Maxim
Admit your mistakes and put them right.
“To have faults and not to reform them,-- this, indeed, should be pronounced having faults.”
Confucianism · Ancient (before 200 BCE)
Translation: public-domain translation (Legge)
Everyone falls short; what matters is what we do next. Owning a fault, rather than hiding it, is the first step to mending it, and a mended fault can leave us brighter than before.
Related expressions
“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
“He whose evil deeds are covered by good deeds, brightens up this world, like the moon when freed from clouds.”
“Don’t make excuses, don’t blame any other person or any other thing.”
Echoes Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper”
Score
Moral Rank 64.0 · Evidence E = 14.34
E = ln(1+2.78) + √2.78 + 3·2.78 + 1.5·2 = 14.34