"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life"
About this Quote
The line about mistakes does more than offer a motivational poster version of courage. It reframes risk as participation: to “explore life” is to treat living as a verb, not a brand. “Play it safe” is coded as a kind of slow self-erasure, the life you choose when you’re negotiating with fear, reputation, or other people’s expectations. That subtext matters for a mid-century star who navigated an industry that rewarded women for control and punished them for mess.
“Mistakes are part of the dues” is the sharpest move. Dues implies membership, a price of entry into a richer, more dimensional existence. She’s not romanticizing failure; she’s normalizing the cost structure of agency. The context of Loren’s career - international fame, tabloid scrutiny, aging in a youth-obsessed business - makes the message less self-help and more survival strategy: your missteps don’t disqualify you; they prove you were actually in the arena.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning from Mistakes |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Loren, Sophia. (2026, January 18). After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-all-these-years-i-am-still-involved-in-the-22554/
Chicago Style
Loren, Sophia. "After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-all-these-years-i-am-still-involved-in-the-22554/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/after-all-these-years-i-am-still-involved-in-the-22554/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







