"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever…

Massachusetts Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) wrote in The Age (Melbourne, Australia) on July 10, 1967, and in his book, To Seek a Newer World (1967):

“Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes courage and self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” is a popular Robert F. Kennedy quote, but it borrowed from an earlier quote. The poet Edgar Guest (1881-1959) published in his newspaper column of December 20, 1951, “Only those who dare to fail, much achieve.” President Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) said in February 1965, “For only those who dare to fail greatly, can achieve much.”

20 December 1951, Springfield (MA) Union, “Just Folks” by Edgar A. Guest, pg. 10, col. 4:
The Quitter
Quitters when grave doubts assail
Pack and leave.
Only those who dare to fail,
Much achieve.

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22 February 1965, Reading (PA) Eagle, “President Speaks Of Challenges: Johnson Asks Young Americans To Share Fully In Their Time” (UPI), pg. 1, col. 1:
“If you wish a sheltered and uneventful life, you are living in the wrong generation,” he said. “For only those who dare to fail greatly, can achieve much.”
(President Lyndon B. Johnson.—ed.)

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10 July 1967, The Age (Melbourne, Australia, “A Message From Senator Kennedy” by Senator Robert F. Kennedy, pg. 5, col. 5:
Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes courage and self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

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To Seek a Newer World
By Robert Francis Kennedy
Garden City, NY: Doubleday
1967
Pg. 232:
Of course to adhere to standards, to idealism, to vision in the face of immediate dangers takes courage and self-confidence. But we also know that only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.

Google Books
Newsweek
Volume 71, Issues 1-9
1968
Pg. 101:
“At the end of your book,” he told Kennedy, “you said, ‘Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.’ Do you think that in 1968 we will have a chance to back a candidate who will ‘dare greatly’?”

Google News Archive
20 November 1985, Gadsden (SC) Times, “Datebook,” pg. A4, col. 5:
Today’s quote: only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”—Robert Kennedy.