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: "Ultimately, ___ is trying to see things that other people don't see." - Trevor Paglen

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Only one mountain can know the core of another mountain.

separator icon
Frida Kahlo
motivation theme icon

Only love can heal the wounds of the past.

separator icon
bell hooks
hope theme icon

A person without imagination is like a teabag without hot water.

separator icon
Alan Fletcher
love theme icon

The world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.

separator icon
William McFee
wisdom theme icon

The older I get, the greater power I seem to have to help the world.

separator icon
Susan B. Anthony
happiness theme icon

Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves?

separator icon
Friedrich Nietzsche
motivation theme icon

Find the thing you do well and do it again and again for the rest of your life.

separator icon
Jóhann Jóhannsson
hope theme icon

It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.

separator icon
Bruce Lee
love theme icon

At the end of the day, you are enough exactly as you are.

separator icon
Meghan Markle
wisdom theme icon

Happiness is not made by what we own. It is what we share.

separator icon
Jonathan Sacks
happiness theme icon

I will either find a way, or make one.

separator icon
Hannibal