Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts

by Carol Tavris

“Don’t Americans go to the theater?” Elliot said. “There are three acts in a traditional play. His quote is not about second chances—it’s much more interesting than that. Besides, Gatsby himself is the best example in American literature of a man reinventing himself. You don’t think F. Scott Fitzgerald knew about comebacks?” “Well, that’s the common meaning,” said Swanger. “But in any classic play, act two is where the action is,” said Elliot. “In life as in a play, you can’t leap from act one to act three. We skip act two at our peril, for that’s when we go through the turmoil of confronting our demons—the selfishness, immorality, murderous thoughts, disastrous choices—so that when we enter act three, we have learned something. Fitzgerald was telling us that Americans are inclined to bypass act two; they don’t want to go through the pain that self-discovery requires.”