A miss is as good as a mile

Proverbial Meaning: If you nearly succeed but fail the result is the same as failing spectacularly.

Literal Origins: Whether you miss a target you’re aiming for by one inch or one mile, you have still missed.

Common Usage: This proverb’s usage is not all that common in speech, but it is still well known. It may reflect the thoughts of a disgruntled gambler, for instance, who bet his money on a football team that lost three goals to four. It was a close match but they still lost so, to the gambler, the result would be the same if they’d lost by ten goals for zero.