Wit bought is twice taught.
Meaning: Learning through painful experience costs dearly but teaches lessons that instruction alone never could.
Origin: "Wit" means wisdom. Knowledge paid for with experience sticks better than knowledge handed over. A collection of 1639 has "Wit bought is better than wit taught," and Thomas Fuller's Gnomologia has "An ounce of wit that's bought is worth a pound that's taught."
More proverbs about Wisdom
- Wool sellers know wool buyers. — Those sharing similar interests or professions understand each other's needs and motivati…
- Years know more than books. — Experience accumulated over time reveals truths that theoretical knowledge alone cannot t…
- Old young, and old long. — Youthful vigor paired with elderly wisdom creates the ideal lifespan of both vitality and…
- Zeal without knowledge is frenzy. — Passionate effort without understanding produces destructive chaos rather than meaningful…
- Two heads are better than one — Collaboration and diverse perspectives lead to better solutions.
- The grass is always greener on the other side — What others have always seems better than what you have.
From our compliments & insults
- Eres más lento que el caballo del malo — You're painfully slow — the villain's horse never catches the hero.
- Testa di rapa — A blockhead who isn't thinking.
- Du hast doch einen Vogel — You're a bit out of your mind.