Thomas J. Sargent, in Conversations with Economists (1983) by Arjo Klamer
“If the road to social transformation can be paved only by saints who never make mistakes, the road will never be built. The upside is that we don’t have to be perfect to save our communities and restore the Earth. We just have to try hard and be as honest as we can be about the processes we are going through. So I share the mistakes and failures, as well as the successes, because that is the truth of my journey – and of anyone’s journey.”
Statement in a 2007 New York Times interview, quoted in "Bridging the gap between environmental and social justice" by Lauren Rabaino, in Mustang News (April 4, 2008) http://mustangnews.net/bridgingthegapbetweenenvironmentalandsocialjustice/
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Van Jones 9
American environmental advocate and civil rights activist 1968Related quotes
In Search of a Better World (1984)
Context: There are uncertain truths — even true statements that we may take to be false — but there are no uncertain certainties.
Since we can never know anything for sure, it is simply not worth searching for certainty; but it is well worth searching for truth; and we do this chiefly by searching for mistakes, so that we have to correct them.
Farewell statement, Warsaw, Poland, reported in The New York Times (2 July 1964)
Context: Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey. On the contrary, great change dominates the world, and unless we move with change we will become its victims.
Wall Street Journal, WSJ http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/RahulGandhiSpeech.pdf
“When we are confronted by failure and mistakes, we can leave them behind and go on with our lives.”
Source: Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence
The Wheel of Fortune (1984), Part 4: Kester