You should become a connoisseur of your own mistakes, turning them over in your mind as if they were works of art, which in a way they are.

The chief trick to making good mistakes is not to hide them — especially not from yourself.

The trick is to take advantage of the particular details of the mess you’ve made, so that your next attempt will be informed by it and not just another blind stab in the dark. t

Any being, any agent, who can truly say, “Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time!” is standing on the threshold of brilliance.

When you make a mistake, you should learn to take a deep breath, grit your teeth, and then examine your own recollections of the mistake as ruthlessly and as dispassionately as you can manage.

Try to acquire the weird practice of savoring your mistakes, delighting in uncovering the strange quirks that led you astray.