success has many fathers, failure is an orphan

English

Alternative forms

• victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan
• success has a hundred fathers, failure is an orphan; success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan

Etymology

Popularized by John F. Kennedy in the context of the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961).

Proverb

success has many fathers, failure is an orphan

1. Many people will seek credit for success, but few will accept responsibility for failure.
   • 2025 June 14, Nigel Andrews, “They don’t come any bigger”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 13:

     Success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan. Never mind.

Translations

many will seek credit for success, few for failure

• Finnish: onnistumisella on monta isää, epäonnistuminen on orpo
• Hebrew: להצלחה אבות רבים, הכשלון הולך יתום
• Malayalam: വിജയത്തിന് പല പിതാക്കന്മാർ, തോൽവി ഒരു അനാഥനും (vijayattinŭ pala pitākkanmāṟ, tōlvi oru anāthanuṁ)
• Polish: sukces ma wielu ojców, a porażka jest sierotą, sukces ma wielu ojców, sukces ma wielu ojców, a klęska jest sierotą
• Romanian: succesul are mulți tați, insuccesul e orfan.

Further reading

• Charles Clay Doyle, Wolfgang Mieder, Fred R. Shapiro, editors (2012), “Success (Victory) has many (a hundred) fathers, but failure (defeat) is an orphan”, in The Dictionary of Modern Proverbs, New Haven: Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 244