"I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong"
About this Quote
The line flips failure into evidence, turning a setback into a map. Every wrong attempt is a data point that narrows the search, not a verdict on ability. That perspective captures the heart of experimentation: progress often looks like a trail of mistakes that teach how to avoid the next one. It shifts the focus from ego to learning, from shame to curiosity, and lowers the fear that paralyzes risk-taking.
The sentiment is most famously linked to Thomas Edison, who spoke of finding thousands of ways that would not work while pursuing a practical light bulb. Whether or not Benjamin Franklin phrased it this way, the attitude fits his spirit. Franklin lived by tinkering and iteration. He refined the lightning rod after trials with electricity, designed bifocals to solve a personal problem, and improved home heating with the Franklin stove. His lifelong project of moral improvement, tracked in a self-devised virtue chart, echoed the same principle: small failures recorded, studied, and turned into better habits.
Read as counsel, the line argues for a growth mindset. It suggests that error is not an endpoint but a resource. The key is not to repeat mistakes blindly; it is to extract lessons from each attempt and adjust the next one. That is the difference between mere persistence and disciplined perseverance. The laboratory and the workshop model a way of living: hypothesize, try, measure, refine.
Applied beyond science, the idea can steady anyone facing exams, startups, creative blocks, or personal change. A failed pitch becomes feedback; a bungled draft becomes a scaffold; a misstep in a relationship becomes clarity about what matters. By renaming failure as discovery, the line makes resilience practical. It invites a habit of honest notes, small adjustments, and the patience to let 100 wrong ways pave the path to one that works.
The sentiment is most famously linked to Thomas Edison, who spoke of finding thousands of ways that would not work while pursuing a practical light bulb. Whether or not Benjamin Franklin phrased it this way, the attitude fits his spirit. Franklin lived by tinkering and iteration. He refined the lightning rod after trials with electricity, designed bifocals to solve a personal problem, and improved home heating with the Franklin stove. His lifelong project of moral improvement, tracked in a self-devised virtue chart, echoed the same principle: small failures recorded, studied, and turned into better habits.
Read as counsel, the line argues for a growth mindset. It suggests that error is not an endpoint but a resource. The key is not to repeat mistakes blindly; it is to extract lessons from each attempt and adjust the next one. That is the difference between mere persistence and disciplined perseverance. The laboratory and the workshop model a way of living: hypothesize, try, measure, refine.
Applied beyond science, the idea can steady anyone facing exams, startups, creative blocks, or personal change. A failed pitch becomes feedback; a bungled draft becomes a scaffold; a misstep in a relationship becomes clarity about what matters. By renaming failure as discovery, the line makes resilience practical. It invites a habit of honest notes, small adjustments, and the patience to let 100 wrong ways pave the path to one that works.
Quote Details
| Topic | Learning from Mistakes |
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