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MISTAKES

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see:

APOLOGY

ERROR

INDISCRETION

MISJUDGEMENTS

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

OOPS

PRIDE

TAKING THINGS SERIOUSLY

---

An error doesn't become a mistake
until you refuse to correct it.
--Orlando A. Battista (1917—1995)
Canadian-American chemist and author.
_How to Enjoy Work and Get More Fun Out of Life_ [1957]

^

Alexander Blackwell (1709—1749)
British adventurer.

Sentenced to be decapitated, Blackwell came
to the block and laid his head on the wrong
side. The executioner pointed out his mistake.
Blackwell moved around to the correct side,
observing that he was sorry for the mistake,
but this was the first time that he had been
beheaded.

--_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_
edited by Clifton Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^

An expert is a man who has made all the
mistakes, which can be made, in a very
narrow field.
--Niels Bohr (1885—1962)
Danish physicist.
In Robert Andrews _The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations_, p. 100 [1989].

Sometimes I wonder if I'm in my right mind.
Then it passes off and I'm as intelligent
as ever.
--Samuel Beckett (1906—1989)
Irish dramatist, novelist, and poet.
"Endgame" [1957]

Every great mistake has a halfway moment,
a split second when it can be recalled and
perhaps remedied.
--Pearl S. Buck (1892—1973)
American author noted for her novels of life in China;
winner of the 1938 Nobel Prize for Literature.
_What America Means to Me_, ch. 10 [1943]

Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe,
Sadder than owl songs or the midnight blast,
Is that portentous phrase, 'I told you so.'
--Lord Byron [George Gordon Byron] (1788—1824)
English Romantic poet and satirist.
_Don Juan_, canto XIV, st. 50 [1823]

^^

Charondas (6th century B.C.) Greek legislator.

One of Charondas's laws forbade citizens
to carry weapons into the public assembly.
Forgetting this, he wore his sword into
the public meeting one day. A fellow
citizen reproached him for violating his
own law. "By Zeus, I will confirm it," said
Charondas instantly, and drawing his
sword, killed himself.

--_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_
edited by Clifton Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^^

Eating words has never given me indigestion.
--attributed to Winston Churchill (1874—1965)
British Conservative statesman and Prime Minister [1940-45, 1951-55].

To stumble twice against the same
stone, is a proverbial disgrace.
--Marcus Tullius Cicero (106—43 BC)
Roman orator and statesman.
_Epistles_ X. 20.
Attributed in J. K. Hoyt & Anna L. Ward (eds.)
_The Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations_ p. 694 [1881].

Only those who do nothing ... make no mistakes.
--Joseph Conrad [Teodor Jσzef Konrad Nalecz-Korzeniowski] (1857—1924)
Polish-born English novelist.
_An Outcast of the Islands_, ch. 3 [1896]

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 (b. 1932)
American author.
_The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People_ [1989]

URIAH HEEP: I got to know what umbleness did,
and I took to it. I ate umble pie with an appetite.
--Charles Dickens (1812—1870)
English novelist.
_David Copperfield_, ch. 39 [1850]

^

John Foster Dulles (1888—1959)
American statesman.

Asked whether he had ever been wrong,
Dulles considered the question for some
time before replying. 'Yes,' he finally
admitted, 'once— many, many years ago.
I thought I had made a wrong decision.
Of course, it turned out that I had been
right all along. But I was wrong to have
*thought* that I was wrong.'

--_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_
edited by Clifton Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^

He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his
mistakes, will never be wiser on the morrow than he
is today.
--Tryon Edwards (1809—1894)
American theologian.
Attributed in _Oregon Teachers' Monthly_ [February 1916].

-

Biggest damnfool mistake I ever made.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890—1969),
American Army General, supreme Allied commander WWII,
NATO commander, American President [1953—1961].
Recalling his 1953 appointment of Earl Warren
as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Note:

Considering Warren's record as Governor of California
Eisenhower shouldn't have been surprised. The following
is from the 1951 revised edition of John Gunther's
1947 book, _Inside USA_ :

As governor Warren has always been fair-minded, conscientious,
tolerant, and liberal. He lifted old-age pensions from forty to fifty
dollars a month; he tried to push through a compulsory health
insurance bill, which the lobbies beat; he set about a program of
prison reform; he worked hard for a state Fair Employment
Practices Commission, and to augment unemployment insurance;
he greatly improved the governmental machinery of the state [...]
He played for AF of L support (which he now has); hence, he
tended as a rule to support everything the AF of L asked for.

-

Among all forms of mistake, prophecy
is the most gratuitous.
--George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] (1819—1880)
English novelist.
_Middlemarch_ [1871-72]

Two men were examining the output of the new
computer in their department. Eventually one
of them remarked: 'Do you realize it would take
400 men 250 years to make a mistake this big?'
--Far Side cartoon

^

In 1968 at the Masters, Robert DiVicenzo finished tied for the
lead with Bob Goalby. But his playing partner, Tommy Aaron,
had accidentally given him a four on the 17th hole when he
actually made a birdie three. DiVicenzo failed to notice the
mistake, signed his card, and that became his official score,
giving Goalby a one-shot victory.
--John Feinstein (b. 1956)
American sportswriter.
_Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black_ [2003]

^

I prefer the errors of enthusiasm
to the indifference of wisdom.
--attributed to Anatole France [Jacques Anatole Thibault] (1844—1924)
French novelist and man of letters.

None but the well-bred man knows how to confess
a fault, or acknowledge himself in an error.
--Benjamin Franklin (1706—1790)
American politician, inventor, and scientist.
_Poor Richard's Almanac_ [1738], "November"

If all else fails, immortality can always
be assured by spectacular error.
--John Kenneth Galbraith (1908—2006)
American economist.
Quoted in _Anglo American Trade News_, vol. 15 [1976].

It is only necessary to grow old to become more indulgent.
I see no fault committed that I have not committed myself.
--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749—1832)
German poet, novelist, and playwright.
Quoted in Sarah Austin (trans.) _Fragments from German Prose Writers_ [1841].

The road to wisdom?—Well, it's
plain and simple to express:
Err
and err
and err again
but less
and less
and less.
--Piet Hein (1905—1996)
Danish poet and mathematician.
"The Road to Wisdom" [1966]

The typewriter, ½ike all macζines, has amind of it sown
--attributed to Sir A.P. (Alan Patrick) Herbert (1890—1971)
English writer and humorist.

-

A failure is a man who has blundered, but
is not able to cash in on the experience.
--Elbert Hubbard (1859—1915)
American editor, publisher, and author who died in the sinking of the "Lusitania."
_The Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams_ [1923]


Experience is the name every one gives his mistakes.
--Elbert Hubbard (1859—1915)
American editor, publisher, and author who
died in the sinking of the "Lusitania."
_The Roycroft Dictionary and Book of Epigrams_ [1923]

-

When men are the most sure and arrogant,
they are commonly the most mistaken.
--David Hume (1711—1776)
Scottish philosopher.
Quoted in _Cooper's Journal_, p. 295 [1850].

No man is ever old enough to know better.
--attributed to Holbrook Jackson (1874—1948)
British journalist, writer, and publisher.

Every great improvement has come after repeated
failures. Virtually nothing comes out right the first
time. Failures, repeated failures, are finger posts
on the road to achievement.
--attributed to Charles F. Kettering (1876—1958)
American inventor.

Most men make use of the first part of their
life to render the last part miserable.
--Jean de La Bruyθre (1645—1696)
French essayist and moralist.
_Les Caractθres_ [1688] "De l'Homme"

[On his appointment of Herbert O'Brien as a judge:]
When I make a mistake, it's a beaut!
--Fiorello La Guardia (1882—1947)
American politician who served three terms
as mayor of New York City [1933-45].
Quoted in N.Y. Times [12 February 1941].

Crooked things may be as stiff and unflexible as straight:
and men may be as positive in error as in truth.
--John Locke (1632—1704)
English political and educational philosopher.
_An Essay Concerning Human Understanding_ [1690]

The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
--William Connor Magee (1821—1891)
Irish clergyman of the Anglican church.
1868 sermon.
(See Phelps, below.)

-

You may break your heart, but men will still go on as before.
--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121—180)
Roman emperor [161—180] and Stoic philosopher.
_Meditations_ Book VIII, Number 4


If a man makes a slip, admonish him gently and show
him his mistake. If you fail to convince him, blame
yourself, or else blame nobody.
--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121—180)
Roman emperor [161—180] and Stoic philosopher.
_Meditations_ Book X, Number 4

-

Allowing an unimportant mistake to pass
without comment is a wonderful social
grace.
--attributed to Judith "Miss Manners" Martin (b. 1938)
American newspaper columnist.

-

The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.
--Edward John Phelps (1822—1900)
American lawyer and diplomat.
Speech at Mansion House, London [24 January 1889].
Also attributed to Bishop W.C. Magee.

For the truth is that Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge
would be historical nonentities — and a great many
people would be alive today — had Washington not
helped bring them to power and the governments of
the United States, Britain, China and Thailand not
supported them, armed them, sustained them and
restored them.
--John Pilger,
"The Friends of Pol Pot,"
_The Nation_ (magazine), [11 May 1998]

How would you like a job where, every time you make a
mistake, a big red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?
--Jacques Plante (1929—1986)
Canadian professional hockey player.
Quoted in J.R. Colombo _Colombo's All Time Great Canadian Quotations_ [1994].

-

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 (1688—1744)
English poet.
Attributed in _The Visitor: or, Monthly Instructor,
for 1846_, by Religious Tract Society (G.B.).


To Err is Human; to Forgive, Divine.
--Alexander Pope (1688—1744)
English poet.
_An Essay on Criticism_ [1711]

& note:

To err is human; to blame it on the
other guy is even more human.
--anon.

-

It was such a relief to be right, even though you knew you'd
only got there by trying every possible way to be wrong.
--Terry Pratchett (b. 1948)
English science fiction writer.
_Feet of Clay_ [1996]

One word sums up probably the responsibility
of any vice-president, and that one word is 'to
be prepared.'
--Dan Quayle (b. 1947)
Vice-President of the United States [1989-93].
Quoted in "Esquire" [1992].

'Do not spill thy soul' in running hither and yon
grieving over the misfortunes the mistakes and
the vices of others. The one person whom it
is most necessary in this world to reform is
yourself.
--Dorothy Quigley
_Success Is For You_, ch. XIV [1897]

-

Gene Rayburn (1917—1999)
American actor and game-show host

. . . But game shows became his turf, and his "Match Game" tenure
survived one hilarious blooper. Interviewing a contestant and meaning
to compliment her dimples, he looked at her face and said, "you have
the most beautiful nipples I have ever seen."

--David Tanny "Gene Rayburn Obituary: A Favorite Passes On" [1999]

-

^^

Sir Michael Redgrave (1908—1985)
British stage actor.

During one play his scene called for him to be
left onstage with one attendant as he prepared
to commit suicide. His line was to be "Bring
me a pint of port and a pistol." With the
audience in a high state of tension, Redgrave
called, "Bring me a pint of piss and a portal."
Trying to help the situation, the young actor
who played the attendant asked, "A pint of
*piss,* my lord? "Aye," responded a furious
Redgrave, "*and* a portal."

_Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes_, edited by Clifton
Fadiman and Andrι Bernard [2000 ed.]

^^

It is necessary for us to learn from others'
mistakes. You will not live long enough
to make them all yourself.
--Hyman G. Rickover (1900—1986)
American naval officer and engineer who developed the world's
first nuclear-powered engines and the first atomic-powered
submarine, the USS Nautilus, launched in 1954.
Quoted in Steve McCurley & Rick Lynch _Volunteer Management:
Mobilizing All the Resources of the Community_ [1996].

I zigged when I should have zagged.
--Jack Roper (1904—1966)
American heavyweight boxer and actor.
After recovering from a knockout by Joe Louis [17 April 1939].

The follies which a man regrets the most in his life,
are those which he didn't commit when he had the
opportunity.
--Helen Rowland (1875—1950)
American writer.
_A Guide to Men_ [1922] "Improvisations"

Don't duck. Ha, they couldn't
hit an elephant at this dis--
--General John B. Sedgwick (1813—1864)
The most senior officer from either side to be
killed during the American Civil War.
He was shot by a Confederate sniper at the Battle of Spotsylvania [9 May 1864].

A life spent making mistakes is not only
more honorable but more useful than a
life spent doing nothing.
--George Bernard Shaw (1856—1950)
Irish comic dramatist, literary critic, Socialist
propagandist, and winner of the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1925 [he didn't accept it.]
_The Doctor's Dilemma_, preface [1906]

All men make mistakes, but married men find out about them sooner.
--attributed to Red [Richard Bernard] Skelton (1913—1997)
American comedian.

The ultimate result of shielding men from
the effects of folly, is to fill the world
with fools.
--Herbert Spencer (1820—1903)
English philosopher.
_Essays_ [1891] vol. 3, "State Tamperings with Money and Banks"

Well, if I called the wrong number,
why did you answer the phone?
--James Thurber (1894—1961)
American humorist and cartoonist.
Cartoon caption, The New Yorker [5 June 1937]

No matter how far you have gone
on the wrong road, turn back.
--Turkish Proverb

-

The report of my death was an exaggeration.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
In "New York Journal" [2 June 1897].


We should be careful to get out of an experience only the
wisdom that is in it — and stop there; lest we be like the
cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit
down on a hot stove-lid again — and that is well; but
also she will never sit down on a cold one any more.
--Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835—1910)
American humorist, novelist, journalist, and river pilot.
_Following the Equator_, ch. 11 [1897]

-

[Referrring to the advent of talkies in 1927:]
Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?
The music — that's the big plus about this.
--Harry Morris Warner [Hirsch Eichelbaum] (1881—1958)
Polish-born co-founder of Warner Brothers.

I wouldn't pay $50,000 for any damn book, any time.
--Jack Warner [John Leonard Eichelbaum] (1892—1978)
Canadian-born co-founder of Warner Brothers.
Turning down the chance to film "Gone With the Wind,"
quoted in Max Wilk _The Wit and Wisdom of Hollywood_ [1971].

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 (1875—1949)
Medical doctor and president of Stanford University.
Quoted in Alfred Armand Montapert _Inspiration & Motivation_ [1982].

If I had my life to live again, I'd make
the same mistakes, only sooner.
--Tennessee Williams [Thomas Lanier Williams] (1911—1983)
American dramatist.
In Charlotte Chandler "Confessions of a Nightingale", as quoted
by John Simon in _New York Magazine _ [6 October 1986].
Also attributed to Tallulah Bankhead.

The physician can bury his mistakes, but the
architect can only advise his clients to plant
vines.
--Frank Lloyd Wright (1867—1959)
American architect.
In the "New York Times Magazine" [4 October 1953].

Things said or done long years ago,
Or things I did not do or say
But thought that I might say or do,
Weigh me down, and not a day
But something is recalled,
My conscience or my vanity appalled.
--William Butler Yeats (1865—1939)
Irish poet and dramatist who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
"Vacillation" in _The Winding Stair and Other Poems_ [1933].

-----

anachronistic (adj.) [uh-nak-ruh-'nis-tik]
In the wrong time, chronologically inaccurate, containing an anachronism.

fallible [FAL-uh-bul], adjective:
1. Liable to make a mistake.
2. Liable to be inaccurate or erroneous.

gaffe [gaf], noun:
A blunder; faux pas.

heterophemy (noun) ['het-κ-rκ-fee-mi]
The inadvertent use of one word or
phrase when another is intended.

solecism (noun)
A socially awkward or tactless act.
Synonyms: faux pas, gaffe, slip, gaucherie


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