--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Learning preserves the errors of the…" description: "\"Learning preserves the errors of the past, as well as its wisdom. For this reason, dictionaries are public dangers, although they are necessities.\" — A..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/alfred-north-whitehead-836_danger_learning-preserves-the-errors-of-the-pas_2796159.png" --- # Learning preserves the errors of the past, as well as its… ![“Learning preserves the errors of the past, as well as its wisdom. For this reason, dictionaries are public dangers, although they are necessities.” quote by Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/alfred-north-whitehead-836_danger_learning-preserves-the-errors-of-the-pas_2796159.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/alfred-north-whitehead-836_danger_learning-preserves-the-errors-of-the-pas_2796159.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2a3/alfred-north-whitehead-836_danger_learning-preserves-the-errors-of-the-pas_2796159.png) > “Learning preserves the errors of the past, as well as its wisdom. For this reason, dictionaries are public dangers, although they are necessities.” [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning keeps past errors and wisdom alive; dictionaries preserve language but can also spread outdated ideas. **In simple terms:** Learning stores errors and wisdom. Key Takeaway Use knowledge critically. Themes education language history Mood critical inquisitive Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - academic research - teaching - policy making Key Concepts epistemology information theory Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance preservation and progress? - What role do dictionaries play today? A Different Perspective May overstate dictionaries' danger. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Danger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/danger/) [Dictionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionaries/) [Dictionaries Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionaries-public-3415614/) [Dictionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dictionary/) [English language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/english-language/) [Errors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/errors/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Learning Preserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning-preserves-2397599/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Preserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/preserves/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Reason Dictionaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason-dictionaries-3415613/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [Learning preserves the errors of the past as well as its wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/learning-preserves-the-errors-of-the-past-as-well-as-its-wisdom/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Telephone books are, like dictionaries, already out of date the moment they are printed…”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ammon-shea/telephone-books-are-like-dictionaries-already-out-of-date-the-moment/) [Ammon Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ammon-shea/) > [To make dictionaries is dull work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-make-dictionaries-is-dull-work/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [People are under the impression that dictionaries legislate language. What a dictionary does is keep track of usages over time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/people-are-under-the-impression-that-dictionaries-legislate-language/) [Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/) > [“Dictionary, n. A malevolent literacy device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/dictionary-n-a-malevolent-literacy-device-for-cramping-the-growth-of/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“Dictionaries are like vitamins and floss; we buy them and then never use them. Even I, an English teacher, a lover of words, have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-baranick/dictionaries-are-like-vitamins-and-floss-we-buy-them-and-then-never/) [Jenny Baranick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-baranick/) > [Lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/lexicographer-a-writer-of-dictionaries-a-harmless-drudge-that-busies/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Dictionaries stop where the heart starts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foenkinos/dictionaries-stop-where-the-heart-starts/) [David Foenkinos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foenkinos/) > [“Wake up to think of words… want to walk through pages of meanings, the links in assonance, alliteration, or just simple sense that moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/initially-no/wake-up-to-think-of-words-want-to-walk-through-pages-of-meanings-the/) [Initially NO](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/initially-no/) > [I am not learning definitions as established in even the latest dictionaries. 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And, at the end, when philosophic thought has done its best, the wonder remains.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/philosophy-begins-in-wonder-and-at-the-end-when-philosophic-thought/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [The pursuit of mathematics is a divine madness of the human spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/the-pursuit-of-mathematics-is-a-divine-madness-of-the-human-spirit/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. 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