He that stumbles twice over the same stone, deserves to break his shins.
Meaning: Repeated failure from ignoring lessons demands no sympathy; wisdom lies in changing course after first mistakes.
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 Wisdom
- The young suckers drain the old tree. — Young dependents exhaust elderly parents' resources and vitality through continuous deman…
- That suit is best that best fits me. — Individual circumstances determine the right choice, not universal standards or what suit…
- No sunshine but hath some shadow. — Even the brightest circumstances contain unavoidable difficulties or imperfections.
- One swallow does not make a summer. — A single favorable occurrence cannot establish a lasting pattern; sustained evidence requ…
- One swallow makes not a spring, nor one woodcock a winter. — A single favorable occurrence cannot establish a pattern; sustained evidence is needed to…
- They have need of a besom that sweep the house with a turf. — Using inadequate tools wastes effort; poor implements cannot accomplish their intended pu…
From our tongue twisters
- Бабин біб розцвів у дощ, буде бабі біб у борщ. (Babyn bib roztsviv u doshch, bude babi bib u borshch.) — A bilabial 'b / bib / bor' drill that ends in a very Slavic splash of borscht.
- She sells seashells by the seashore. — The definitive 's' versus 'sh' alternation — the tongue has to switch place of articulati…
- Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. — A relentless 'p' plosive drill; a peck is an old dry measure of about nine litres.