|
Home Books on Mistakes Additional Resources on Mistakes Recommended Sites Recommended Income Opportunities Join Mailing List Contact |
MISTAKESSo what if I make a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes are a valuable part of learning. I'll just focus on what I've learned instead of what I've done. "The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one". (Elbert Hubbard) "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong". (Joseph Chilton Pearce) "Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." (Sophia Loren) "All the mistakes I ever made were when I wanted to say 'No' and said 'Yes'." (Moss Hart) "No man's error becomes his own Law; nor obliges him to persist in it." (Thomas Hobbes) "No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back." (Turkish Proverb) "Don't argue for other people's weaknesses. Don't argue for your own. When you make a mistake, admit it, correct it, and learn from it--immediately". (Stephen Covey} "You don't have to get it right the first time". (Barbara Sher) "Many of us grow up thinking of mistakes as bad, viewing errors as evidence of fundamental incapacity. This negative thinking pattern can create a self-fulfilling prophecy, which undermines the learning process. To maximize our learning it is essential to ask: How can we get the most from every mistake we make?". (Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan) "Many of us grow up with the idea that mistakes are bad, linking our self-esteem with continued success. We become afraid of making mistakes. So in order to achieve success, we tend to steer clear of areas that may lie outside the apparent realm of our natural talent. In this perverse equation, the secret of success becomes avoiding failure, leaving much of our potential untapped. In order to reach our full potential to learn, we must accept and then transform anxiety and fear, relentlessly seeking accurate information on our performance. What used to be perceived as criticism now becomes a gift for constructive growth". (Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan) "To continue learning is to embrace the process of trial and error at higher and higher levels". (Michael Gelb and Tony Buzan) "It doesn't matter how much milk you spill as long as you don't lose the cow". (Harvey Mackay) "Finish each day and be done with it...You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely". (Ralph Waldo Emerson) "To be human is to be fallible". (Dr. Arthur Freeman and Rose DeWolf) "Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun". (Mary Lou Cook) "It is not how much you know about life but how you live your life that counts. Those who can avoid mistakes by observing the mistakes of others are most apt to keep free from sorrow. In a world full of uncertainties, the record of what has gone before--human experience--is as sure and reliable as anything of which we know". (Ray Lyman Wilbur) "Wouldst thou have a serpent sting thee twice?" (William Shakespeare) "Be bold. If you're going to make an error, make a doozy, and don't be afraid to hit the ball". (Billie Jean King) "One mistake will never kill you. The same mistake over ``and over again will". (Harvey Mackay) "Mistakes are the portals of discovery". (James Joyce) "It's to be expected that you make mistakes when you're breaking new ground". (Jerry Greenfield) "A man should never be ashamed to own he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was yesterday". (Alexander Pope) "You will never stub your toe standing still. The faster you go, the more chance there is of stubbing your toe, but the more chance you have of getting somewhere". (Charles F. Kettering) "I've never been afraid to admit when I've made a mistake. It nearly drives me nuts sometimes, making mistakes. I keep telling myself I should be perfect, but that isn't what we're here for. Perfection isn't an option for us; perfection is death, Micko. We're here to learn and change, and that means making mistakes". (spoken by William Pierce, a character in the novella Heads by Greg Bear) "Let's honor our mistakes by allowing them to teach us. Let's consider our failings to be gifts, and share them humbly with others. Let the cracks in our perfect facades let in light and air so that new life can grow through them". (Molly Gordon) "If you want to find what's right for you, sometimes it's enough to figure out what's wrong". (Dale Dauten) "When you do nothing, you don't make mistakes; when you don't make mistakes, you do nothing". (Walter Anderson) "... you and your mistake are not the same thing... you are not a failure because something you do fails". (Walter Anderson) "There is nothing wrong with making mistakes and not having all the answers, so long as we are willing to admit this and strive for personal betterment. Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out that they don't". (Leo Buscaglia) "If I had to live my life over again, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time". (Nadine Stair) "The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all -- doing nothing". (Benjamin Franklin) "More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them". (J. Harold Smith) |