--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No man ever progressed to greatness and…" description: "\"No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.\" — Frederick William Robertson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png" --- # No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but… ![“No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.” quote by Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png) > “No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.” [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Greatness and goodness arise only after learning from significant errors. **In simple terms:** Mistakes lead to greatness. Key Takeaway Embrace learning from errors. Themes growth humility perseverance Mood inspirational reflective Type motivational philosophical When to use this quote - career advancement - personal development - creative projects Key Concepts error learning character development Questions to Reflect On - What mistake taught you the most? - Can all errors be productive? A Different Perspective Some mistakes can be irreparable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Goodness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodness/) [Great mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-mistakes/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistakes/) ## Related quotes > [“Nil magnum nisi bonum. No greatness without goodness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/nil-magnum-nisi-bonum-no-greatness-without-goodness/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends! Hath he not always treasures, always friends, The good great man? Three treasures, love and light,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/greatness-and-goodness-are-not-means-but-ends-hath-he-not-always/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Goodness does not consist in greatness, but greatness in goodness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athenaeus/goodness-does-not-consist-in-greatness-but-greatness-in-goodness/) [Athenaeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athenaeus/) > [Greatness and goodness are not means, but ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/greatness-and-goodness-are-not-means-but-ends/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [It is a law of our humanity, that man must know both good and evil; he must know good through evil. There never was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/it-is-a-law-of-our-humanity-that-man-must-know-both-good-and-evil-he/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [“Aren’t all great love stories, at their core, great mistakes?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chen-chen/aren-t-all-great-love-stories-at-their-core-great-mistakes/) [Chen Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chen-chen/) > [In my judgment, a great mistake has been made by well meaning and zealous men, through treating error and infidelity with altogether too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/in-my-judgment-a-great-mistake-has-been-made-by-well-meaning-and/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [By experience; by a sense of human frailty; by a perception of "the soul of goodness in things evil;" by a cheerful trust in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/by-experience-by-a-sense-of-human-frailty-by-a-perception-of-the-soul/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [To say that certainly America was very lucky to get a large amount of land, and the native Indians were extremely unlucky to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/to-say-that-certainly-america-was-very-lucky-to-get-a-large-amount-of/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [I think Franklin Roosevelt was a lousy president. What he did- which is to impose this great nanny state on America- was a great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/i-think-franklin-roosevelt-was-a-lousy-president-what-he-did-which-is/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Women have decided to be people, which is a great mistake. Women were nicer than people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quentin-crisp/women-have-decided-to-be-people-which-is-a-great-mistake-women-were/) [Quentin Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quentin-crisp/) > [It is a great mistake to say that the Chinese are not hospitable. A more graceful, hearty hospitality than that of the Chinese I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lottie-moon/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-say-that-the-chinese-are-not-hospitable-a/) [Lottie Moon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lottie-moon/) > [It is a great mistake to think that the extremist is a better man than the moderate. Usually the difference is not that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/it-is-a-great-mistake-to-think-that-the-extremist-is-a-better-man/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [As it can be maintained that all the great advances have come from men under forty, so the history of the world shows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-osler/as-it-can-be-maintained-that-all-the-great-advances-have-come-from/) [William Osler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-osler/) > [There is a glory in a great mistake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathalia-crane/there-is-a-glory-in-a-great-mistake/) [Nathalia Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathalia-crane/) ## More by Frederick William Robertson > [Women and God are the two rocks on which a man must either anchor or be wrecked.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/women-and-god-are-the-two-rocks-on-which-a-man-must-either-anchor-or/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [By experience; by a sense of human frailty; by a perception of "the soul of goodness in things evil;" by a cheerful trust in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/by-experience-by-a-sense-of-human-frailty-by-a-perception-of-the-soul/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [This world is given as a prize for the men in earnest; and that which is true of this world is truer still of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/this-world-is-given-as-a-prize-for-the-men-in-earnest-and-that-which/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Never does a man know the force that is in him till some mighty affliction or grief has humanized the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/never-does-a-man-know-the-force-that-is-in-him-till-some-mighty/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [In God's world, for those who are in earnest, there is no failure. No work truly done, no word earnestly spoken, no sacrifice freely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/in-god-s-world-for-those-who-are-in-earnest-there-is-no-failure-no/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Now see what a Christian is, drawn by the hand of Christ. He is a man on whose clear and open brow God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/now-see-what-a-christian-is-drawn-by-the-hand-of-christ-he-is-a-man/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [What we mean by sentimentalism is that state in which a man speaks deep and true sentiments not because he feels them strongly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/what-we-mean-by-sentimentalism-is-that-state-in-which-a-man-speaks/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [However dark and profitless, however painful and weary, existence may have become, life is not done, and our Christian character is not won, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/however-dark-and-profitless-however-painful-and-weary-existence-may/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [The man whom society will not forgive nor restore is driven into recklessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/the-man-whom-society-will-not-forgive-nor-restore-is-driven-into/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [God's highest gifts--talent, beauty, feeling, imagination, power--they carry with them the possibility of the highest heaven and the lowest hell. Be sure that it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/god-s-highest-gifts-talent-beauty-feeling-imagination-power-they/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [There is a mighty gulf between those who love and those who do not love God To the one class we owe civility, courtesy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/there-is-a-mighty-gulf-between-those-who-love-and-those-who-do-not/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Through ages, through eternity, what you have done for Christ, that, and only that, you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/through-ages-through-eternity-what-you-have-done-for-christ-that-and/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Brethren, happiness is not our being's end and aim. The Christian's aim is perfection, not happiness; and every one of the sons of God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/brethren-happiness-is-not-our-being-s-end-and-aim-the-christian-s-aim/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [What we are, and where we are, is God's providential arrange ment — God's doing, though it may be man's misdoing; and the manly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/what-we-are-and-where-we-are-is-god-s-providential-arrange-ment-god-s/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [In God's world, for those who are in earnest, there is no failure. No work truly done, no word earnestly spoken, no sacrifice freely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/in-god-s-world-for-those-who-are-in-earnest-there-is-no-failure-no-2/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) [Explore all 119 Frederick William Robertson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) ## More Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frederick William Robertson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and-goodness-but-through-great/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Failure" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and-goodness-but-through-great/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/59f/frederick-william-robertson-39_failure_no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and_251062.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No man ever progressed to greatness and goodness but through great mistakes.” — Frederick William Robertson", "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": "Frederick William Robertson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No man ever progressed to greatness...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and-goodness-but-through-great/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/no-man-ever-progressed-to-greatness-and-goodness-but-through-great/#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 } } ] } ```