--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The errors of the policeman were no…" description: "\"“The errors of the policeman were no greater or careless or more egregious than mine. It’s just that my mistakes had comparatively little consequence.”..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce8/poe-ballantine-56951_failure_the-errors-of-the-policeman-were-no-grea_2063394.jpg" --- # The errors of the policeman were no greater or careless or… ![“The errors of the policeman were no greater or careless or more egregious than mine. It’s just that my mistakes had comparatively little consequence.” quote by Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce8/poe-ballantine-56951_failure_the-errors-of-the-policeman-were-no-grea_2063394.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce8/poe-ballantine-56951_failure_the-errors-of-the-policeman-were-no-grea_2063394.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce8/poe-ballantine-56951_failure_the-errors-of-the-policeman-were-no-grea_2063394.jpg) > ““The errors of the policeman were no greater or careless or more egregious than mine. It’s just that my mistakes had comparatively little consequence.”” [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Minor mistakes may be less impactful, but they still reflect personal responsibility. **In simple terms:** Small errors matter too. Key Takeaway Own all mistakes. Themes ethics personal accountability mistakes Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - daily decisions - professional work - relationships Key Concepts self-reflection consequence awareness Questions to Reflect On - How do you assess the weight of your errors? - What can you do to mitigate future mistakes? A Different Perspective Downplays systemic factors influencing outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ## Related quotes > [Though, when a people shall have become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master, it is of little consequence from what quarter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/though-when-a-people-shall-have-become-incapable-of-governing/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [What we think or what we know or what we believe is in the end of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/what-we-think-or-what-we-know-or-what-we-believe-is-in-the-end-of-2/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“little of consequence is ever accomplished alone. High achievement is nearly always a joint effort,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/little-of-consequence-is-ever-accomplished-alone-high-achievement-is/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [Compared to gardeners, I think it is generally agreed that others understand very little about anything of consequence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mitchell/compared-to-gardeners-i-think-it-is-generally-agreed-that-others/) [Henry Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mitchell/) > [“What we think, or what we know, or what we believe in, is at the end of the day of little consequence.The only consequence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziad-k-abdelnour/what-we-think-or-what-we-know-or-what-we-believe-in-is-at-the-end-of/) [Ziad K. Abdelnour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziad-k-abdelnour/) > [“Unfortunately, what is true is of little consequence to most people. Our species is far more interested in being comforted by what is believable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-t-harper/unfortunately-what-is-true-is-of-little-consequence-to-most-people/) Stephen T. Harper > [What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-we-think-or-what-we-know-or-what-we-believe-is-in-the-end-of/) [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) ## More by Poe Ballantine > [A bilingual marriage, by the way, is a great way to stay together for longer than you normally would because you can't understand each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poe-ballantine/a-bilingual-marriage-by-the-way-is-a-great-way-to-stay-together-for/) [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) > [“Most people would live in an outhouse in Bangladesh before they would voluntarily move to Nebraska.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poe-ballantine/most-people-would-live-in-an-outhouse-in-bangladesh-before-they-would/) [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) > [Short chaps evolved naturally, but I didn't title and number them till much later. I like short chaps, like short books too, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poe-ballantine/short-chaps-evolved-naturally-but-i-didn-t-title-and-number-them-till/) [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) > [“I read to him from his mother's Bible the first line of Genesis: 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poe-ballantine/i-read-to-him-from-his-mother-s-bible-the-first-line-of-genesis-in/) [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) > [Amazon is evil, like anything big, but we can't help if it flows the very center of literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/poe-ballantine/amazon-is-evil-like-anything-big-but-we-can-t-help-if-it-flows-the/) [Poe Ballantine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) [Explore all 6 Poe Ballantine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/poe-ballantine/) ## 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": "“The errors of the policeman were no greater or careless or more egregious than mine. 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