“One of the hardest things for boys to learn is that a teacher is human. One of the hardest things for a teacher to learn is not to try and tell them.”

“One if the hardest things in life to learn are which bridges to cross and which bridges to burn.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

“The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.”

David Russell (1953) Scottish classical guitarist

“I'm learning to fly,
But I ain't got wings.
Coming down
Is the hardest thing.”

Tom Petty (1950–2017) American musician

“That is probably the hardest thing a person can learn, as I so often find in others (and in myself as well in the past) to forgive one’s own mistakes and lapses.”

Etty Hillesum (1914–1943) Jewish diarist

“Is it important to be right or is it important to do what’s right? That’s one of the hardest lessons to learn.”

James Patterson (1947) American author

“Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them.”

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.”

Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist

“The hardest lesson for humans to learn: that organic complexity will entail organic time.”

Kevin Kelly (1952) American author and editor

“This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous – indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.”

Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author