¶ Mistake
Index Entry
Mistake:
"I’m quite content that evolution is full of great wisdom. Human beings have always been–always will be-- born naked, absolutely helpless and, as that beautiful cerebral equipment comes with no experience, therefore ignorant. They’ve also been given hunger, thirst, the procreative urge, curiosity. These have forced them to make trial and error, trial and error. So the only way humanity has ever got anywhere is by making mistakes, by learning what is a mistake. The mistake is the very essence.
“Fathers and mothers have enormous love for their children but, in fear that their children are not going to be able to make it, continually say to the child, ‘You must not make any mistakes.’ We’ve got to the point where the whole society thinks that to make mistakes is a sign of great weakness. The greatest mistake that humanity makes is not recognizing that the only way we get anywhere is by making mistakes. We’re given a left foot and a right foot so that while we make little mistakes in each stride, between the two we get where we want to go. This is the way the Universe operates.”
