Article image

12 Quotes To Help You Brush Off Little Mistakes

Life is full of tiny errors that, while frustrating in the moment, can help us grow as individuals in the long run. These little miscues are essential for our self-education, as nobody starts off knowing everything. But despite the fact that everyone makes mistakes, we often dwell on them for far longer than we should, which can contribute to self-doubt that does more harm than good.

It’s important to view mistakes not as personal failings but rather as building blocks for a more complete, well-rounded life. We need to be able to shrug our shoulders, learn whatever lessons present themselves, and look toward the future with a lighthearted attitude instead of continually fretting over the past.

Here are 12 insightful quotes about how to laugh off life’s little mistakes that will hopefully encourage you to grant yourself more grace and forgiveness going forward.

To err is human, to forgive divine.
Alexander Pope

Share Quote

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.
Mary Pickford

Share Quote

All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.
Sophocles

Share Quote

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.
Oprah Winfrey

Share Quote

Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.
Bruce Lee

Share Quote

Holding on is believing that there’s a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future.
Daphne Rose Kingma

Share Quote

A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.
George Bernard Shaw

Share Quote

No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
Tony Robbins

Share Quote

Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.
Sophia Loren

Share Quote

You don’t drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there.
Edwin Louis Cole

Share Quote

Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts.
Nikki Giovanni

Share Quote

We are products of our past, but we don’t have to be prisoners of it.
Rick Warren

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Noam Galai/ Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Bennett Kleinman
Bennett is a staff writer at Optimism as well as a freelance comedy writer. He's based in New York City.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "___ is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect." - Steve Jobs

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Pretend you’re more obsessed with this moment and a little bit less with the way it ends.

separator icon
Buddy Wakefield
motivation theme icon

I can't give you a recipe for success, but I can give you a recipe for failure: try to please everybody.

separator icon
Frank Langella
hope theme icon

Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.

separator icon
Eleanor Roosevelt
love theme icon

The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.

separator icon
Eden Phillpotts
wisdom theme icon

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

separator icon
Joan Didion
happiness theme icon

Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.

separator icon
William Shakespeare
motivation theme icon

It’s the artists who do the dreaming for society.

separator icon
Méret Oppenheim
hope theme icon

You will never get any more out of life than you expect.

separator icon
Bruce Lee
love theme icon

Forgiveness … is a gift of high value. Yet its cost is nothing.

separator icon
Betty Smith
wisdom theme icon

When you enter those places of trust, or power, dream a little before you think.

separator icon
Toni Morrison
happiness theme icon

One shouldn't just hope to be treated well: one must insist on it.

separator icon
Abraham Verghese