incandescent filament electric lamp, made its eventual invention possible.

'Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.'

- Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) in "Elenora"

'Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest one you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out.'

- President Harry Truman (1884-1972)

Tesla's lack of business savvy and inability to commercialize led to his obscurity

For decades, despite pioneering technologies for large-scale electrical systems and telecommunications, Nikola Tesla had been forgotten to history. Rather than monetizing his work and becoming more well known, his inventor-first mentality saw him sell off lucrative patents to fund new experiments in the short term.

'You shouldn't dream your film, you should make it!'

- Filmmaker Steven Spielberg (1946-present)

'Most of man's problems upon this planet, in the long history of the race, have been met and solved either partially or as a whole by experiment based on common sense and carried out with courage.'

-Frances Perkins (1880-1965), first female member of US Cabinet

'Life's short. Anything could happen, and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around thinking about all the ifs, ands, and buts.'

'My model for business is The Beatles: They were four guys that kept each others' negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the total was greater than the sum of the parts.'

-Apple co-founder Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

'The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.'

- Former President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858–1919)

'Why am I trying to become what I don't want to be … when all I want is out there, waiting for me the minute I say I know who I am.'

-Author Arthur Miller (1915-2005) in "Death of a Salesman"

A quote from Mark Cuban

"Talent without effort is wasted talent. And while effort is the one thing you can control in your life, applying that effort intelligently is next on the list."

'Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.'

- Harper Lee from "To Kill a Mockingbird"

'Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not.'

- Pablo Picasso

'You will never be happier than you expect. To change your happiness, change your expectation.'

- Hollywood legend Bette Davis (1908 - 1989)

'All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.'

- "The Lord of the Rings" author JRR Tolkien (1892-1973)

'It's those who lie outside ordinary experience who have the most to teach us.'

- Author Malcolm Gladwell (1963 - present)

'In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.'

-Poet Robert Frost (1874-1963)

'May your future be limited only by your dreams.'

- Teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe (1948-1986)

'Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.'

- Author James Baldwin (1924–1987)

'I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.'

- Martha Washington (1731-1802)

'The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.'

- American musician BB King (1925-2015)

Learn more about Ray Dalio's formula for progress

Across interviews and in his books, Dalio often emphasizes the importance of learning as much as possible to avoid making bad decisions. However, Dalio also often speaks about failure being a great teacher. One of his core principles is "Pain + Reflection \= Progress."

'No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.'

-Author Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

'No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.'

-Charles Dickens (1812-1870), in "Our Mutual Friend"

Thomas Edison inadvertently spurred the film industry's move to Hollywood

The inventor's patent on the motion picture camera included several stipulations that required independent movie studios to work with Edison's Motion Picture Patents Co., making the East Coast undesirable for aspiring filmmakers.

'Fear of life closes off more opportunities for us than fear of death ever does.'

- Actress Agnes Moorehead (1900–1974)