--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The errors of great men are venerable…" description: "\"The errors of great men are venerable because they are more fruitful than the truths of little men.\" — Friedrich Nietzsche" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/friedrich-nietzsche-15_errors_the-errors-of-great-men-are-venerable-be_2443909.jpg" --- # The errors of great men are venerable because they are… ![“The errors of great men are venerable because they are more fruitful than the truths of little men.” quote by Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/friedrich-nietzsche-15_errors_the-errors-of-great-men-are-venerable-be_2443909.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/friedrich-nietzsche-15_errors_the-errors-of-great-men-are-venerable-be_2443909.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/friedrich-nietzsche-15_errors_the-errors-of-great-men-are-venerable-be_2443909.jpg) > “The errors of great men are venerable because they are more fruitful than the truths of little men.” [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Great individuals' mistakes teach more than minor people's successes, highlighting the value of learning from failure. **In simple terms:** Big mistakes teach more than small successes. Key Takeaway Learn from the errors of leaders. Themes learning humility growth Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - leadership training - historical analysis - personal development Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What can we learn from a famous leader's failure? - How do we distinguish useful mistakes from harmful ones? A Different Perspective Not all errors are instructive; context matters. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Fruitful Truths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fruitful-truths-511167/) [Great men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-men/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Little man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/little-man/) [Littles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/littles/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men Venerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-venerable-511166/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Venerable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venerable-511169/) [Venerable Fruitful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/venerable-fruitful-511168/) ## Related quotes > [Great men's errors are to be venerated as more fruitful than little men's truths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/great-men-s-errors-are-to-be-venerated-as-more-fruitful-than-little/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No sooner does a great man depart, and leave his character as public property, than a crowd of little men rushes towards it. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/no-sooner-does-a-great-man-depart-and-leave-his-character-as-public/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [Great men cultivate love...only little men cherish a spirit of hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/great-men-cultivate-love-only-little-men-cherish-a-spirit-of-hatred/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [There is the work of great men and there is the work of little men. Therefore it is said, 'Some labor with their minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mencius/there-is-the-work-of-great-men-and-there-is-the-work-of-little-men/) [Mencius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mencius/) > [In a room sit three great men, a king, a priest, and a rich man with his gold. Between them stands a sellsword, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/in-a-room-sit-three-great-men-a-king-a-priest-and-a-rich-man-with-his/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [A brotherhood of venerable trees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/a-brotherhood-of-venerable-trees/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [ “Were we \[Women\] to express our conceptions of God, it wou'd never enter into the head of any one of us to describe him… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-sophia-fermor/were-we-women-to-express-our-conceptions-of-god-it-wou-d-never-enter/) [Lady Sophia Fermor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-sophia-fermor/) > [Venerable men! you have come down to us from a former generation. Heaven has bounteously lengthened out your lives, that you might behold this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/venerable-men-you-have-come-down-to-us-from-a-former-generation/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [A sense of absurdity interferes with my efforts to appear venerable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/a-sense-of-absurdity-interferes-with-my-efforts-to-appear-venerable/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. Life would split asunder without them. 'Come to tea, come to dinner, what's the truth of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-forlorn-and-lost-life-would/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Honor is venerable to us because it is no ephemeris. It is always ancient virtue. We worship it today because it is not of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/honor-is-venerable-to-us-because-it-is-no-ephemeris-it-is-always/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Virtue is venerable as nothing else in this world is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/virtue-is-venerable-as-nothing-else-in-this-world-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/venerable-are-letters-infinitely-brave-forlorn-and-lost/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“Humans are venerable because they are capable of getting hurt.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/humans-are-venerable-because-they-are-capable-of-getting-hurt/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [Years place at last a venerable crown upon a head.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/years-place-at-last-a-venerable-crown-upon-a-head/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More by Friedrich Nietzsche > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority-- where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/every-select-man-strives-instinctively-for-a-citadel-and-a-privacy/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“It breaks my heart. Better than your words, your eye tells me all your peril. You are not yet free, you still search for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-breaks-my-heart-better-than-your-words-your-eye-tells-me-all-your/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“79. A soul which knows that it is loved, but does not itself love, betrays its sediment: its dregs come up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/79-a-soul-which-knows-that-it-is-loved-but-does-not-itself-love/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [We deceive ourselves when giving respect to the person for whom we have surrendered ourselves, when we respectively expect them to be as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/we-deceive-ourselves-when-giving-respect-to-the-person-for-whom-we/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“The great periods of our life occur when we gain the courage to rechristen what is bad about us as what is best.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-great-periods-of-our-life-occur-when-we-gain-the-courage-to/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“What is life? Life - that is: continually shedding something that wants to die. Life - that is: being cruel and inexorable against everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/what-is-life-life-that-is-continually-shedding-something-that-wants/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [It is thus only this personal feeling of misery that we get rid of by acts of pity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/it-is-thus-only-this-personal-feeling-of-misery-that-we-get-rid-of-by/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Writers whose thoughts are expressed with clarity and precision are assumed by readers to be superficial. Where the meaning is obscured, then readers give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/writers-whose-thoughts-are-expressed-with-clarity-and-precision-are/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“he does not wear a twitching, mobile, human face, but rather a mask, as it were, with its features in dignified equilibrium; he does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/he-does-not-wear-a-twitching-mobile-human-face-but-rather-a-mask-as/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Chastity is a virtue with some, but with many it is almost a vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/chastity-is-a-virtue-with-some-but-with-many-it-is-almost-a-vice/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The earth is like the breasts of a woman: useful as well as pleasing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-earth-is-like-the-breasts-of-a-woman-useful-as-well-as-pleasing/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [“Of all that is written I love only what a man has written in his own blood.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/of-all-that-is-written-i-love-only-what-a-man-has-written-in-his-own/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/no-shepherd-and-one-herd-everybody-wants-the-same-everybody-is-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Pain makes hens and poets cackle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/pain-makes-hens-and-poets-cackle/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) [Explore all 3,486 Friedrich Nietzsche quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) ## More Errors quotes > [It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/it-is-easier-to-perceive-error-than-to-find-truth-for-the-former-lies/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Effective leaders are made, not born. They learn from trial and error, and from experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/effective-leaders-are-made-not-born-they-learn-from-trial-and-error/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [“I saw the errors I had made and assumed full responsibility for everything.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-saw-the-errors-i-had-made-and-assumed-full-responsibility-for/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [It is an error common to many artists, who strive merely to avoid mistakes, when all our efforts should be to create positive and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-steichen/it-is-an-error-common-to-many-artists-who-strive-merely-to-avoid/) [Edward Steichen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-steichen/) > [Truth is error burned up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-o-brown/truth-is-error-burned-up/) [Norman O. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-o-brown/) > [But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/but-a-most-pernicious-error-widely-prevails-that-scripture-has-only/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [An important finding is that by determining the genome sequences of an entire family, one can identify many DNA sequencing errors and thus greatly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-hood/an-important-finding-is-that-by-determining-the-genome-sequences-of/) [Leroy Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-hood/) > [It is often sadly remarked that the bad economists present their errors to the public better than the good economists present their truths. 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