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title: A mistake repeated more than once is a decision
created: 2025-03-10T05:58:19
modified: 2025-11-23T07:11:42
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> _“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it, is committing another mistake.” — Confucius_

> _“A mistake repeated more than once is a decision.” — Paulo Coelho_

> _“If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not making decisions (and progress).” — Catherine Cook_

> _“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes.” — Oscar Wilde_

> _“Make mistakes, just don’t make them permanent.” — James Clear_

> _“Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” — Ms. Frizzle_

> _[“It doesn’t matter if I don’t succeed in something, what matters is that I learn from my mistakes.” — Linda Evans](https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/linda-evans-quotes)_

> _“Never make a permanent mistake to solve a temporary problem.” ― Damon Suede, [Bad Idea](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/26163619)_

> _“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can never live long enough to make them all yourself.” — Groucho Marx_ [^1]

> _“More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren’t so busy denying them.” — Harold J. Smith_

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Once is a mistake. Twice is a choice. Three times is a decision.

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 「知錯」是一種智慧，「糾錯」是一種勇氣，「除錯」則是一連串假設及驗證的過程。

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Your goal is not to avoid making mistakes, but to [avoid making the _same_ mistake and keep making _new_ mistakes](https://kk.org/thetechnium/103-bits-of-advice-i-wish-i-had-known/).

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A [failure](failing-forward-turns-setbacks-into-stepping-stones.md) is not always a mistake, it may simply be the best one can do under the circumstances. The real mistake is to [stop trying](fear-of-failure-and-success.md). Every single failure is a lesson. It only becomes real failure if you learn nothing from it.

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When you make a mistake, recognize it, acknowledge/admit it, learn from it, then let it go (forget it).

[^1]: 「以銅為鏡，可以正衣冠；以史為鏡，可以知興替；以人為鏡，可以明得失」— 唐太宗