“Experience is the only prophecy of wise men.”
Speech at Mâcon (1847)
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Alphonse de Lamartine19
French writer, poet, and politician 1790–1869Related quotes
“Only the foolish learn from experience - the wise learn from the experience of others.”
Rolf Hochhuth (1931) german writer
Nur der Dumme lernt aus Erfahrung, der Kluge aus der Erfahrung der anderen!
Alan Turing
“Prophecy, however honest, is generally a poor substitute for experience.”
Benjamin N. Cardozo (1870–1938) United States federal judge
West Ohio Gas Co. v. Public Utilities Commission (No.2), 294 U.S. 79, 82, (1935)
Judicial opinions
“If men were only as wise as they are clever…”
Sean Russell (1952) author
Source: Sea Without a Shore (1996), Chapter 38 (p. 550)
Robert LeFevre (1911–1986) American libertarian businessman
Source: Nature of Man and His Government (1959), p. 81
Plutarch (46–127) ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Life of Marcus Cato
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
“While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others.”
Rick Warren (1954) Christian religious leader
Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
“Action men are the unvoluntary slaves of wise men.”
Fernando Pessoa book The Book of Disquiet
Ibid.
The Book of Disquiet
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) French sculptor
As quoted in Heads and Tales (1936) by Malvina Hoffman, p. 47
1900s-1940s
“The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of ages, may be preserved by quotation.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, "Quotation".
Misattributed, Isaac D'Israeli
Variant: The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages are perpetuated by quotations.