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Meaning
The quote says that mistakes and setbacks can drive progress because they reveal what needs to change. If everything were already perfect, there would be no reason to improve anything.
When It Was Said
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Who It Was Said To
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Historical Context
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Source
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Original Language & Translation
Originally said in English.
Did They Really Say It?
No source found on Wikiquote; the quote is listed as attributed to Colson Whitehead.
Did You Know?
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About Colson Whitehead
American novelist
Colson Whitehead is an American novelist. He is the author of ten novels and two books of nonfiction, and has won major literary prizes for his work. Born Arch Colson Chipp Whitehead, he emerged with his 1999 debut novel, The Intuitionist. His later novels include The Underground Railroad, which won the 2016 National Book Award for Fiction and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and The Nickel Boys, which won the Pulitzer Prize again in 2020. That second Pulitzer placed him among a small group of writers to have received the award twice. He also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2002.
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READ THE SOURCE
Books by Colson Whitehead
The Underground Railroad
2016
Harlem Shuffle
2021
The Nickel Boys
2019
Zone One
2011
The intuitionist
1999