--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I HAD learned early in my career that one…" description: "\"“I HAD learned early in my career that one can do wrong against one's will, and before long I also learned that one can do wrong without ever discoveri..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/940/george-orwell-57_mistake_i-had-learned-early-in-my-career-that-on_687476.jpg" --- # I HAD learned early in my career that one can do wrong… ![“I HAD learned early in my career that one can do wrong against one's will, and before long I also learned that one can do wrong without ever discovering what one has done or why it was wrong. There were sins that were too subtle to be explained, and there were others that” quote by George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/940/george-orwell-57_mistake_i-had-learned-early-in-my-career-that-on_687476.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/940/george-orwell-57_mistake_i-had-learned-early-in-my-career-that-on_687476.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/940/george-orwell-57_mistake_i-had-learned-early-in-my-career-that-on_687476.jpg) > ““I HAD learned early in my career that one can do wrong against one's will, and before long I also learned that one can do wrong without ever discovering what one has done or why it was wrong. There were sins that were too subtle to be explained, and there were others that”” [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People can act wrongly knowingly or unknowingly; some wrongs are subtle and hard to explain. **In simple terms:** Wrong actions can be intentional or hidden, sometimes unclear. Key Takeaway Seek awareness of your actions and their impact. Themes morality awareness responsibility Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - workplace decisions - personal relationships - policy making Key Concepts ethical blind spots intentional harm Questions to Reflect On - What hidden biases might affect your choices? - How can you uncover unseen consequences? A Different Perspective Not all harmful actions are obvious, making accountability difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovering Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovering-wrong-4137844/) [Learned Wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned-wrong-2562992/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sins/) [Wrong Discovering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-discovering-5427249/) [Wrong Sins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrong-sins-5427248/) ## Related quotes > [There is much to learn from discovering that one is wrong or right about any particular subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslyn-lewis/there-is-much-to-learn-from-discovering-that-one-is-wrong-or-right/) [Leslyn Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslyn-lewis/) > [I couldn't help what I'd done before I learned it was wrong. I could only do better in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/i-couldn-t-help-what-i-d-done-before-i-learned-it-was-wrong-i-could/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > [I had to learn how to walk three times: every time I learned, I learned wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-gardot/i-had-to-learn-how-to-walk-three-times-every-time-i-learned-i-learned/) [Melody Gardot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-gardot/) > [I learned anything can go wrong on tour, still, you have to put on the best show you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriella-wilson/i-learned-anything-can-go-wrong-on-tour-still-you-have-to-put-on-the/) [Gabriella Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriella-wilson/) > [There were sins that were too subtle to be explained, and there were others that were too terrible to be clearly mentioned. For example,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/there-were-sins-that-were-too-subtle-to-be-explained-and-there-were/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [I'll read enough When I do see the very book indeed Where all my sins are writ, and that's myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-ll-read-enough-when-i-do-see-the-very-book-indeed-where-all-my-sins/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Hate stirreth up strifes, but love cevereth all sins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holy-bible/hate-stirreth-up-strifes-but-love-cevereth-all-sins/) [Holy Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holy-bible/) > [The pride,arrogance or vanity are the roots of sins, source of anger,the door of hypocrisy,strengthening of evil,guardian of sins,creator of evil and the root…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-pride-arrogance-or-vanity-are-the-roots-of-sins-source-of-anger/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Sins of Scripture is an interesting title; most people don't put sins and scripture together in the same title. It jars people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-shelby-spong/the-sins-of-scripture-is-an-interesting-title-most-people-don-t-put/) [John Shelby Spong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-shelby-spong/) > [If you are to go to Christ, do not put on your good doings and feelings, or you will get nothing. Go in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/if-you-are-to-go-to-christ-do-not-put-on-your-good-doings-and/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“I pray. I pray that my sins have not caught up with me the way I'd always feared they would.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-pray-i-pray-that-my-sins-have-not-caught-up-with-me-the-way-i-d/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [Our sins are debts that none can pay but Christ. It is not our tears, but His blood; it is not our sighs, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-brooks/our-sins-are-debts-that-none-can-pay-but-christ-it-is-not-our-tears/) [Thomas Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-brooks/) > [“Ningependa kujitokeza leo kutoa salamu zangu za rambirambi kwa Watu wa Musoma; kutokana na ajali mbaya ya mabasi ya J4 Express, Mwanza Coach, na…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enock-maregesi/ningependa-kujitokeza-leo-kutoa-salamu-zangu-za-rambirambi-kwa-watu/) [Enock Maregesi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enock-maregesi/) > [“We are punished for our refusals. Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. The body sins once,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/we-are-punished-for-our-refusals-every-impulse-that-we-strive-to/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“To shame our sins He blushed in blood; He closed His eyes to show us God; Let all the world fall down and know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/to-shame-our-sins-he-blushed-in-blood-he-closed-his-eyes-to-show-us/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) ## More by George Orwell > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“The actual writing would be easy. All he had to do was to transfer to paper the interminable restless monologue that had been running…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/the-actual-writing-would-be-easy-all-he-had-to-do-was-to-transfer-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [He felt as though he were wandering in the forests of the sea bottom, lost in a monstrous world where he himself was the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/he-felt-as-though-he-were-wandering-in-the-forests-of-the-sea-bottom/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“if you took 1 Corinthians, chapter thirteen, and in every verse wrote 'money' instead of 'charity', the chapter had ten times as much meaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/if-you-took-1-corinthians-chapter-thirteen-and-in-every-verse-wrote/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Happiness can exist only in acceptance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/happiness-can-exist-only-in-acceptance/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-if-all-others-accepted-the-lie-which-the-party-imposed-if-all/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Whitman himself "accepted" a great deal that his contemporaries found unmentionable. For he is not only writing of the prairie, he also wanders through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/whitman-himself-accepted-a-great-deal-that-his-contemporaries-found/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. Reality exists in the human mind, and nowhere else. Whatever the Party holds to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/but-i-tell-you-winston-that-reality-is-not-external-reality-exists-in/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“And the people under the sky were also very much the same...everywhere, all over the world, hundreds or thousands of millions of people just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-people-under-the-sky-were-also-very-much-the-same-everywhere/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/don-t-you-see-that-the-whole-aim-of-newspeak-is-to-narrow-the-range/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Windmill or no windmill, he said, life would go on as it had always gone on--that is, badly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/windmill-or-no-windmill-he-said-life-would-go-on-as-it-had-always/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/man-is-the-only-creature-that-consumes-without-producing-he-does-not/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [And the bigger the fall, the bigger the joke. It would be better fun to throw a custard pie at a bishop than at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/and-the-bigger-the-fall-the-bigger-the-joke-it-would-be-better-fun-to/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [“Any writer or journalist who wants to retain his integrity finds himself thwarted by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/any-writer-or-journalist-who-wants-to-retain-his-integrity-finds/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) [Explore all 1,657 George Orwell quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) ## More Mistake 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/) > [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/) > [Many early-stage entrepreneurs make one simple mistake: Describing this 'big picture' in vague concepts and words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunil-nagaraj/many-early-stage-entrepreneurs-make-one-simple-mistake-describing/) [Sunil Nagaraj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunil-nagaraj/) > [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/) > [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/) > [Lutherans, whose arguments and mistakes will not be difficult to contest or discover, do not want to attribute any value to works, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-servetus/lutherans-whose-arguments-and-mistakes-will-not-be-difficult-to/) [Michael Servetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-servetus/) > [If loving you is a big mistake, I will never ever want to be right,i will always make the same mistake over and over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horla/if-loving-you-is-a-big-mistake-i-will-never-ever-want-to-be-right-i/) [Horla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horla/) > [A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-d-burns/a-poor-self-image-is-the-magnifying-glass-that-can-transform-a/) [David D. Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-d-burns/) > [I do not believe in public shaming. I do believe that young adults go to college to learn things, and that this process will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-weingarten/i-do-not-believe-in-public-shaming-i-do-believe-that-young-adults-go/) [Gene Weingarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-weingarten/) > [A mistake doesnt make you a fool, but denying it surely makes you one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-mistake-doesnt-make-you-a-fool-but-denying-it-surely-makes-you-one/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/it-s-easy-to-make-mistakes-it-s-living-with-the-consequences-of-them/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [You know, by the time you reach my age, you've made plenty of mistakes if you've lived your life properly. So you learn. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/you-know-by-the-time-you-reach-my-age-you-ve-made-plenty-of-mistakes/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [When you make mistakes during routines, it's not easy getting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-sacramone/when-you-make-mistakes-during-routines-it-s-not-easy-getting-through/) [Alicia Sacramone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-sacramone/) > [You can’t bake a cake without getting the kitchen messy. Halfway through surgery it looks like there’s been a murder in the operating room.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/price-pritchett/you-can-t-bake-a-cake-without-getting-the-kitchen-messy-halfway/) [Price Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/price-pritchett/) > [I just like stories about redemption about getting a second chance at life, I think everyone in the world has a few major mistakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-just-like-stories-about-redemption-about-getting-a-second-chance-at/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) [Browse all 9,335 Mistake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I HAD learned early in my career that one can do wrong against one's will, and before long I also learned that one can do wrong without ever discovering what one has done or why it was wrong. 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