“Wahai anak-anak murid kesayanganku,
carilah ilmu dari saat kamu dibuaikan,
dan carliah ilmu hinggalah saat kamu dikapankan.”

[My dear beloved students,
seek knowledge from the moment you were lulled to sleep,
and seek knowledge to the moment that you sleep forever.]

- some wise guy from a long time ago, I forgot who.

I know I heard those phrases from somewhere, I just.. can’t remember from where and when I heard them. At any rate, I believe that they have a simple and clear meaning: one should never stop learning.

“I do not let my schooling interfere with my education”
- Mark Twain

That said, learning should not be limited only to the formal academic scope. Walking is an acquired skill. As is talking, singing, screaming and lying. You might not be taught to lie, but that doesn’t change the fact that you learnt how to lie.

You learn from examples, you learn from what you were told, you learn from what you observed. Inputs, inputs and more inputs. Information goes in, and hangs around your mind for a while. The knowledge is there, but that doesn’t mean you have learnt them. The learning process really happens, when your mind actually reaches out to that pile of information. What better time for your mind to reach out and grab hold of that information, than when the time calls for you to use it?

Such, is the role of problems. They create that need for information, the force that drives the brain to look for solutions. Problems are faced, solutions executed and things are set right. One should never stop learning, and as far as matters are concerned, I have reasons to believe that the best teachers are the mistakes you make throughout your life.

It’s okay to make mistakes. You’re stupid if you hold on to the idea of “do it right the first time, do it perfectly the second time, and you don’t have to do a third time.” Seriously. I’d find a neon lamp, and stick it to your forehead after I bent it to form the letters I-D-I-O-T. And I’ll make sure everyone in your neighbourhood sees it.

Am I saying mistakes are good? No, mistakes are bad, they create problems and troublesome situations.
Am I saying that mistakes are necessary? Yes.

One makes mistakes for various reasons. One might have underestimated the consequences, misjudged the outcome, miscalculatd the timing, misused the wrong method, or one could be misinformed. Most of the time mistakes are born out of pure innocent ignorance. Which is more of a reason to make that perfect mistake.

People who don’t make mistakes are people who refuse to accept the fact that they are capable of making a mistake. It’s a common thing. People who don’t want to admit their mistakes are even worse, as they also refuse to learn from the mistakes they have made.

A mistake is not when you do the wrong thing. A mistake is when you didn’t do the right thing.

“I didn’t find 3,000 wrong ways to light an electric bulb,
I discovered 3,000 ways that an electric bulb would not work.”
- Thomas Edison

Learning from the mistakes of others doesn’t quite cut it. Make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. Make the best out of your mistakes. Try to avoid the same mistake, again. It’s okay to make lots of different mistakes, but not the same mistakes repeatedly. The best mistakes are often ones that stop you in your tracks.

If you can’t make a mistake, you can’t make anything.