Who said “What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.”?

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Wendell Phillips. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceLecture 'The Lesson of the Hour', Brooklyn (1 November 1859)

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“What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.”
— Wendell Phillips
VerifiedLecture 'The Lesson of the Hour', Brooklyn (1 November 1859) · evidenceFailure
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Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: Lecture 'The Lesson of the Hour', Brooklyn (1 November 1859).

APA

Phillips, W. (n.d.). What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/16335-what-is-defeat-nothing-but-education-nothing-but/

MLA

Phillips, Wendell. “What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/16335-what-is-defeat-nothing-but-education-nothing-but/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Phillips, Wendell. “What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/16335-what-is-defeat-nothing-but-education-nothing-but/.

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“One on God's side is a majority.”
VerifiedLecture at Brooklyn, NY (November 1, 1859); in Speeches, Letters and Lectures by Wendell Phillips (1884), p. 274 · evidenceDetails & citeGod
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“What the Puritans gave the world was not thought, but action.”
VerifiedSpeech at the dinner of the Pilgrim Society (21 December 1855), in Speeches, Letters and Lectures by Wendell Phillips (1884), p. 229 · evidenceDetails & citePuritans
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