To err is human, to forgive divine
Meaning: Making mistakes is natural; forgiving them is noble.
Origin: From Alexander Pope's poem An Essay on Criticism (1711): "To err is human, to forgive, divine." Pope was writing about critics, urging them to be generous with writers' mistakes. The first half echoes the old Latin saying errare humanum est.
Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, and German
- French: L'erreur est humaine, le pardon est divin (literally: Error is human, forgiveness is divine)
- Spanish: Errar es humano, perdonar es divino (literally: To err is human, to forgive is divine)
- Japanese: 過ちは人の常、許すは神の心 (Ayamachi wa hito no tsune, yurusu wa kami no kokoro) (literally: Mistakes are human nature, forgiveness is the heart of God)
- German: Irren ist menschlich, vergeben göttlich (literally: To err is human, to forgive divine)
More proverbs about Morality
- Live and let live — Be tolerant of others' choices and lifestyles.
- The pot calling the kettle black — Criticizing someone for a flaw you yourself possess.
- Give credit where credit is due — Acknowledge others' contributions fairly.
- Practice what you preach — Live according to the principles you advocate.
- Cleanliness is next to godliness — Being clean is a virtue akin to being pious.
- Pride comes before a fall — Arrogance often precedes failure.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as une cervelle de moineau — You're scatterbrained and forgetful.
- Без царя в голове (Bez tsarya v golove) — Foolish and reckless — with no one in charge upstairs.
- Cabeça de alho chocho — A forgetful scatterbrain whose thoughts won't stay put.