“The general consensus is that we gain wisdom and learn from our failures and mistakes; however, many do not accept the rationale of their errors and thus continually repeat them; therefore, when we do not acknowledge our missteps ignorance prevails.”

1978

Last update Oct. 14, 2023. History

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“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 (1913–2006) American politician, 38th President of the United States (in office from 1974 to 1977)

1970s, Proclamation 4417 (1976)

“Anyone who can't learn from other people's mistakes simply can't learn, and that; s all there is to it. There is value in the wrong way of doing things. The knowledge gained from errors contributes to our knowledge base.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence

“It is important that we forgive ourselves for making mistakes. We need to learn from our errors and move on.”

Steve Maraboli (1975)

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 80

“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.”

Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) Scottish author

Source: Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct (1859), Ch. XI : Self-Culture — Facilities and Difficulties

“We all gaze back into our past, to recall fond memories; the mistakes and errors we made, so we shall not repeat them in the present or the future.”

Gandolfo – (RJ Intindola)

1977

“Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future.”

Dale Turner

“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)

“When we are confronted by failure and mistakes, we can leave them behind and go on with our lives.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence

“Although we all make mistakes in life, the problems occur when we try to hide our mistakes, to cover them up rather than to learn from them and allow other people to learn from them.”

Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon

Source: Think Big (1996), p. 175

“The thieves may be able to follow the design plans and produce a loom. But we are modifying and improving our looms every day. They do not have the expertise gained from the failures it took to produce the original. We need not be concerned. We need only continue as always, making our improvements.”

Kiichiro Toyoda (1894–1952) Japanese businessman

Kiichiro Toyoda in The Toyota Way, 2001: Quoted in: "Toyota quotes," New York Times, Feb. 10, 2008.
Comment by Kiichiro Toyoda after thieves had stolen the plans for a new loom from his father's workshop.

“The general consensus is that we gain wisdom and learn from our failures and mistakes; however, many do not accept the rationale of their errors and thus continually repeat them; therefore, when we do not acknowledge our missteps ignorance prevails.”

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