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As a politician, you have to deal with someone wanting you to fail every day. I think I prefer being in a situation where generally people are rooting for me, and if they aren't rooting for me, they aren't out there to see my downfall. I respect the people who have the stomach for it.

When people call something a 'fail,' it's because you tried to accomplish something but didn't make it. If you're just walking down the street and something bad just happens to you, that's not really a fail on your part. You might call that situation a fail.

I understand the harsh feelings and sentiments from my opponents and their supporters because I myself have been defeated twice in my political life in the past and I understand very well it is hard to accept your own failure.

A politics that is not sensitive to the concerns and circumstances of people's lives, a politics that does not speak to and include people, is an intellectually arrogant politics that deserves to fail.

Ultimately there is no such thing as failure. There are lessons learned in different ways.

Appearances are not truth. But every politician knows that his or her image, as well as his or her actions, can make the difference between failure and success.

Failure is enriching. It's also important to accept that you'll make mistakes - it's how you build your expertise. The trick is to learn a positive lesson from all of life's negative moments.

I think one of the biggest political failures, and the biggest social failures, over the past few years has been the failure of empathy; not being able to look at the other person down the street.

When you're failing, there's a very powerful incentive to put ideology aside and just do what seems to work.