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Along Life’s Way
I May Be Mistaken, But…
By Lois E. Wilson
I recently looked up words considered being “errors,” such as
“blunder.” I discovered there are word shades to making an “error.”
Webster separates the meaning of them with different components.
“Error” indicates there is a standard or guide on the matter, and a
person differing from either indicates straying from the right
procedural course and producing an invalid or wrong answer.
A “slip” of the tongue may be embarrassing; it is usually inadvertent
or accidental. It is often trivial. The person committing it is
rarely blamed. A Malay proverb states: “The body pays for a slip of the
foot and gold pays for a slip of the tongue.”
“Lapse” can cause a mistake or error. It is less offensive because we
blame it on forgetfulness, weakness, inattention, or a lapse in
judgment.
One guilty of making a “blunder” is regularly accused of being stupid
or ignorant; therefore some blame is placed on the source. Victor Hugo
said, “Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude
of fibers.”
“Mistake” implies misconception or inadvertence and those making them
usually receive less blame than those accused of making an error. “The
man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” (William
Connor Magee)
Watching candidates run for office, these two Jonathan Swift quotes seem appropriate:
“Who can deny that all men are violent lovers of truth, when we see
them so positive in their errors, which they will maintain out of their
zeal to truth, although they contradict themselves every day of their
lives?”
“A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong,
which is but saying, in other words, that he is wiser today than he was
yesterday.”
We hope our choices for office have the integrity and love of truth to
always admit when they have made an error, mistake, or blunder and
change their course to the truth.
Alexander Pope’s famous quote states, “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
I certainly agree with his observation but suggest the following addition: “To err is human, to forgive divine—and humane.”
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