The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Learning
The axiom that you learn more from your failures than your successes is trite but absolutely true.
Bill Gates Source Code · 2025

Quotes

“The years teach much which the days never know.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Experience, 1844 · Primary source

“The thing to do is not to get scared, but to learn.”

Ayn Rand · Atlas Shrugged, 1957 · Primary source

“Wisdom is the daughter of experience.”

Leonardo da Vinci · The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, 1888 · Primary source

“The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, an almost fanatical love of justice and the desire for personal independence—these are the features of the Jewish tradition which make me thank my stars that I belong to it.”

Albert Einstein · Ideas and Opinions , 1954 · Primary source

“Ill customs and bad advice are seldom forgotten.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“The wise man draws more advantage from his enemies, than the fool from his friends.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“Tim was so learned, that he could name a horse in nine languages. So ignorant, that he bought a cow to ride on.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“Today is yesterday’s pupil.”

Benjamin Franklin · Poor Richard’s Almanack, 1732-1758 · Primary source

“Those who will not be counselled, cannot be helped.”

Benjamin Franklin · The Way to Wealth, 1758 · Primary source

“Reading was the only amusement I allowed myself.”

Benjamin Franklin · The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 1771-1790 · Primary source

“We are by nature observers, and thereby learners. This is our permanent state.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Love, 1841 · Primary source

“There is no knowledge that is not power.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Old Age, 1870 · Primary source

“Being able to recognize that you are wrong is a godsend.”

Charlie Munger · Daily Journal Corporation Annual Meeting, 2020 · Primary source

“Just as iron rusts unless it is used, and water putrifies or, in cold, turns to ice, so our intellect spoils unless it is kept in use.”

Leonardo da Vinci · The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, 1888 · Primary source

“Example is the best lesson there is.”

Eleanor Roosevelt · Tomorrow is Now, 1963 · Primary source

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.”

Benjamin Franklin · No reliable source

“Learning never exhausts the mind.”

Leonardo da Vinci · No reliable source

Related Tags

Jewish tradition 1 Justice 9 Independence 29 Belonging 4 Fear 10 Understanding 15 Curiosity 19 Problem-solving 9 Bad habits 1 Bad advice 1 Influence 9 Behaviour 7 Wisdom 7 Enemies 3 Friends 1 Criticism 9 Practical knowledge 4 Judgement 29 Scholarship 3 Common sense 2 Experience 28 Past 1 Reflection 10 Improvement 3 Advice 4 Receptiveness 1 Guidance 2 Self-improvement 6 Reading 14 Self-education 5 Leisure 7 Discipline 18 Knowledge 16 Education 6 Investment 2 Self-development 5 Failure 11 Continuous improvement 6 Observation 17 Human nature 2 Time 20 Perspective 18 Power 10 Capability 6 Intellectual humility 4 Error correction 1 Self-awareness 10 Intellect 4 Practice 3 Mental exercise 1 Continual use 1 Intellectual growth 4 Lifelong learning 4 Mental activity 1 Example 5 Conduct 11 Role models 1 Leadership 6