Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Okay, who here has never made a mistake?

The answer is, of course, no one.

Mistakes are not just a fact of life, they are an important part of the learning process. However, regretting our mistakes day in and day out is not healthy. We need to learn from them and then move on.

But do not take my word for it. One of America's most famous and influential writers and thinkers, Ralph Waldo Emerson, said it much better than I can.

Milk spills from a protesting farmer's tanker truck in Northwestern Spain, on February 15, 2016. (AFP Photo)

Before we hear his famous statement, let's talk about some words he used in it.

When Emerson says "blunders and absurdities," he simply means mistakes. To do something filled with peaceful feelings is to do something "serenely." However, to be "encumbered" is the opposite. This means to be heavy and loaded down with things. To Emerson, those "things" are past mistakes, or as he calls them "your old nonsense."

Now, here's Bryan Lynn reading Ralph Waldo Emerson's famous quote.

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