Quotes about learning
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“The problem isn't to learn to love humanity, but to learn to love those members of it who happen to be at hand.”

Source: Dhalgren

“I stay cool, and dig all jive,
That's the way I stay alive.
My motto,
as I live and learn,
is
Dig and be dug
In return.”

Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist

"Motto"
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
Variant: My motto,
As I live and learn,
is:
Dig And Be Dug
In Return.

Way

“I don't know anything about anything. The only difference between then and now is this: I may know more than I used to but my wisdom pales in comparison to that which I have yet to learn”

Megan McCafferty (1973) American novelist

Source: Sloppy Firsts

Wisdom

“Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight — how to get from shore to food and back again.”

Richard Bach book Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Source: Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)

Food

“Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen the horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance. - The judge”

Cormac McCarthy (1933) American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter

Source: Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West

War, Heart, Dance

“True learning must not be content with ideas, which are, in fact, signs, but must discover things in their individual truth.”

Umberto Eco (1932–2016) Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist

Source: The Name of the Rose (Everyman's Library

Truth, Idea

“Anything we need to know, we can learn it from a book. Reading, careful study, a little practice, and we’re throwing knives expertly, overhauling engines, speaking Esperanto like natives.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Source: The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love Story

Books, Study, Reading

“To learn one must be humble. But life is the great teacher.”

James Joyce Ulysses

Source: Ulysses

Life, Teachers

“I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong.”

Leo Rosten (1908–1997) American writer

Source: Captain Newman, M. D (1962), p. 328; this is also sometimes attributed to Leo Buscaglia, who often quoted it in his addresses and in his book Living, Loving and Learning (1982).

Strong

“I've spent the last decade learning to stand firm and face my problems… or at least batter them until they're unrecognizable.”

Kelley Armstrong book Frostbitten

Source: Frostbitten

Problem

“[T]he family is a school of compassion because it is here that we learn to live with other people. (68)”

Karen Armstrong (1944) author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain

Source: Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life

People, School, Family

“If I had learned anything in my life about love, it was that they were tenous things that could end at any moment. Caution was essential-but not at the cost of risking your life”

Richelle Mead book Spirit Bound

Source: Spirit Bound

Love, Life

“Maybe we were all destined to just keep doing the same stupid things, over and over again, never really learning a single thing.”

Sarah Dessen book Along for the Ride

Source: Along for the Ride

Stupidity

“You'll learn, honey. Love can be the best thing in life. And it can be the worst. The absolute worst.”

Clive Barker book Abarat

Source: Abarat

Love, Life

“Prisons are the temples where devils learn to prey. Every time we turn the key we twist the knife of fate, because every time we cage a man we close him in with hate.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

Source: Shantaram

Hate, Fate, Time

“Miles and years become suddenly invisible when you find yourself back where you started from, as if you've learned nothing and you are once again the person you once were.”

Karen White (1964) American writer

Source: The Memory of Water

Personality

“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.”

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman

Reading

“All my life I've learned to suffer in silence.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

Source: The Witch of Portobello (2007), p. 41.
Source: The Witch Of Portobello

Life, Silence, Suffering

“Few activities are as delightful as learning new vocabulary.”

Tim Gunn (1953) American actor and fashion consultant

Source: Tim Gunn: A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style

“It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.”

Aristophanés The Birds

Birds (414 BC) <br class="br">Context: Epops: You're mistaken: men of sense often learn from their enemies. Prudence is the best safeguard. This principle cannot be learned from a friend, but an enemy extorts it immediately. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war. And this lesson saves their children, their homes, and their properties.<br>Chorus [leader]: It appears then that it will be better for us to hear what they have to say first; for one may learn something at times even from one's enemies.<br>(tr. Anon. 1812 rev. in Ramage 1864, p. 45 http://books.google.com/books?id=AoUCAAAAQAAJ&pg;=PA45)

War

“To learn and think; to think and live; to live and learn: this always, with new insight, new understanding, and new love.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Love, Understanding, Thinking

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) American poet

Love, Books

“I've learned that we're all entitled to have our secrets.”

Nicholas Sparks book The Notebook

Source: The Notebook

Secret

“Learning, n. The kind of ignorance distinguishing the studious.”

Ambrose Bierce book The Devil's Dictionary

The Devil's Dictionary (1911)

“because I have learned the hard way how deadly these beauties can be.”

Suzanne Collins (1962) American television writer and novelist

Beauty, Way

“To be free is to learn, to test yourself constantly, to gamble. It is not safe. I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks, and”

Robyn Davidson (1950) Australian writer

Source: Tracks

Fear

“I was learning that if I lived slightly in the future-what will happen next-I didn't have to feel so much about what was going on in the present.”

Augusten Burroughs book Running with Scissors

Source: Running with Scissors

Feeling, Future

“He had learned the worst lesson that life can teach - that it makes no sense.”

Philip Roth book American Pastoral

Source: American Pastoral

Life, Sense

“You need to learn patience, you grasshopper”

Nicholas Sparks book The Last Song

Source: The Last Song

Patience

“Life is about coming to terms with the mistakes made. Learning to live with them even when they cut soul deep.”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Born of Silence

Life, Soul

“I've learned quite a lot, over the years, by avoiding what I was supposed to be learning.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: Moral Disorder and Other Stories

“Feelings are your guide. Trust your feelings and learn to express them, and do not blame anyone for how you feel. Be yourself, observe yourself. Look to understand any crisis you have been in or will be in.”

Barbara Marciniak (1928–2012)

Source: Family of Light: Pleiadian Tales and Lessons in Living

Feeling, Understanding

“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

Source: The Alchemist

Way, Sense, Heart

“We learn our lessons; we get hurt; we want revenge. Then we realize that actually, happiness and forgiving people is the best revenge.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

Happiness, People, Forgiveness, Revenge

“If there was one truth Evie had learned in her short life, it was that forgiveness was easier to seek than permission. She didn’t plan to ask for either one.”

Libba Bray book The Diviners

Source: The Diviners

Life, Truth, Forgiveness

“I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes.”

Maxine Hong Kingston book The Woman Warrior

Source: The Woman Warrior

Universe

“I have learned to smoke because I need something to hold onto.”

Elizabeth Smart (1913–1986) Canadian poet and novelist

Source: By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

“You don't know how to live until you learn how to die.”

Mitch Albom Tuesdays with Morrie

Source: Tuesdays with Morrie

“God’s plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don’t understand.”

Jerry Bridges (1929–2016) American writer

Source: Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

God, Way, Understanding

“Learning the truth has become my life's love.”

Dan Brown book The Da Vinci Code

Source: The Da Vinci Code

Love, Life, Truth

“I don't trust them but I'm learning to use them.”

Adrienne Rich (1929–2012) American poet, essayist and feminist

Source: Diving Into the Wreck

“We must be ready to learn from one another, not claiming that we alone possess all truth and that somehow we have a corner on God.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

God, Truth

“Live to learn and you will really learn to live.”

John C. Maxwell (1947) American author, speaker and pastor

“Leadership is what you need to learn next”

Robert T. Kiyosaki book Rich Dad Poor Dad

Source: Rich Dad, Poor Dad

“I am learning how to be angry and sad and lonely and joyful and excited and afraid and happy.”

Laurie Halse Anderson Wintergirls

Source: Wintergirls

Happiness, Sadness

“The first thing you learn in life is you’re a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you’re the same fool.”

Ray Bradbury book Dandelion Wine

Source: Dandelion Wine (1957), p. 62

Life, Fools

“I'm quite all right. I'm not even scared. You see, I've learned from looking around, there is something worse than loneliness--and that's the fear of it.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Source: The Ladies of the Corridor

Fear, Loneliness

“It's easier to find a way to make money at something you love than to learn to love a job that you can make money at.”

Kim Harrison (1966) Pseudonym

Source: Early to Death, Early to Rise

Love, Money, Way

“I am learning peacefulness, lying by myself quietly, as the light lies on these white walls, this bed, these hands. I am nobody; I have nothing to do with explosions.”

Sylvia Plath Ariel

Source: Ariel

Peace, Lying, Light

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”

Mortimer J. Adler (1902–2001) American philosopher and educator

Source: Joseph Allen (1979). The Leisure alternatives catalog: food for mind & body. p. 134

“I learned you pay for your happiness. That's why I don't expect to be happy all the time. I'd rather be surprised by one moment every so often to remind me that joy is possible, even if I have to pay for it later.”

Esmeralda Santiago (1948) Puerto Rican writer and actor

Source: Conquistadora

Happiness, Time, Joy

“I’m merely talking about learning to be less bothered by the actions of people.”

Richard Carlson (1961–2006) Author, psychotherapist and motivational speaker

Source: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff: Simple Ways to Keep the Little Things from Taking Over Your Life

People

“… even the most independent people sometimes needed help. And if I'd learned nothing else from my life thus far, it was that you don't always end up where you think you're going.”

Margaret Peterson Haddix book Just Ella

Source: Just Ella

Life, People, Thinking, Help

“If you are going to go through hell… I suggest you come back learning something.”

Drew Barrymore (1975) American actress, director and producer

Hell

“You learn something new everyday."
"What are you learning?" Sophos asked.
"To keep my mouth shut, I hope.”

Megan Whalen Turner The Thief

Source: The Thief

Hope

“I've learned over the years that sometimes if you ask the same question more than once you get different responses.”

Michael Connelly The Brass Verdict

Source: The Brass Verdict

Question

“What bothered me most was their lack of style. I learned early that class is universally admired. Almost any fault, sin or crime is considered more leniently if there's a touch of class involved.”

Frank W. Abagnale (1948) American security consultant, former confidence trickster, check forger, impostor, and escape artist

Source: Catch Me If You Can: The True Story of a Real Fake

Universe

“Where did you learn to ride anyway? Disasters-R-Us? (Tory)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

“Life is short, and wisdom long to learn.”

Cassandra Clare book Lady Midnight

Source: Lady Midnight

Life, Wisdom

“If I learned anything Downtown, it's this: the only real difference between an enemy and a friend is the day of the week.”

Richard Kadrey (1957) San Francisco-based novelist, freelance writer, and photographer

Source: Sandman Slim

“I care about who you are, who you have been, who you want to be. I open myself to you to listen and learn about you. I cherish you, not just my fantasy of who you are, not just who I need you to be, but who you really are…”

Betty Berzon (1928–2006) American psychotherapist

“The lesson of history is that no one learns.”

Steven Erikson book Deadhouse Gates

Source: Deadhouse Gates

History

“I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.”

L. Frank Baum (1856–1919) Children's writer, editor, journalist, screenwriter

Personal inscription on a copy of Mother Goose in Prose (1897) which he gave to his sister, Mary Louise Baum Brewster, as quoted in The Making of the Wizard of Oz (1998) by Aljean Harmetz, p. 317
Letters and essays
Context: When I was young I longed to write a great novel that should win me fame. Now that I am getting old my first book is written to amuse children. For aside from my evident inability to do anything "great," I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp which, when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward.

Love, Heart

“For years I have had no mirror; I have learned to make do. The eyes of another can be a mirror more effective than water. If you will look at me, I can see my reflection in yours”

Cassandra Clare book Lady Midnight

Source: Lady Midnight

Water

“And if my heart be scarred and burned,
The safer, I, for all I learned.”

Dorothy Parker (1893–1967) American poet, short story writer, critic and satirist

Source: Sunset Gun: Poems

Heart

“You know, Uri, there’s something seriously wrong with me. (Acheron)
And you’re just now figuring this out? Damn, you’re the poster child for slow learning. (Urian)”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

“Honey, the only experts in PMS are men. That's why men are so good at fighting wars; they learned Escape and Evade at home.”

Linda Howard (1950) American writer

Source: Mr. Perfect

Men, War, Home, Fight

“It is better to be small, colorful, sexy, careless, and peaceful, like the flowers, than large, conservative, repressed, fearful, and aggressive, like the thunder lizards; a lesson, by the way, that the Earth has yet to learn.”

Tom Robbins book Jitterbug Perfume

Source: Jitterbug Perfume

Fear, Peace, Color, Way

“Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball.”

Jacqueline Wilson (1945) novelist

Heart

“If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the world.”

Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) German poet, journalist, essayist, and literary critic

As quoted in The Medical Record No. 674 (6 October 1883); also in And I Quote : The Definitive Collection of Quotes, Sayings, and Jokes for the Contemporary Speechmaker (1992) by Ashton Applewhite, Tripp Evans and Andrew Frothingham, p. 447

World, Time

“When you take risks you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail, and both are equally important.”

Ellen DeGeneres (1958) American stand-up comedian, television host, and actress

Source: Seriously... I'm Kidding

Time, Powerful, Graduation

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944) American academic

Variant: You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
Source: Wherever You Go, There You Are

“The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.”

Henry Ford (1863–1947) American industrialist

Business

“Most people believe me when I lie. I've learned how to say the words just right. I have a trusting kind of face. But the boy in front of me was a trained operative, so Zach knew better. And besides, Zach new me.”

Ally Carter (1974) American writer

People, Lie, Boy, Training

“It was funny, though, the things you didn't learn about people until after they died.”

Cynthia Leitich Smith (1967) American writer and poet

Source: Tantalize

People

“The past is for learning from and letting go. You can't revisit it. It vanishes.”

Adele Parks (1969) British writer

Source: Young Wives' Tales

Past

“The most important attitude that can be formed is that of desire to go on learning.”

John Dewey book Experience and Education

Source: Experience and Education

“Reading is the basics for all learning.”

George W. Bush (1946) 43rd President of the United States

Reading

“And what is happy? It is a going always on. There is something better to be done than I have done, and spurred by the fair delusion of progress, I will seek to progress, to whip myself on, to more and more- to learning. Always.”

Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) American poet, novelist and short story writer

Source: The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Happiness

“The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border? There is a brotherhood among all men. This must be recognized if life is to remain. We must learn the love of man.”

Pablo Casals (1876–1973) Catalan cellist and conductor

As quoted in Joys and Sorrows : Reflections‎ by Pablo Casals as told to Albert E. Kahn (1974) by Albert E. Kahn

Love, Life, Men, Country

“Try fighting with your head for a change…
it's a good one, even if it does resist learning.”

Harper Lee book To Kill a Mockingbird

Source: To Kill a Mockingbird

Change, Fight

“I'd learned myself by the age of sixteen that just as girls guarded their virginity, boys guarded something less tangible which they called Themselves.”

Joyce Johnson (1935) American novelist, short story writer, memoirist

Source: Minor Characters: A Beat Memoir

Age, Girl, Boy

“She was reflecting back on a truth she had learned over the years: that people heard what they wanted to hear, saw what they wanted, believed what they wanted.”

Jeffery Deaver book The Bodies Left Behind

Source: The Bodies Left Behind

People, Truth

“Marry me. You'll learn to love me, I promise.”

Robyn Carr American writer

Source: Sunrise Point

Love

“I learned failure early and mastered it.”

Gregory Maguire book Son of a Witch

Source: Son of a Witch

Failure

“Let us learn to show our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead," he suggested. "After that my own rule is to let everything alone.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby

Source: The Great Gatsby

Friendship, Dead

“I like words. And I always learn a few new ones when Father gets angry. I shouldn't neglect my education, now should I?”

Brandon Sanderson book Warbreaker

Source: Warbreaker

Education

“… when a man like Ethan finally learns to love, it's forever.

~ Fiona MacCarrick ~”

Kresley Cole American writer

Source: If You Deceive

Love

“Let God have you, and let God love you - and don’t be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you’ve never heard and your feet learn to dance as never before.”

Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer

Love, God, Music, Heart

“But fate, as Merlin always taught us, is inexorable. Life is a jest of the Gods, Merlin liked to claim, and there is no justice. You must learn to laugh, he once told me, or else you'll just weep yourself to death.”

Bernard Cornwell book The Winter King

Source: The Winter King

Life, Death, God, Fate

“It's easy to mistake understanding for empathy - we want empathy so badly. Maybe learning to make that distinction is part of growing up. It's hard and ugly to know somebody can understand you without even liking you.”

Thomas Harris book Hannibal

Variant: I think it's easy to mistake understanding for empathy - we want empathy so badly. Maybe learning to make that distinction is part of growing up. It's hard and ugly to know somebody can understand you without even liking you.
Source: Hannibal

Understanding, Parting