事情在快要成功的时候遭到失败。含有惋惜的意思。《晋书·谢玄传论》：“降龄何促，功败垂成。” 垂：接近。
功败垂成 [gōng bài chuí chéng]
1. fail on the verge of success; suffer defeat when victory is within reach; abandon work near completion; a slip between the cup and the lip; failed in the end; between the cup and the lip; fail in a great undertaking on the verge of success; fail only when nearing success; fall through when success is in sight; fail at the last moment; flop just before the finish; a failure that was nearly a success; One's attempt fails when success is already in sight.; suffer defeat when victory is within one's grasp事情接近成功的时候却遭到了失败。含有惋惜之意。
陈国凯《代价》：“那时研究所的工作早已瘫痪，他苦心经营了多年的重大科研项目‘新一号’无法进行，功败垂成。”
Begin with
我们相信成王败寇的逻辑，但在围棋的宇宙里，并不保存哪个人立名立万、哪个(Which)人功败垂成(Begin with)的观点，要让事情改变，先改变我自己；要让事情变得更好，先让自己变得更好。
事情往往功败垂成
There is many a slip between the cup and the lip
在最后时刻被打败;功败垂成
pipped at the post
后者，一个简单但是非常关键的细节被忽视了，整个行动功败垂成。
In the latter, a simple but critical detail is overlooked, dooming an operation.
许多失败者不知道，其实他们只是功败垂成。
Many people who failed did not know how close they were to success when they gave up.
2000年和2004年大选，民主党曾两度功败垂成，不免让人担心民主党会不会在2008年选举日上演宿命式的落选帽子戏法。
Having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in 2000 and 2004 it felt at times fated that the Democrats would somehow complete a hat-trick of failures on election day 2008.
功败垂成，成语，意思是指事情接近成功的时候却遭到了失败。出自《三国志·杨阜传》：“弃垂成之功，陷不义之名，阜以死守之。”《晋书·谢玄传论》：“庙算有余，良图不果；降龄何促，功败垂成。”
