An ordinary mistake is one that leads to a dead end, while a profound mistake is one that leads to progress. Anyone can make an ordinary mistake, but it takes a genius to make a profound mistake.
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The Lightness of Being - Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces, Basic Books 2008, chapter 1, p. 12Frank Wilczek
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Gravity is of the very Essence of Imposture. It does not only make us mistake other Things, but is apt perpetually almost to mistake it-self.
Anthony Ashley-Cooper
Any military commander who is honest with himself, or with those he's speaking to, will admit that he has made mistakes in the application of military power. He's killed people unnecessarily — his own troops or other troops — through mistakes, through errors of judgment. A hundred, or thousands, or tens of thousands, maybe even a hundred thousand. But, he hasn't destroyed nations. And the conventional wisdom is don't make the same mistake twice, learn from your mistakes. And we all do. Maybe we make the same mistake three times, but hopefully not four or five. There will be no learning period with nuclear weapons. You make one mistake and you're going to destroy nations.
Robert McNamara
America is a mistake, admittedly a gigantic mistake, but a mistake nevertheless.
Sigmund Freud
More and more, I am becoming convinced that truly I have a created a problem and have made a mistake. Although very late, with all honesty...I am asking for forgiveness from all of you, it was my fault for bringing Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and allowing them to choke your necks. If this was my mistake, then I am truly sorry. Wait, this was more than a mistake. This was a tragedy that I brought into the lives of my people. So...so please allow me, allow me to help save you from that crisis.
Levon Ter-Petrossian
It is better for a leader to make a mistake in forgiving than to make a mistake in punishing.
Holy Prophet Muhammad
Wilczek, Frank
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