--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Experience is not what happens to a man…" description: "\"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. It is a gift for dealing with the accidents of existence, not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/aldous-huxley-97_accidents_experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man_1901240.jpg" --- # Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man… ![“Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. It is a gift for dealing with the accidents of existence, not the accidents themselves.” quote by Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/aldous-huxley-97_accidents_experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man_1901240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/aldous-huxley-97_accidents_experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man_1901240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/358/aldous-huxley-97_accidents_experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man_1901240.jpg) > “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him. It is a gift for dealing with the accidents of existence, not the accidents themselves.” [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experience is valuable only when we actively shape it, not when we passively endure it. **In simple terms:** Active response creates meaning. Key Takeaway Respond purposefully to events. Themes philosophy self‑development agency Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career decisions - personal crises - learning moments Key Concepts existentialism personal growth Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn setbacks into gifts? - What actions turn experience into growth? A Different Perspective It can be hard to change perspective after trauma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents/) [Accidents Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accidents-existence-2807249/) [Dealing Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dealing-accidents-2807251/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Accidents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-accidents-2807250/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-happens-1600047/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [“Experience is not what happens to you its what you do with what happens to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-you-its-what-you-do-with-what/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Experience is not a matter of having actually swum the Hellespont, or danced with the dervishes, or slept in a doss-house. It is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-a-matter-of-having-actually-swum-the-hellespont-or/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-a-man-it-is-what-a-man-does-with-3/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [When a bad experience happens, you just chalk it up to the great fact that you just got five more jokes in the show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-dunham/when-a-bad-experience-happens-you-just-chalk-it-up-to-the-great-fact/) [Jeff Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-dunham/) > [ “\[Salvation\] is a life-changing experience when it happens, and if our life isn’t changed by it, then it either didn’t happen at all or… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-harden/salvation-is-a-life-changing-experience-when-it-happens-and-if-our/) [Van Harden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-harden/) > [I've changed in my sympathies since I've become a mother myself. 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Lew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-a-lew/) > [“Experience is not what happens to you; it's what you o with what happens to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huxley-aldous-2/experience-is-not-what-happens-to-you-it-s-what-you-o-with-what/) [Huxley Aldous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huxley-aldous-2/) > [I do miss the excitement of seeing history up close, of having intimate knowledge, through direct experience, of what happens when people and governments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-do-miss-the-excitement-of-seeing-history-up-close-of-having/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Aldous Huxley > [“Unorthodoxy threatens more than the life of a mere individual; it strikes at Society itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unorthodoxy-threatens-more-than-the-life-of-a-mere-individual-it/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [My fate cannot be mastered; it can only be collaborated with and thereby, to some extent, directed. 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Apparently, for going on walks in the Lake District; for that was what he now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/then-what-s-time-for-asked-lenina-in-some-astonishment-apparently-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [All right then," said the Savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/all-right-then-said-the-savage-defiantly-i-m-claiming-the-right-to-be/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Speed, it seems to me, provides the one genuinely modern pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/speed-it-seems-to-me-provides-the-one-genuinely-modern-pleasure/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“What you need is a gramme of soma.” “All the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/what-you-need-is-a-gramme-of-soma-all-the-advantages-of-christianity/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [To be enlightened is to be aware, always, of total reality in its immanent otherness - to be aware of it and yet remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/to-be-enlightened-is-to-be-aware-always-of-total-reality-in-its/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“Quote of the day:Quote of the day: A democracy which makes or even effectively prepares for modern, scientific war must necessarily cease to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/quote-of-the-day-quote-of-the-day-a-democracy-which-makes-or-even/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) [Explore all 1,291 Aldous Huxley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More Accidents quotes > [Almost all accidents take place because of human distraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebastian-thrun/almost-all-accidents-take-place-because-of-human-distraction/) [Sebastian Thrun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebastian-thrun/) > [It was no accident, no coincidence, that the seasons came round and round year after year. 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You can have good things happen, on occasion, by accident that can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-willis/good-films-are-not-made-by-accident-nor-is-good-photography-you-can/) [Gordon Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-willis/) > [By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jawaharlal-nehru/by-education-i-am-an-englishman-by-views-an-internationalist-by/) [Jawaharlal Nehru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jawaharlal-nehru/) > [I made out with a homeless guy by accident. I had no idea -- he was really tan, he had no shoes on. 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