Fred Silverman Quotes

I'm not sure I'd go back and do anything over in my life. I've definitely had my fair share of failures and moments where I wasted my time or that of other people, but if I did those moments over, I'd have missed out on so many lessons.

I've made a lot of career mistakes. A lot. Actually, a lot of personal ones, too.

Creative experimentation propels our culture forward. That our stories of innovation tend to glorify the breakthroughs and edit out all the experimental mistakes doesn't mean that mistakes play a trivial role. As any artist or scientist knows, without some protected, even sacred space for mistakes, innovation would cease.

Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy and didn't have near the season I had the previous year. It was kind of a wake-up call. And so, life goes on.

No man is ever old enough to know better.

Expect to make some mistakes when you try new and different approaches. Sometimes colossal failures lead to spectacular successes.

I was such a screwup when I got to the big leagues. I was a total idiot.

I think I've been an incredible example to my kids of what not to do.

One of the disconcerting things about writing for publication is that you're trying to clear your little parcel of land in a field where Taste is king - and, as we all know, there's no accounting for Taste.

I firmly believe that you live and learn, and if you don't learn from past mistakes, then you need to be drug out and shot.

Sometimes over things that I did, movies that didn't turn out very well - you go, 'Why did you do that?' But in the end, I can't regret them because I met amazing people. There was always something that was worth it.

Looking back at the 'Wonder Years,' I see things I did well, and I see things I did very, very badly.

I had a lot of success for many years, and the critics had been so kind. Sometimes it's good to get cut down to size a little bit.

With each film, you are still trying to get the length and measure right. And failure is all about others' perception of you. When you have one success, they think you know it all. But if you fail, they think they know it all.

You'll go down a dark road if you just dwell on every time you screw up. We play a very fickle position. If I make nine kicks out of 10, people are going to talk about the one I missed.

Whatever you do, you're going to be criticized.

Most of the worst errors I made in my life came from forgetting to act small.

Looking at my life was very difficult. I think I learned that I haven't been as good a person as I'm inclined to think of myself as. I haven't been as good friend, haven't been as good a person, made a lot of mistakes.

I've been taught not to have any regrets. If we were to add up all of the hours spent regretting mistakes and use that time to develop new ideas, who knows how many brilliant new businesses would be created.

Those who don't try never look foolish.

Even my failures make money and become classics a year after I make them.

If you can't take a good kicking, you shouldn't parade how much luckier you are than other people.

I made my share of mistakes. People can look at that as what not to do, and if they choose to make fun of it, that's fine. I can't control that. All I know is that I can control myself. And at that point in my life, I wasn't even able to do that.

There are two wrong reactions to a rejection slip: deciding it's a final judgment on your story and/or talent, and deciding it's no judgment on your story and/or talent.

Some of us learn from other people’s mistakes and the rest of us have to be other people.