Experience is the mistress of fools.
Meaning: Fools learn only through painful mistakes, while the wise learn from others' errors beforehand.
Origin: Recorded in A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases, an undated collection published in London by Whittaker & Co. around 1880 and credited to Thomas Preston. Its earlier history hasn't been traced.
More proverbs about Human Nature
- What the eye sees not, the heart rues not. — Ignorance of misfortune shields us from suffering its emotional weight.
- 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.
- Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them. — Foolish spenders throw lavish parties while prudent people enjoy free entertainment witho…
- Love and lordship like no fellowship. — Deep affection and authority cannot coexist in the same relationship without one corrupti…
- No man loves his fetters, though of gold. — Even luxurious constraints remain oppressive; material comfort cannot compensate for lost…
From our compliments & insults
- Che piagnucolone — A relentless crybaby who finds something to complain about in every situation.
- È un orso — Gruff, anti-social, and impossible to approach — they growl when spoken to and hibernate…
- Faulpelz — A lazybones — someone who lounges around and avoids any effort, as warm and inert as a fu…