“Zeus hath laid it down that wisdom comes alone through suffering.”
Aeschylus
SufferingWisdom
Experience Quotes
200 FAMOUS QUOTES · EXPERIENCE
Experience Quotes
Read 200 of the best experience quotes about learning from life, mistakes, wisdom and growth, from Shakespeare, Keats, Montaigne, Emerson and more.
“The light which experience gives is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us!”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
HindsightLessons
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana
HistoryLearning
“The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
LawPractical Wisdom
“Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced - even a Proverb is no proverb to you till your Life has illustrated it.”
John Keats
Real LifeUnderstanding
“We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it - and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid.”
Mark Twain
LessonsFunny
“My experience is what I agree to attend to.”
William James
AttentionMindset
“An ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory simply because it is only in experience that any theory has vital and verifiable significance.”
John Dewey
PracticeTheory
“A young man of practical wisdom cannot be found, because such wisdom is concerned not only with universals but with particulars, which become familiar from experience.”
Aristotle
Practical WisdomYouth
“Men of experience succeed even better than those who have theory without experience.”
Aristotle
SuccessPractice
“From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.”
Publilius Syrus
Learning From OthersMistakes
“Experience is the teacher of all things.”
Julius Caesar
LearningWisdom
“Experience is the teacher of fools.”
Livy
MistakesFunny
“There is no desire more natural than that of knowledge. We try all the ways that can lead us to it; where reason is wanting, we therein employ experience.”
Michel de Montaigne
KnowledgeCuriosity
“I study myself more than any other subject.”
Michel de Montaigne
Self-KnowledgeReflection
“Every man bears the whole stamp of the human condition.”
Michel de Montaigne
HumanityShared Experience
“Studies perfect nature, and are perfected by experience.”
Francis Bacon
LearningPractice
“Experience is by industry achieved and perfected by the swift course of time.”
William Shakespeare
Hard WorkTime
“He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”
William Shakespeare
EmpathyHardship
“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.”
William Shakespeare
AdversityWisdom
“The knowledge of the world is only to be acquired in the world, and not in a closet.”
Lord Chesterfield
Real WorldLearning
“Those things that hurt, instruct.”
Benjamin Franklin
PainLessons
“The burnt child dreads the fire.”
Benjamin Franklin
MistakesCaution
“Life is a series of surprises, and would not be worth taking or keeping, if it were not.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
SurprisesLife
“We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Hard LessonsHindsight
Related Topics
About Experience Quotes
Experience is the teacher no one can skip. We can read books, hear advice and study theories, but some lessons only arrive when we live through them ourselves: the mistakes we make, the challenges we survive and the moments that change how we see the world.
This collection brings together 200 of the best experience quotes about learning from life, mistakes, wisdom, hardship and growth, from Aristotle, Montaigne, William Shakespeare, John Keats, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Mark Twain and many more. Read them when you need perspective, share them with someone going through a hard lesson, or use them as a reminder that every experience teaches something.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about Experience quotes.
What is the most famous quote about experience?
George Santayana's "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" and John Keats's "Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced" are two of the most famous experience quotes. Coleridge's image of experience as "a lantern on the stern" is another classic.
What are good quotes about learning from mistakes?
Benjamin Franklin wrote "Those things that hurt, instruct," and Publilius Syrus said a wise man corrects his own errors by watching others. Mark Twain warned us to take only the real lesson from an experience, like a cat that avoids hot stoves but also avoids cold ones.
Is experience better than education?
Many thinkers say they work best together. Francis Bacon wrote that studies "perfect nature, and are perfected by experience," and John Dewey said an ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory.
What did Shakespeare say about experience?
Shakespeare wrote that "experience is by industry achieved and perfected by the swift course of time," and in Romeo and Juliet, "He jests at scars that never felt a wound," meaning people who have not suffered often mock those who have.
What does the Bible say about experience?
Ecclesiastes 1:16 speaks of a heart with "great experience of wisdom and knowledge," and Psalm 119:71 says "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn." Job 42:5 contrasts hearing about God with seeing for yourself.
What are short experience quotes for Instagram captions?
Try "Those things that hurt, instruct," "Life is a series of surprises," "I am a part of all that I have met," or "We learn geology the morning after the earthquake." They pair well with travel, growth and life-lesson posts.