Samuel Beckett quotes
1906 – 1989 · 20th century, mid–late · Writer, playwright and poet
About Samuel Beckett
Born in Dublin in 1906 and died in Paris in 1989, Beckett reshaped twentieth‑century literature with a spare, minimalist style. His late prose and drama emphasize reduction, repetition and negation, treating failure and persistence as fundamental conditions of art and existence.
Works: Waiting for Godot; Endgame; Worstward Ho
Quotes
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Source: Worstward Ho (1983) · Check the source
Verified attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The line appears in Samuel Beckett's late prose piece Worstward Ho, published in 1983.
Beckett’s line condenses a late-career aesthetic: persistence within limits. In Worstward Ho (1983) the phrase operates as an artistic rule — failure is not a mistake to erase but the material out of which work continues.