proverb · Words worth keeping
A mistake is no reckoning.
A mistake is no reckoning.
In print by 1857 AD · industrial
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
An incorrect calculation does not become valid because someone relies on it. Check an error and correct the result rather than treating a mistaken account as settled.
What the words are saying
The saying distinguishes a reckoning from an error presented as one. A total needs to correspond to the underlying information. Repeating the mistaken figure or recording it formally cannot supply that correspondence. In broader use, a decision based on a faulty premise deserves reconsideration once the fault is found. A responsible correction should show what changed and how it affects people who relied on the earlier version. The proverb does not deny that a real mistake can have consequences requiring separate attention.
Everyday example
A club discovers that a fee total counted several payments twice. It corrects the calculation and explains the revised balance to members.
When to use it
Use it to insist on correcting a calculation or premise.
What it does not mean
Calling something an error requires evidence. A corrected figure does not automatically resolve commitments or harm arising from the mistake.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (French-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1857 AD · industrial
In print by 1857: recorded in A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857) (1857 AD)
Printed page 17; French section, paragraph 346; source wording: Erreur n’est pas compte.
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.