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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.

Punishing honest mistakes stifles creativity. I want people moving and shaking the earth and they're going to make mistakes.

Quotes by Ross Perot

My first novel, 'You Lost Me There,' has been described as a beach read. Tough bracket, beach reads. There's not much room for mistakes when you're competing against the sun for a person's attention.

Quotes by Rosecrans Baldwin

Any mistakes that I make is an investment in my future.

Quotes by Rose Namajunas

I noticed that when it came time to improvise, my students would often make mistakes.

Quotes by Roscoe Mitchell

I'm just smart enough to know what it is I don't know and try to learn as I go along and accept that you're going to make mistakes, and there are going to be things that are not going to...

Quotes by Ronald D. Moore

One makes mistakes; that is life. But it is never a mistake to have loved.

Quotes by Romain Rolland

This year I guess I decided in the bigger matches to take it more to my opponent instead of waiting a bit more for the mistakes. Yeah, this is I guess how you want to win Wimbledon, is by going...

Quotes by Roger Federer

I've finally figured out how to make a Rodney Crowell record, and that's let it be, leave the mistakes.

Quotes by Rodney Crowell

All of us make mistakes. The key is to acknowledge them, learn, and move on. The real sin is ignoring mistakes, or worse, seeking to hide them.

Quotes by Robert Zoellick

When I present those clip shows and movie mistakes and things, the persona the writers adopt for me is unimpressed, superior, very sarcastic - I'm not any of that. I can do it, but that's not what I'm like.

Quotes by Robert Webb

Mistakes and dead-ends often mean more to these artists than any proven problem.

Quotes by Robert Smithson

Hopefully as a country, that we learn from our mistakes of the past.

Quotes by Robert Matsui

I've had all six of my books reach the New York Times bestseller list, which is especially rewarding seeing as I flunked out of high school twice because I couldn't write. It just goes to show you that we learn...

Quotes by Robert Kiyosaki

Start a part-time business and make as many mistakes as you possibly can while you still have your daytime job.

Quotes by Robert Kiyosaki

Have I made mistakes? Yes, I have. And I admit those.

Quotes by Robert J. Bentley

They who gain applause and power by pandering to the mistakes, the prejudices and passions of the multitude are the enemies of liberty.

Quotes by Robert Green Ingersoll

There are no mistakes, save one: the failure to learn from a mistake.

Quotes by Robert Fripp

The lesson is that you can still make mistakes and be forgiven.

Quotes by Robert Downey, Jr.

The ongoing strife in Iraq, and the billions of dollars that the President is seeking to continue that war, give me little comfort that this Administration has learned from its mistakes in Iraq.

Quotes by Robert Byrd

We made some mistakes. We had some managers we didn't like and had to get rid of, and that cost some money. Stuff like that. But overall, we did really well.

Quotes by Robby Krieger

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.