The Slatest

The resignation of CIA chief David Petraeus came five days after Newsweek published an article titled “General David Petraeus’s Rules for Living,” comprising of 12 “lessons on leadership” from the decorated general. In retrospect, number five seems particularly relevant:

We all will make mistakes. The key is to recognize them and admit them, to learn from them, and to take off the rear­ view mirrors—drive on and avoid making them again.

Elsewhere in Slate, David Haglund takes a look at an anonymous letter to the New York Times’ “The Ethicist” column titled “My Wife’s Lover” that was published in July and describes circumstances that sound very familiar now.