This article is dedicated to the readers who know me well—those who know me well enough to understand the timely significance this article has for me.

Here’s to you who have learned that life’s a bitter bitch.

Here’s to you who are learning the ironically unfair ways of life.

Here’s to you who will learn that life goes on.

Vince Lombardi said, “the price of success is hard work.” Thomas Edison said that hard work is one of “the three great essentials to achieve anything.” Babe Ruth said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” And perhaps my favorite is a quote from Tim Notke who said, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”

Bullshit!

I’m sorry to all the naïve idealists out there whose hearts I’ve likely torn to shreds with my blistering sense of reality. But at the same time, I’m not so sorry at all. If you still truly believe that all of these quotes are true for any circumstance in life, you clearly haven’t experienced failure at it’s finest, that is, when you least expect it because you truly believed you’d succeed.

Yes, this is all coming from the girl who wrote an article entitled Living Life Ever Upwardly. And I wasn’t lying when I wrote that; I really strive to be ever the optimist even though I’m the biggest pessimist you’d ever meet.

So take these quotes with the knowledge that they’re coming straight from the heart and mind of a pessimist experiencing failure. Because, if I—ever the pessimist—can find the silver lining, hopefully you (likely a more optimistic person than me) can too.

“The Phoenix must burn to emerge.”

– Janet Fitch

“We are all failures, at least the best of us are.”

– J.M. Barrie

“It’s not how hard you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.”

– Zig Ziglar (P.S. Cool name!)

“I have opened a door for you that no man can close.”

– Revelation 3:8

“Sometimes by losing the battle, you find a new way to win the war.”

– Donald Trump (No, I’m not trying to elicit a political debate with this one. It's just a good quote.)

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, life goes on, bra."

– The Beatles

“If you’re not failing every now and then, it’s a sign you’re not doing something innovative.”

– Woody Allen

“Don’t be afraid, just believe.”

– Mark 5:36

Perhaps my favorite among the quotes I’ve chosen to share, in part because it is extremely relevant to me at this time in my life, is a quote my Dad often tells my brothers and me.

This one’s for you, Dad:

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

– John Wooden

After all is said and done, life will always continue to go on.