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Mistakes Quotes

On mistakes made, owned, and left behind.

This collection focuses on mistakes as part of learning - practicing a new piece and inevitably getting parts of it wrong along the way. Related reading: Better.

The best thing that I bring in my live show is that it's not scripted. It's more of a conversation with my audience. And that's what people like about the show - it's very real. There are mistakes and laughter.

Quotes by Trisha Yearwood

Acknowledging mistakes and learning from them are the first steps.

Quotes by Travis Kalanick

All the mistakes I've ever made in my life have been when I've been drunk. I haven't made hardly any mistakes sober, ever, ever.

Quotes by Tracey Emin

We're all men, not machines. We make mistakes.

Quotes by Tony La Russa

I'm not cynical or bitter in any way. Life's too short; you get ripped off, but if you hold a grudge, it's going to affect you. You take it on the chin, you learn, you try not to make the...

Quotes by Tony Fernandes

I've made some bad mistakes in life.

Quotes by Tony Bellew

Making mistakes is part of life. The only things I would feel ashamed of would be if I had said things I hadn't believed in order to get on. Some politicians do do that.

Quotes by Tony Benn

I've made every mistake - but mistakes are how you learn.

Quotes by Tony Benn

We're kind of defined by our mistakes.

Quotes by Tommy Shaw

It's like first grade where you make all your mistakes and people see it and yet some people see that there's something there that's really valuable. That's the way it went for more than 2 years almost 3 years of...

Quotes by Tom Verlaine

Taking chances is my job; some will connect and some won't, and certain films find their audiences in different ways. I think 'Spotlight' probably is a better movie because of 'The Cobbler.' You learn with every movie you make: you...

Quotes by Tom McCarthy

I think, most of us, when we look back over our lives, see perhaps moments when everything was dangerous and precarious. We're making all these mistakes, and yet somehow we make it through. It's the making it through that that...

Quotes by Tom Drury

I have a memory, and I can just eliminate mistakes when they come up because I've already made them.

Quotes by Tom Brady

Sometimes when you make mistakes, if you learn by your mistakes, by golly, that's when you can really go forward.

Quotes by Tom Benson

I'm a jerk, first and foremost. I don't know the answers. I'm an idiot. I make mistakes. I stick my foot in my mouth. I'm insensitive when I don't want to be.

Quotes by Timothy Busfield

I'm not perfect - I'm human, and I can make mistakes - but I'm always going to fight clean; I'm always going to go out there and try to put on a good show.

Quotes by Tim Kennedy

We kept a broad audience, and we didn't make fun of people who had necessarily made mistakes in their life and burned them to the ground. We made fun of a commercial or a movie or ourselves.

Quotes by Tim Conway

We can't blame the technology when we make mistakes.

Quotes by Tim Berners-Lee

I am somebody who... - I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I need that freedom, that ability to make mistakes out there. Because there's a fine line between making a mistake or being brilliant.

Quotes by Tiffeny Milbrett

Mistakes can be corrected by those who pay attention to facts but dogmatism will not be corrected by those who are wedded to a vision.

Quotes by Thomas Sowell

Frequently Asked Questions

What do these "mistakes" quotes reflect on?
They range from a critique of foreign policy decisions to the value of making mistakes while learning a craft, and the idea that owning up to mistakes is part of moving on.
Is there a quote criticizing U.S. foreign policy?
Yes — one speaker shares their own view that a mistake "the United States consistently made was that it could intervene and somehow adjust people's governments, especially in the Middle East." This is presented as that speaker's personal opinion.
Is there a quote about learning through practice?
There is. One speaker says, "I like to practise. With every new piece, you make mistakes and you learn," adding, "it's important to get on and have another go."
Is there a quote about owning up to mistakes?
Yes — one quote suggests that "Mistakes, once owned, apologized for, and buried, need to be an accepted part of life." Browse more reflective lines on our Better and Life quotes pages.
Is there a quote criticizing a government's handling of the Iraq war?
Yes. One speaker states their own opinion that "The Administration has made critical mistakes and errors in judgment leading up to the war in Iraq," adding a criticism that "The President refuses to acknowledge these mistakes." This is presented strictly as that speaker's own political opinion. For more, see our Always and Good quotes pages.

The recurring idea is that mistakes, once genuinely owned and apologized for, should be allowed to stay buried rather than relitigated forever. See also Good and Life.