Which is worse: failing or never trying?

That is another good point. It is kind of a twist on both of the options; they never try to fail, or they don't fail because they never try. In contrast, are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

Never trying. The fact that I tried and did my best is probably better than the haunting feeling of never trying. Its kinda like asking a girl out. Also, the option of something along the lines of "trying, but feeling as if you could have succeeded if you tried a little bit harder" if it was there, is probably the thing that i hate the most. Being lazy or scared is one thing, but making it so that i DID try but could have made it makes for an everlasting regret.

For me, its never trying.

Cause if you dont try, you wont be able to see what you have to do to achieve goals.

Also, as Yoda says: "Do it, or dont do it, never try". gotta agree with this.

I say never trying is worse. there will always be that regret and wondering if you could have.

i don't mind failing that much. unless it is a complete slaughter. like getting instantly and/or repeatedly owned at sports or video games.

If you could 'survive' a failure, you've learned something.

Never trying is one of 2 things: Knowing the odds and not/still not trying. Or simply not enough courage.

But I digress, there should be that third option. haha!

Never trying. Period.

Never trying would mean more fail.. You didnt even tried to do something, meaning you're too scared, weak, no guts... In failing, you tried, even if you're bad at something, and you know it, you still try, cuz you're brave, you're not afraid to move forward.

I'm gonna have to go with failing, because you aren't gonna just sit there and let a single failure ruin your life. You're gonna get up, dust yourself off, and try again until you turn that FAIL into a WIN.

I think :
not trying: "I want to try, but what if?"
failing: " ARGH i have tried. i shouldn't have done it, but oh well.LETS DO IT AGAIN"
to me i think the impact of failing is more great than never trying.h/e, failing haves you the sxhilaratement of trying.
on the other hand, not trying, you will miss out and the fun, but the saying goes "better to be safe than sorry"

We live in a society where everything is ruled by results.

"Oh, you had a GPA of 3.5? Sorry bud, not good enough, we'll hire someone else."
"Oh, I tried losing weight, but I'm still morbidly obese at 300lbs."
"Oh, I tried to make a left turn, but the guy was speeding to fast and we got into a car accident."

And things like that. While never trying equates to never knowing your strengths and weaknesses, failing too much is also equally bad. What one can learn from failure is a lot if one takes it to heart, pick him/herself up, and move on, and that's what all humans should do when they meet failure. However, sometimes it can take one or two or many failures to completely break a person down. Imagine all the unemployed people out there that have stopped trying because they've came across so many recruitment failures. While it might not be their fault per se, but reality dictates that the probability of finding a job after so many tries is zilch, and failure gets to people.

It's better to fail than never trying, but you don't want to fail too much.

failing, if you know thaat even if you tried
never trying, if you don't even know the outcome, you fail.

Even if you fail at something you put effort towards, be it a class in college, a goal you had, ext. you personally put forth some form of effort and will most likely keep trying harder until you reach your goal.

If you never try to accomplish something you are a failure.

A few years back a business magazine did a survey of self-made millionaires, almost everyone of them had declared bankrupt at least once before becoming successful.

Failing is the lack of success..using that line of thinking , by never trying you never achieve success..thus meaning you fail anyway.

Might as well try huh ?

I think never trying is worse. At least if I tried and if I failed I would gain more knowledge and experience that I can use whenever I encounter a similar problem next time. And I wouldn't blame myself for not trying.

Universally, Depends on the situation.

My opinion, always try.

In the normal case, you should always try if you desire something. But trying halfheartedly is hardly better then not trying at all. You must carefully examine all the circumstances, tune them to the optimum, and do a lot of calculations. Ask yourself what your strengths are, and bring them in as much as you can. You must also learn everything about the adversities that may encounter you, and how to overpower them.

If you execute everything thoughtfully, you will succeed in the most cases, and even if you fail, you will never feel bad about it.

Never trying literally hurts me at times. I would gladly fail and say I tried, rather then not have done it, and spectate for the rest of my life on what on what could have happened, or what could have been.

As they say: Life is too short. So don't hesitate, you won't get a second chance.