Nietzsche isn't celebrating obliviousness here—he's describing a peculiar kind of mental hygiene that prevents us from becoming prisoners of our own failures. Most people assume dwelling on mistakes builds character; he suggests that rumination actually deepens their hold on us, while those with the grace to forget can move forward unburdened enough to try again. A person who replayed their awkward toast at a wedding for months afterward would suffer far more real damage than someone who simply couldn't quite remember it by next week. There's wisdom in recognizing that some forgetting isn't a character flaw but rather a form of self-preservation that opens space for growth.