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
Who said, "Life goes by fast. Enjoy it. Calm down. It's all funny"?

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

The best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.

separator icon
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
motivation theme icon

Only the ephemeral is of lasting value.

separator icon
Eugène Ionesco
hope theme icon

He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often, and loved much.

separator icon
Bessie Anderson Stanley
love theme icon

The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.

separator icon
Rabindranath Tagore
wisdom theme icon

Success is sometimes the outcome of a whole string of failures.

separator icon
Vincent van Gogh
happiness theme icon

If the shoe doesn’t fit, must we change the foot?

separator icon
Gloria Steinem
motivation theme icon

No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.

separator icon
Virginia Woolf
hope theme icon

That virtue we appreciate is as much ours as another’s. We see so much only as we possess.

separator icon
Henry David Thoreau
love theme icon

The chief danger in life is that you may take too many precautions.

separator icon
Alfred Adler
wisdom theme icon

We need men who can dream of things that never were.

separator icon
John F. Kennedy
happiness theme icon

Always remember: Silence and smile are two very powerful tools.

separator icon
Paulo Coelho