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Daily Inspiration Quote by Zachary Quinto

"I don't always succeed, but I like to think I try"

About this Quote

There is a quiet recalibration of success hiding in Zachary Quinto's line: the achievement is not the win, its the willingness to keep stepping into risk. Coming from an actor, that matters. Acting is a career built on rejection as routine infrastructure; most auditions end in silence, most roles never materialize, most swings are public. So the sentence functions less as a feel-good mantra than as a survival philosophy for a profession where effort is the only thing you can reliably own.

"I don't always succeed" is disarmingly plain, almost anti-PR. It preempts the glossy celebrity narrative that talent guarantees outcomes, and it smuggles in humility without self-pity. The pivot, "but I like to think I try", is where the subtext sharpens. "Like to think" signals self-awareness: even trying can be a story we tell ourselves, a moral identity we cling to when results dont cooperate. Its a small admission that grit is partly performance, too.

The intent feels cultural as much as personal. In an era obsessed with metrics - box office, followers, clout, endless comparisons - Quinto chooses a metric that cant be quantified but can be repeated. The line also nudges against the cruelty of effortless excellence. It makes room for imperfect persistence, the kind that builds careers, relationships, and self-respect in incremental takes.

Its modest, but thats the point: a practiced actor offering a credo that sounds simple because it needs to be usable on the bad days.

Quote Details

TopicPerseverance
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Quinto, Zachary. (n.d.). I don't always succeed, but I like to think I try. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-always-succeed-but-i-like-to-think-i-try-168750/

Chicago Style
Quinto, Zachary. "I don't always succeed, but I like to think I try." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-always-succeed-but-i-like-to-think-i-try-168750/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I don't always succeed, but I like to think I try." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-dont-always-succeed-but-i-like-to-think-i-try-168750/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.

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I do not always succeed but I like to think I try
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About the Author

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Zachary Quinto (born June 2, 1977) is a Actor from USA.

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