--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A sound discretion is not so much…" description: "\"A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it.\" — Christian Nestell Bovee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png" --- # A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never… ![“A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it.” quote by Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png) > “A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it.” [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True discretion lies in learning from errors and avoiding repetition. **In simple terms:** Learn, then don’t repeat mistakes. Key Takeaway Practice reflective learning. Themes wisdom learning humility Mood reflective pragmatic Type aphorical advisory When to use this quote - workplace - education - personal development Key Concepts error correction personal growth Questions to Reflect On - What habit prevents you from repeating errors? - How can you embed lessons? A Different Perspective People often repeat mistakes despite knowing better. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discretion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discretion/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Making mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-mistakes/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) ## Related quotes > [Making a mistake isn't a mistake but repeating a mistake is a mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greatest-kid/making-a-mistake-isn-t-a-mistake-but-repeating-a-mistake-is-a-mistake/) Greatest\_KiD > [You know how every now and then, you have a moment where your whole life stretches out ahead of you like a forked road,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/you-know-how-every-now-and-then-you-have-a-moment-where-your-whole/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [The secret of making a mistake is not to regret it, or regret it until a certain point, but to learn from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gino-d-acampo/the-secret-of-making-a-mistake-is-not-to-regret-it-or-regret-it-until/) [Gino D'Acampo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gino-d-acampo/) > [General Napoleon says that 'Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.' Well, I suggest doing the opposite: Interrupt your enemy when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/general-napoleon-says-that-never-interrupt-your-enemy-when-he-is/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“later you might discover that what you said is not true. When you do not know that what you are saying is untrue, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joy-berry/later-you-might-discover-that-what-you-said-is-not-true-when-you-do/) [Joy Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joy-berry/) > [Be cautious, but not too cautious; do not be too much afraid of making a mistake; a man who never makes a mistake will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lubbock/be-cautious-but-not-too-cautious-do-not-be-too-much-afraid-of-making/) [John Lubbock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lubbock/) > [The worst part is not in making a mistake but in trying to justify it, instead of using it as a heaven-sent warning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/the-worst-part-is-not-in-making-a-mistake-but-in-trying-to-justify-it/) [Santiago Ramon y Cajal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-ramon-y-cajal/) > [Maybe I am making a mistake but at least let me live and learn from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/maybe-i-am-making-a-mistake-but-at-least-let-me-live-and-learn-from-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Am I making a mistake? Maybe. But it's mine to make.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicola-yoon/am-i-making-a-mistake-maybe-but-it-s-mine-to-make/) [Nicola Yoon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicola-yoon/) > [Nothing will stop you being creative more effectively as the fear of making a mistake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/nothing-will-stop-you-being-creative-more-effectively-as-the-fear-of/) [John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/) > [No one is perfect, everyone is capable of making a mistake, so drop the attitude, and give people a second chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/no-one-is-perfect-everyone-is-capable-of-making-a-mistake-so-drop-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Demand perfection of yourself and you'll seldom attain it. Fear of making a mistake is the biggest single cause of making one. Relax -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-winter/demand-perfection-of-yourself-and-you-ll-seldom-attain-it-fear-of/) Lloyd Winter > [Anything from making a mistake on an experiment that would ruin some scientist on earth's experiment - career, potentially - to doing something wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-ride/anything-from-making-a-mistake-on-an-experiment-that-would-ruin-some/) [Sally Ride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-ride/) > [“I think you’re making a mistake,” she whispered. “You don’t need to go that party to meet a guy, you’ve got one that’s crazy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-mcguire/i-think-you-re-making-a-mistake-she-whispered-you-don-t-need-to-go/) [Jamie McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-mcguire/) > [Making a mistake is also an achievement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dewar-1st-baron-dewar/making-a-mistake-is-also-an-achievement/) [Thomas Dewar, 1st Baron Dewar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dewar-1st-baron-dewar/) ## More by Christian Nestell Bovee > [What is taken from the fortune, also, may haply be so much lifted from the soul. The greatness of a loss, as the proverb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/what-is-taken-from-the-fortune-also-may-haply-be-so-much-lifted-from/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The next best thing to being witty one's self, is to be able to be able to quote another's wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-next-best-thing-to-being-witty-one-s-self-is-to-be-able-to-be/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are ceremonious bows that repel one like a cudgel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-ceremonious-bows-that-repel-one-like-a-cudgel/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are some weaknesses that are peculiar and distinctive to generous characters, as freckles are to a fair skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-some-weaknesses-that-are-peculiar-and-distinctive-to/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A genuine passion is like a mountain stream; it admits of no impediment; it cannot go backward; it must go forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-genuine-passion-is-like-a-mountain-stream-it-admits-of-no/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Our courage is greater to dare a visible than an imagined danger. A visible danger rouses our energies to meet or avert it; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/our-courage-is-greater-to-dare-a-visible-than-an-imagined-danger-a/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [We should not so much esteem our poverty as a misfortune, were it not that the world treats it so much as a crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/we-should-not-so-much-esteem-our-poverty-as-a-misfortune-were-it-not/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [He has but one great fear that fears to do wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/he-has-but-one-great-fear-that-fears-to-do-wrong/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Six traits of effective leaders: 1. Make others feel important 2. Promote a vision 3. Follow the golden rule 4. Admit mistakes 5. Criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/six-traits-of-effective-leaders-1-make-others-feel-important-2/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [In a contest with a weaker party it is more honorable to yield than to force concession. Magnanimity becomes the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/in-a-contest-with-a-weaker-party-it-is-more-honorable-to-yield-than/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Wit is better as a seasoning than as a whole dish by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/wit-is-better-as-a-seasoning-than-as-a-whole-dish-by-itself/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [To cultivate a garden is. . . to go hand in hand with Nature in some of her most beautiful processes, to learn something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/to-cultivate-a-garden-is-to-go-hand-in-hand-with-nature-in-some-of/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is with a company as it is with a punch, everything depends upon the ingredients of which it in composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-with-a-company-as-it-is-with-a-punch-everything-depends-upon/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is not the number of facts he knows, but how much of a fact he is himself, that proves the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-not-the-number-of-facts-he-knows-but-how-much-of-a-fact-he-is/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) [Explore all 310 Christian Nestell Bovee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## More Discretion quotes > [The policeman on the beat or in the patrol car makes more decisions and exercises broader discretion affecting the daily lives of people every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-e-burger/the-policeman-on-the-beat-or-in-the-patrol-car-makes-more-decisions/) [Warren E. Burger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-e-burger/) > [Aishwarya, my parent's daughter, has been brought up with enough values inculcated where I will use my discretion in my choices. At the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aishwarya-rai-bachchan/aishwarya-my-parent-s-daughter-has-been-brought-up-with-enough-values/) [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aishwarya-rai-bachchan/) > [The fleet sailed to its war base in the North Sea, headed not so much for some rendezvous with glory as for rendezvous with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/the-fleet-sailed-to-its-war-base-in-the-north-sea-headed-not-so-much/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [“All sexual activity performed is at the discretion of the participants and is confined to only one hour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-a-miles/all-sexual-activity-performed-is-at-the-discretion-of-the/) Karen A.Miles > [The first principle of solid wisdom is discretion, without it all the erudition of life is merely bagatelle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norm-macdonald/the-first-principle-of-solid-wisdom-is-discretion-without-it-all-the/) [Norm MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norm-macdonald/) > [ Forgiveness is the best part of valor...Discretion is easy. It's finding the courage to forgive yourself and others that is hard. \[Acheron\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/forgiveness-is-the-best-part-of-valor-discretion-is-easy-it-s-finding/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Instead of a perpetual and perfect measure of the divine will, the fragments of the Koran were produced at the discretion of Mahomet; each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/instead-of-a-perpetual-and-perfect-measure-of-the-divine-will-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [“Commonality & Camaraderie. By identifying, developing, and connecting powerful points of reference to others, you will have a rich resource of information from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/commonality-camaraderie-by-identifying-developing-and-connecting/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [We lay aside letters never to read them again, and at last we destroy them out discretion, and so disappears the most immediate breath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/we-lay-aside-letters-never-to-read-them-again-and-at-last-we-destroy/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Drunkenness is the very sepulcher Of man's wit and his discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/drunkenness-is-the-very-sepulcher-of-man-s-wit-and-his-discretion/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Great is our admiration of the orator who speaks with fluency and discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/great-is-our-admiration-of-the-orator-who-speaks-with-fluency-and/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [Be not too tame neither, but let your own Discretion be your tutor; suit the action to the word, the word to the action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/be-not-too-tame-neither-but-let-your-own-discretion-be-your-tutor/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [O sir, you are old; nature in you stands on the very verge of her confine; you should be ruled and led by some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-sir-you-are-old-nature-in-you-stands-on-the-very-verge-of-her/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I have tales to tell, but I don't tell them. Discretion. Discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-peck/i-have-tales-to-tell-but-i-don-t-tell-them-discretion-discretion/) [Gregory Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-peck/) > [When you learn to discipline your tongue, you'll stop scrutinizing, judging and condemning others. You'll then focus on your own weaknesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mufti-ismail-menk/when-you-learn-to-discipline-your-tongue-you-ll-stop-scrutinizing/) [Mufti Ismail Menk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mufti-ismail-menk/) [Browse all 364 Discretion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discretion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Nestell Bovee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indicated-by-never-making-a-mistake/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discretion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indicated-by-never-making-a-mistake/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/508/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_discretion_a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indica_615968.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A sound discretion is not so much indicated by never making a mistake as by never repeating it.” — Christian Nestell Bovee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christian Nestell Bovee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A sound discretion is not so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indicated-by-never-making-a-mistake/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-sound-discretion-is-not-so-much-indicated-by-never-making-a-mistake/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```