The Fourteen Mistakes of Life

1888

Somebody has condensed the mistakes of life, and arrived at the conclusion that there are fourteen of them. Most people would say, if they told the truth, that there was no limit to the mistakes of life; that they were like the drops in the ocean or the sands on the shore in number; but it is well to be accurate.

Here, then, are fourteen great mistakes:

It is a great mistake to set up our own standard of right and wrong, and judge people accordingly;

to measure the enjoyment of others by our own;

to expect uniformity of opinion in this world;

to look for judgment and experience in youth;

to endeavor to mold all dispositions alike;

not to yield to immaterial trifles;

to look for perfection in our actions;

to worry ourselves and others with what can not be remedied;

not to alleviate all that needs alleviation as far as lies in one's power;

not to make allowances for the infirmities of others;

to consider every thing impossible that we cannot perform;

to believe only what our finite minds can grasp;

to expect to be able to understand every thing.

The greatest of mistakes is to live for time alone, which any moment may launch into eternity. –from Wives and Daughters.