Mistakes

"I know but of one Being to whom error may not be imputed."

"When people once are in the wrong, Each line they add is much too long; Who fastest walks, but walks astray, Is only furthest from his way."

"The fellow who never makes a mistake takes his orders from one who does."

"And certainly it was not wrong to try to secure freedom for our citizens held in barbaric captivity. But we did not achieve what we wished, and serious mistakes were made in trying to do so. We will get to the bottom of this, and I will take whatever action is called for."

"Life, like war, is a series of mistakes; and he is not the best Christian nor the best general who makes the fewest false steps. Poor mediocrity may secure that; but he is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes. Forget mistakes; organize victory out of mistakes."

"There are two kinds of mistakes. There are fatal mistakes that destroy a theory; but there are also contingent ones, which are useful in testing the stability of a theory."

"In general, pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes."

"How far your eyes may pierce, I cannot tell; Striving to better, oft we mar what's well."

"Purposes mistook Fall'n on the inventors' heads."

"The error of our eye directs our mind: What error leads must err."

"A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing."

"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery."

"It is a sign of maturity and decency to acknowledge that often all parties participate in making mistakes that can produce discord. In our time, recognizing this fact is part of being an honest person of depth. It helps us understand that trouble between people gets transformed when everyone takes responsibility for their part. Negotiation is a process, first of acknowledgment, and then adjustment to the new information produced by that acknowledgment. Recognizing mutuality of cause is a principle that allows progressive change without . Scapegoating, after all, is often rooted in the false accusation that one person or group is unilaterally responsible for mistakes that are actually contributed to by multiple parties."

"It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes. It may even lie on the surface; but we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions — especially selfish ones."

"Those who do not blunder achieve nothing."

"There is no mistake; there has been no mistake; and there shall be no mistake."

"The legendary Danish physicist Niels Bohr distinguished two kinds of truths. An ordinary truth is a statement whose opposite is a falsehood. A profound truth is a statement whose opposite is also a profound truth. In that spirit, we might say that an ordinary mistake is one that leads to a dead end, while a profound mistake is one that leads to progress. Anyone can make an ordinary mistake, but it takes a genius to make a profound mistake."

"Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."

"The physician can bury his mistakes, but the architect can only advise his clients to plant vines."

"Mistake, error, is the discipline through which we advance."

"Errare mehercule malo cum Platone, quem tu quanti facias, scio quam cum istis vera sentire."

"The cautious seldom err."

"Man on the dubious waves of error toss'd."

"Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for pearls, must dive below."

"Brother, brother; we are both in the wrong."

"Es giebt Menschen die gar nicht irren, weil sie sich nichts Vernünftiges vorsetzen."

"Es irrt der Mensch so lang er strebt."

"Ille sinistrorsum hic dextrorsum abit, unus utrique Error, sed variis illudit partibus."

"Dark Error's other hidden side is truth."

"Quand tout le monde a tort, tout le monde a raison."

"Knowledge being to be had only of visible and certain truth, error is not a fault of our knowledge, but a mistake of our judgment, giving assent to that which is not true."

"Errare humanus est."

"Les plus courtes erreurs sont toujours les meilleures."

"The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything."

"For to err in opinion, though it be not the part of wise men, is at least human."

"In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion."

"Shall error in the round of time Still father Truth?"

"The progress of rivers to the ocean is not so rapid as that of man to error."

"There have been errors in the administration of the most enlightened men."

"A mistake, as it seems to me, is none the less a mistake because it is made deliberately in the pursuance of a mistaken intention."

"Those who make no mistakes are making the biggest mistakes of all — they are attempting nothing new."

"The important thing in my view is not to pin the blame for a mistake on somebody, but rather to find out what caused the mistake."

"It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing."

"The mistakes that have been most extreme in Berkshire's history are mistakes of omission. They don't show up in our figures — they show up in opportunity costs."

"First mistake, last mistake! Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants! Next mistake, no more mistakes!"

"You have to ask yourself, What do I really want to do or be? Then make yourself this promise: I will not look over my shoulder; I will use whatever I have learned, but I will not dwell on the mistakes I have made. Whether you're seventeen, twenty-seven or sixty-seven, you bring experience to your new venture or adventure. If you draw from your own experience and use it as a guide, focus on today and not yesterday, your chances of success are greatly improved."

"Unsere Fehler sind die Fehler aller Menschen, die in den gleichen gesellschaftlichen und geschichtlichen Verhältnissen leben würden."

"A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened. Then, again, every major change in policy demands a corresponding change of doctrine and a revelation of prominent historical figures."

"If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, there is always another chance for you. And supposing you have tried and failed again and again, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call “failure” is not the falling down, but the staying down."

"Mistakes are common, not because people or firms are incompetent but because they are constantly dancing on the edge of knowledge."