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Anime and Manga
"After I learn from my mistakes... I get stronger."
— Akira Otoishi, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable
"People often learn more from their failures than from their successes and victories."
— Giorno Giovanna, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
Fan Works
"Incidentally, Dr. [Mariko] has provided us with samples of what is known as Subject G (the unknown specimen currently at the Yunnan Province of China), and requests them to be delivered to Monarch immediately, regardless of what Pasternak's superiors demand. [...] Whatever data we have ought to be left with Monarch. The last time I didn't take a scientist seriously the world almost ended."
— Colonel Diane Foster in the G-Team Extraction Report, Abraxas (Hrodvitnon)
"People want to know if Monster X is going to be like Ghidorah, and some are demanding Monarch should kill it off – or her off, rather. Like they conveniently forgot the last time someone tried that. Now, I don't know what to make of it. I got some footage of what happened with Rodan— [...] But, I don't know if anyone else did, or how much they caught. But if you ask me? Dangerous as Monster X might be, I... well, I think she was just scared. I've interviewed a lot of people since last year, couple of them flew at me because I got stupid and said the wrong thing, and I don't know why but that mess from yesterday reminded me of that."
— Steve Martin, Abraxas (Hrodvitnon)
"Approval was granted for a manned excursion into Monarch Outpost ██ consisting of five teams, three assault and two research, with sufficient equipment to set up a base of operations. V. Tejada has been assigned as an advisor due to extensive experience with the outpost and knowledge of the hostile entities therein (see Lt. Commander Pasternak's footage on 5/16/2020) and Tarkan Çavusgolu has prior experience opposing Alan Jonah during the events after 2014."
— Foreword of the Monarch Torch and Bury Operation, Abraxas (Hrodvitnon)
"You see, Harry, after you've been through a few adventures you tend to catch the hang of these things. You start to see the pattern, hear the rhythm of the world. You begin to harbour suspicions before the moment of revelation."
— Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
Amplifier: Wow, kid, you look like you know what you're doing.
Izuku: I've had a lot of practice.
Izuku: I've had a lot of practice.
Film — Animated
Titan: You're so pathetic! No matter what side you're on, you're always the loser!
Megamind: There's a benefit to losing; you get to learn from your mistakes.
Megamind: There's a benefit to losing; you get to learn from your mistakes.
— Megamind
Films — Live Action
Master Sergeant: I get it, you're EOD. But I already got my crew, and they know what they're doing.
Ford Brody: When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb? Look, this is what I do.
Ford Brody: When was the last time you let one of your guys put their fingers in a live bomb? Look, this is what I do.
"Jarvis. Sometimes you've got to run before you can walk."
"Pass on what you have learned. Strength, mastery. But weakness, folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is."
— Master Yoda, The Last Jedi
Steve: Why don't you just shoot him and fuck all this?
Bishop: Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
Bishop: Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.
"I'd have preferred a loss. You learn a lot more from losing than from winning."
— Coach O'Ryan, D3: The Mighty Ducks
Literature
"Even a small, inept street-fighter has a tremendous advantage over the average middle-class American, who hasn't had a fight since puberty. It is a simple matter of accumulated experience, of having been hit or stomped often enough to forget the ugly panic that nice people associate with a serious fight. A man who has had his nose smashed three times in brawls will risk it again with hardly a thought. No amount of instruction in any lethal art can teach this — not unless the instructor is a sadist, and even then it would be difficult because the student's experience would be artificially warped and limited.
San Francisco is a big karate town: in 1965 there were roughly seven thousand full-time fee-paying karate students roaming around the Bay Area... but in any active bar you can hear a story about a bartender who "busted up a guy who tried to pull some karate stuff." It hardly matters how many of the stories are true. The point is valid: the difference between survival and wipe-out in a physical crisis is nearly always a matter of conditioned reflexes. A bartender with scar tissue all over his knuckles will hit faster and harder than a karate-trained novice who has never been bloodied. For the same reason, a Hell's Angel who has been over the high side often enough to joke about it will ride a motorcycle with a style and abandon that comes only with painful experience."
San Francisco is a big karate town: in 1965 there were roughly seven thousand full-time fee-paying karate students roaming around the Bay Area... but in any active bar you can hear a story about a bartender who "busted up a guy who tried to pull some karate stuff." It hardly matters how many of the stories are true. The point is valid: the difference between survival and wipe-out in a physical crisis is nearly always a matter of conditioned reflexes. A bartender with scar tissue all over his knuckles will hit faster and harder than a karate-trained novice who has never been bloodied. For the same reason, a Hell's Angel who has been over the high side often enough to joke about it will ride a motorcycle with a style and abandon that comes only with painful experience."
— Hunter S. Thompson, Hell's Angels: A Strange And Terrible Saga
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."
— Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture
296. See problems as opportunities for growth and self-mastery.
489. Don't make the same mistake twice.
1065. When no great harm will result, let your children do it their way, even if you know they are wrong. They will learn more from their mistakes than from their successes.
489. Don't make the same mistake twice.
1065. When no great harm will result, let your children do it their way, even if you know they are wrong. They will learn more from their mistakes than from their successes.
"What don’t die can’t live. What don’t live can’t change. What don’t change can’t learn. The smallest creature that dies in the grass knows more than you."
—Granny Weatherwax to the Queen of the Fairies, Lords and Ladies
Live-Action TV
"In fighting, there's a saying: either you win, or you learn, right? Losing isn't a terrible thing, it's just showing you what you need to improve on."
— Kenny Florian remarking on HUGE's string of defeats, Battlebots
Colin: You mean you've lied to Gavin's parents, Mr. Brittas?
Mr. Brittas: I have learned by experience, Colin, that sometimes, and I stress only sometimes, we need to tell a small untruth in the service of a higher goal.
Morgan Elsbeth: There is little the Jedi can do to stop us now.
Grand Admiral Thrawn: I watched many Imperial officer make the same assumptions about the Rebellion. Even I fell victim to the…heroics of the single Jedi. Never again.
Grand Admiral Thrawn: I watched many Imperial officer make the same assumptions about the Rebellion. Even I fell victim to the…heroics of the single Jedi. Never again.
Tabletop Games
Experience is a good teacher, not a kind one.
— Battlewise Aven, Magic: The Gathering
Video Games
"We failed our way, hopefully, to success."
— Ken Levine, on BioShock Infinite
"Don't be afraid to make mistakes. It's all part of the learning process."
—Tighnari, Genshin Impact
"Also, I took the liberty of watching the tapes of you killing her, and I'm not going to make the same mistakes. Four part plan is this: One, no portal surfaces; two, start the neurotoxin immediately; three, bomb-proof shields for me, leading directly into number four: bombs for throwing at you. You know what, this plan is so good, I'm going to give you a sporting chance and turn off the neurotoxin! I'm joking, of course. Goodbye."
— Wheatley, Portal 2
"Mew. (Ahhh. Victory is sweet, as always, but self-satisfaction is a fool's trap. I will not wallow.) Mew! (On the other hand, there is much to learn from defeat! So much to reflect upon, so many skills to improve... I envy you. Truly.) "
"Meditation - war is a lifetime scholarship. The enemy, no finer teacher."
— Cephalon Cy, Warframe
"Go an' get them, Ohgan! We WON'T be fooled again!"
— Bloodlord Mandokir sends his pet raptor Ohgan after the spirits that revived the players during his first fight with them, World of Warcraft
Webcomics
"Don't move, you! Master Babadi didn't know you were dangerous, but I've got my eye on you! My Juniors are at full power!"
— Cell, Dragon Ball Multiverse
Okay, so, like, you've made a lot of mistakes, maybe, an' you don't like reflectin' on that. All that just makes you more helpful! Like some sorta super helper! "The greatest teacher, failure is." Makes you the wisest person I know.
—Walky, to Billie, Dumbing of Age
"[Mom] likes to let us make our own mistakes if they're not too big — says we won't learn otherwise. Dad says he used to try to stop every little thing when I was really young but it ended up causing more trouble than good."
— George, Monster Pop!
Doctor Bunnigus: Censuses show fewer than two hundred carbosilicate amorphs abroad in the galaxy, and apparently they don't spend any time in hospitals. Medical literature is silent on the subject. There is no baseline, everything I know about the Sergeant comes from my own notes.
Captain Tagon: How does Schlock keep passing physicals?
Doctor Bunnigus: He doesn't so much "pass" them as "never let them catch up."
Captain Tagon: How does Schlock keep passing physicals?
Doctor Bunnigus: He doesn't so much "pass" them as "never let them catch up."
Narrator: Over the last few years Doctor Edward "Bunni" Bunnigus has become the galaxy's foremost expert on amorph trauma treatment. [...] It was not a career choice. It was simply expedient.
Bunni: I need thermal bags, a hot spatula, and twenty kilos of Ovalkwik right NOW!
Narrator: It was also fairly simple.
Bunni: I need thermal bags, a hot spatula, and twenty kilos of Ovalkwik right NOW!
Narrator: It was also fairly simple.
Western Animation
No, no, no! How many times have we been through this?! We've got to learn from our mistakes! There will be no air ducts big enough for hero-sized people to crawl through! It's just asking for trouble.
And if I may remind you, no giant trash compactor! When heroes fall in, they always have enough time to figure a way out! Make it an incinerator!
And if I may remind you, no giant trash compactor! When heroes fall in, they always have enough time to figure a way out! Make it an incinerator!
— Zurg, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
James Bond: At least tell me the details of your plan for world domination!
Blofeld: (chuckling) Oh no, I'm not falling for that one again!
Blofeld: (chuckling) Oh no, I'm not falling for that one again!
"In my book, experience outranks everything."
— Captain Rex, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Other
Once burned, twice shy.
— Anonymous
"Your first child is like your first car. You love it! You can't believe you have it! ...But you're going to put some dents in it."
"Don't ever be afraid to fail. Look at me! I haven't failed, I've succeeded in finding what doesn't work."
— Christopher Titus
"You're going to make a lot of mistakes. Learning nothing from those mistakes, is the mistake."
— Daniel Negreanu
"Every man has his own particular technique. You don't learn to fish and hunt game by reading a book about it or listening to what someone tells you. You learn by experience. The same thing is true in hunting subs. Every time you see one you learn something new about hunting 'em."
— Emerson Myers, US Navy
"Strategy is about adaptation as much as design. There is no universal formula for strategic success. An approach that works beautifully in one scenario can backfire catastrophically an another. The enemy gets a say in war and competition; it will always try to spoil the savviest plans. So, strategy is a never-ending process, one in which flexibility and good judgment are as important as the brilliance of any initial scheme. America’s Cold War strategy, containment, was continually revised and modified over a 40-year period, as conditions changed and the Soviet Union experimented with new methods of expansion. Napoleon’s revolutionary style of warfare nearly gave him mastery of Europe, until his adversaries wised up and changed their own methods. Advantage is perishable, so adaptation is essential."
— Hal Brands, Bloomberg, "Putin Repeats Napoleon's Mistake: Strategy Wins, Not Power
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