Oh ... why not?' he smiled. "This valley is a pleasant spot for meditation. I like New England... it is here that I have experienced some of my greatest successes - and several notable defeats. Defeat, you know, is not such a bad thing, if there's not too much of it... it makes for humility, and humility makes for caution, therefore for safety.' ("Trace")
Jerome Bixby, American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940's Until Now
caution, defeat, humility, safety