“In this Bicentennial Year, we are commemorating the anniversary dates of many great events in American history. An honest reckoning, however, must include a recognition of our national mistakes as well as our national achievements. Learning from our mistakes is not pleasant, but as a great philosopher once admonished, we must do so if we want to avoid repeating them.”

— Gerald Ford

1970s, Proclamation 4417 (1976)

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Gerald Ford 90

American politician, 38th President of the United States (i… 1913–2006

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1978

“We must treasure our mistakes so that they do not repeat themselves and teach us to face life in the best way.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Bisogna far tesoro dei nostri errori affinché non si ripetano e ci insegnino ad affrontare la vita nel migliore dei modi.
Source: prevale.net

“Once we have funded our national security and our homeland security, the final great priority of my budget is economic security for the American people. To achieve these great national objectives — to win the war, protect the homeland, and revitalize our economy — our budget will run a deficit that will be small and short-term, so long as Congress restrains spending and acts in a fiscally responsible manner. We have clear priorities and we must act at home with the same purpose and resolve we have shown overseas: We'll prevail in the war, and we will defeat this recession.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

2000s, 2002, State of the Union address (January 2002)

“Every revolution in history has been accomplished by actions, al-though words are necessary. We must create shields that protect us and spears that penetrate our enemies. Black people must learn how to struggle by struggling. We must learn by our mistakes.”

Assata Shakur (1947) American activist who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army

To My People (July 4, 1973)

“In our struggle to understand the history of life, we must learn where to place the boundary between contingent and unpredictable events that occur but once and the more repeatable, lawlike phenomenon that may pervade life's history as generalities.”

Stephen Jay Gould book Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms

"Reversing Established Orders", p. 402
Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms (1998)

“We cannot bury pain and trauma forever. As I said in Tulsa, great nations do not hide from their histories. We are a great nation, and by reckoning with and remedying the injustices of the past, America will become greater still.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2022, June 2022, Statement by President Joe Biden on the 101st Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre

“Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us. We have duties to others and duties to ourselves; and we can shirk neither. We have become a great nation, forced by the fact of its greatness into relations with the other nations of the earth, and we must behave as beseems a people with such responsibilities. Toward all other nations, large and small, our attitude must be one of cordial and sincere friendship. We must show not only in our words, but in our deeds, that we are earnestly desirous of securing their good will by acting toward them in a spirit of just and generous recognition of all their rights. But justice and generosity in a nation, as in an individual, count most when shown not by the weak but by the strong.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

1900s, Inaugural Address (1905)

“The great courageous act that we must all do, is to have the courage to step out of our history and past so that we can live our dreams.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“History often repeats itself. If we can learn our lessons early, we can avoid accidents. The purpose of the investigation is not to blame someone for the neglect of duty or to hold someone responsible, but to figure out the real causes for the accidents and avoid making the same mistakes again.”

Chang Yu-hern (1954) Taiwanese politician

Chang Yu-hern (2010) cited in: " NCKU Prof. Yu-Hern Chang Appointed as Chairman of Aviation Safety Council http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/03/idUS84305+03-Jun-2010+BW20100603" in Reuters, 3 June 2010.

“We learn, when we learn, only from experience, and then we only learn from our mistakes. Our successes only serve to reinforce our superstitions.”

Arthur Jones (inventor) (1926–2007) American inventor

The New High Intensity Training (2004)

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