To err is to wander, and wandering is the way we discover the world; and, lost in thought, it is also the way we discover ourselves. Being right might be gratifying, but in the end it is static, a mere statement. Being wrong is hard and humbling, and sometimes even dangerous, but in the end it is a journey, and a story.
Interpretation
Making mistakes leads to personal growth and self-discovery.
This quote emphasizes the value of making mistakes and the learning that comes from wandering through life's uncertainties. It suggests that while being correct may feel satisfying, the real growth and understanding come from the trials and errors we encounter along the journey of life, helping us to better understand both the world and ourselves.
In practice
During a motivational speech to encourage embracing failure.
As a kid, I lived almost entirely inside books, and eventually the books started returning the favor. A lot of my internal world feels like an anthology, or a library. It's eclectic and disorganized, but I can browse in it, and that hugely shapes both what and how I write.
The point isn’t to live without any regrets. The point is to not hate ourselves for having them.
Our love of being right is best understood as our fear of being wrong
We're terrified of not having the answers, and we would sometimes rather assert an incorrect answer than make our peace with the fact that we really don't know.
Regret doesn't remind us that we did badly. It reminds us that we know we can do better.
Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.
No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple, among his followers, gives not of his wisdom but rather of his faith and his lovingness. If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
We should not feel embarrassed by our difficulties, only by our failure to grow anything beautiful from them.
To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes the wise and good learn wisdom for the future.
. . . if gold rust, what then will iron do?/ For if a priest be foul in whom we trust/ No wonder that a common man should rust. . . .
The most promising words ever written on the maps of human knowledge are terra incognita, unknown territory.
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