Behind every footballing tough guy there lurks a mincing aesthete with a love of art for art's sake, football for football's sake. A win without art is somehow less than a victory; less, almost, than a beautiful defeat. In football, the romantic and the pragmatist are ever at war in the same breast. Beauty, it must be understood here, is not Barcelona's aim but their method. And last night they were ready to use this method at every opportunity - quick-fire passing of wit and purpose in the danger areas, seeking always to produce an unlooked-for player in a position of threat.
Defeat is a thing of weariness, of incoherence, of boredom, and above all futility.
Indomitable in victory, insufferable in defeat.
If the Gospels were truly the pattern of God’s activity, then defeat was only the beginning.
Never fear Death for you will feel aroused by his sleep. Never cheat death or he will slap you with a sentence of misery for the defeat.
You are not in this life to count up victories and defeats. You are in it to love and be loved.
To conquer the command in the air means victory; to be beaten in the air means defeat.
Attack and defence, want and war, victory and defeat, lordship and thraldom, all sealed with the seal of blood: this from henceforth is the History of Man.
In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.
Yet there is a dignity in the human spirit which can become most clearly visible in the moment of defeat and disaster.
Poor mind, from the senses you take your arguments, and then want to defeat them? Your victory is your defeat.
Defeats are always pitiful. Victories are always last resources.
Perhaps the critics are right: this generation may not produce literature equal to that of any past generation-who cares? The writer will be dead before anyone can judge him-but he must go on writing, reflecting disorder, defeat, despair, should that be all he sees at the moment, but ever searching for the elusive love, joy, and hope-qualities which, as in the act of life itself, are best when they have to be struggled for, and are not commonly come by with much ease, either by a critic's formula or by a critic's yearning.
Everyone wants to learn how to win, but no one wants to learn how to accept defeat.
No victory is irreversible, no defeat is definitive. That is what makes life worth living.
You can see that there is scarcely an observable fact unworthy of mention in your notes, and yet you could easily spend more time scribbling than watching, and that would defeat the purpose. So be selective, don't be compulsive, and enjoy your note-taking.
What is life without its angles of difficulty and defeat, and its tip of triumph and power?
To conquer oneself is the best and noblest victory; to be vanquished by one's own nature is the worst and most ignoble defeat.
Defeat is most devastating at the moment of victory" Saint Dane
Thirst for victory leads to defeat; not tiring of defeat leads to victory.