Mistakes do happen. It is said that to err is human. الانسان مركب من الخطأ والنسيان. But when you make mistakes, you should immediately recognize that you have made a mistake and say: I was wrong. It doesn’t take more than a minute to know that you are mistaken. I make mistakes again and again, but within a minute I understand I have made a mistake and say: I was wrong. Making mistakes is not bad. After making a mistake, you get an opportunity to do ibadat. This is a great kind of ibadat, even super ibadat. How? When you say I was wrong, you establish your modesty. God loves modesty the most. Arrogance is the worst and modesty is the best. When you openly say I was wrong, you establish your modesty before the angels. This is a great form of worship. People generally insist on their stand without accepting their mistakes. They make it a prestige issue.

The worst disease, worse than wine and pork, is to convert matters into a prestige issue.  People destroy themselves because after making mistakes, they refuse to accept. They believe they will make themselves small. Their honour will be reduced. Their self-respect will be gone. I am very old now. I know it doesn’t take more than a minute to know that you have made a mistake. Within a minute you can notice that you were wrong. You should simply say: I was wrong. Why should you make it a matter of self-respect?

People think they will reduce themselves in the eyes of the other person. But you should openly admit your mistakes. People unnecessarily make it a prestige issue. This is why they face problems. I don’t think along these lines: Will I become small? Making things into a prestige issue is an absurd concept. I don’t believe in self-respect. Self-respect is only another name for arrogance. When people become arrogant, they use a very beautiful word 'self-respect'. But self-respect is nothing. In this world, you are either modest or arrogant. Self-respect is nothing. There is no difference between self-respect and arrogance. This is only a beautiful name invented by people who live in arrogance and superiority. You should rise above such complexes. Then you will face no problem. We should make ourselves complex-free souls, النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ (89:27) You should make yourself a complex-free soul, then no problem will be a problem for you.