Experience is the mistress of fools.

Meaning: Fools learn only through painful mistakes, while the wise learn from others' errors beforehand.

Origin: From 'A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases' (1870). Public domain.

More proverbs about Human Nature

• What the eye sees not, the heart rues not. — Ignorance of misfortune shields us from suffering its emotional weight.
• What the eye does not see the heart does not grieve for. — Ignorance of misfortune provides emotional protection; we suffer only from sorrows we kno…
• Love asks faith, and faith asks firmness. — Loving requires you to trust despite uncertainty, and maintaining that trust demands stea…
• When the tree falls every man runs with his hatchet. — Misfortune creates opportunity for opportunists to exploit the vulnerable.
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