“Experience is the only prophecy of wise men.”
Speech at Mâcon (1847)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Alphonse de Lamartine 19
French writer, poet, and politician 1790–1869Related quotes
“Only the foolish learn from experience - the wise learn from the experience of others.”
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.”
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…”
Source: Sea Without a Shore (1996), Chapter 38 (p. 550)
Source: Nature of Man and His Government (1959), p. 81
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.”
Source: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?
“Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.”
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.”
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.