--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you make a mistake, don't look back…" description: "\"When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d3/hugh-white-105772_failure_when-you-make-a-mistake-don-t-look-back_2236364.jpg" --- # When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take… ![“When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” quote by Hugh White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d3/hugh-white-105772_failure_when-you-make-a-mistake-don-t-look-back_2236364.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d3/hugh-white-105772_failure_when-you-make-a-mistake-don-t-look-back_2236364.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d3/hugh-white-105772_failure_when-you-make-a-mistake-don-t-look-back_2236364.jpg) > “When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.” [Hugh White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-white/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mistakes should be acknowledged briefly, learned from, and then focus should shift forward as the past is unchangeable and the future remains within our control. **In simple terms:** Briefly acknowledge mistakes, learn, then move forward. Key Takeaway Learn, let go, act forward. Themes failure mistake wisdom psychology growth future orientation Mood reflective motivational Type Failure:1 Mistake:1 Mistakes:1 Psychology:0 Wisdom:1 Make Mistake:0 Mistakes Lessons:1 Wisdom Past:0 Forward Mistakes:0 When to use this quote - personal development - career planning - education Key Concepts learning theory self-improvement resilience Questions to Reflect On - How much reflection is healthy after a mistake? - What strategies aid forward focus? A Different Perspective It may underplay emotional processing needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Forward Mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forward-mistakes-5051341/) [Make Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/make-mistake-257623/) [Mistake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistake/) [Mistakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistakes/) [Mistakes Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mistakes-lessons-322704/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wisdom Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom-past-522043/) ## Related quotes > [“Mistakes are lessons and lessons are gifts. Examine them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-knox/mistakes-are-lessons-and-lessons-are-gifts-examine-them/) [Jen Knox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-knox/) > [No one knows anything. 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No man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-mackay/the-study-of-the-errors-into-which-great-minds-have-fallen-in-the/) [Charles Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-mackay/) > [Nowness or the magic of the present moment is what joins the wisdom of the past with the present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chogyam-trungpa/nowness-or-the-magic-of-the-present-moment-is-what-joins-the-wisdom/) [Chogyam Trungpa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chogyam-trungpa/) > [In history, a great volume is unrolled for our instruction, drawing the materials of future wisdom from the past errors and infirmities of mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-history-a-great-volume-is-unrolled-for-our-instruction-drawing-the/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) ## More by Hugh White > [“The past cannot be change, The future is still in your power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-white/the-past-cannot-be-change-the-future-is-still-in-your-power/) [Hugh White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-white/) [Explore all 2 Hugh White quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-white/) ## 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. 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(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": "When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. 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