--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Experience isn't any use. And yet, in…" description: "\"“Experience isn't any use. And yet, in quite another way, it might be. If only we weren't all such miserable fools and prudes and cowards.”\" — Christop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/christopher-isherwood-2302_cowards_experience-isn-t-any-use-and-yet-in-quit_2765194.png" --- # Experience isn't any use. And yet, in quite another way… ![“Experience isn't any use. And yet, in quite another way, it might be. If only we weren't all such miserable fools and prudes and cowards.” quote by Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/christopher-isherwood-2302_cowards_experience-isn-t-any-use-and-yet-in-quit_2765194.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/christopher-isherwood-2302_cowards_experience-isn-t-any-use-and-yet-in-quit_2765194.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9be/christopher-isherwood-2302_cowards_experience-isn-t-any-use-and-yet-in-quit_2765194.png) > ““Experience isn't any use. And yet, in quite another way, it might be. If only we weren't all such miserable fools and prudes and cowards.”” [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experience seems useless, yet may be valuable if we stop being foolish, prudish, or cowardly. **In simple terms:** Experience feels useless but can help if we grow. Key Takeaway Embrace experience and overcome fear. Themes experience growth foolishness prudishness cowardice Mood thoughtful philosophical introspective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - self‑reflection - literary analysis - personal coaching Key Concepts self‑awareness personal development philosophical insight Questions to Reflect On - What lessons can we extract from failure? - How does courage reshape experience? A Different Perspective Experience can be misused without insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cowards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowards/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience Isn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-isn-647572/) [Fools Prudes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fools-prudes-3199778/) [Miserable Fools](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/miserable-fools-3199777/) [Prudes Cowards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prudes-cowards-3199776/) ## Related quotes > [“One relationship didn't work out, but that doesn't mean relationships never work out. One single experience isn't representative of all of them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-morgan/one-relationship-didn-t-work-out-but-that-doesn-t-mean-relationships/) [Sarah Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-morgan/) > [The black experience isn't exclusively slavery/civil rights/Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margot-lee-shetterly/the-black-experience-isn-t-exclusively-slavery-civil-rights-obama/) [Margot Lee Shetterly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margot-lee-shetterly/) > [If you have everyone back from a team that lost ten games, experience isn't too important.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mckay/if-you-have-everyone-back-from-a-team-that-lost-ten-games-experience/) [John Mckay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mckay/) > [“Experience isn’t interesting till it begins to repeat itself—in fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/experience-isn-t-interesting-till-it-begins-to-repeat-itself-in-fact/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [ Because the life that I live - the life that we all live - is filtered through \[one's own\] experience. It isn't necessarily optimistic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergio-leone/because-the-life-that-i-live-the-life-that-we-all-live-is-filtered/) [Sergio Leone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergio-leone/) > [“Surround yourself with people you like and make cool stuff with them. In the end, at least in my experience, what you do isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/surround-yourself-with-people-you-like-and-make-cool-stuff-with-them/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [“To experience what isn't, love what is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-micha-el-leventhal/to-experience-what-isn-t-love-what-is/) [Eric Micha'el Leventhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-micha-el-leventhal/) > [Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bowen/experience-isn-t-interesting-until-it-begins-to-repeat-itself-in-fact/) [Elizabeth Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bowen/) > [There was nothing postracial about my experience, and there still isn't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/there-was-nothing-postracial-about-my-experience-and-there-still-isn-t/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [Any experience that isn't fun is probably something I will at least use in my writing someday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-flinn/any-experience-that-isn-t-fun-is-probably-something-i-will-at-least/) [Alex Flinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-flinn/) > [“If I were to ever have a full-fledged vocation, as opposed to a half-assed avocation, I needed to love it and, in my experience,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-de-los-santos/if-i-were-to-ever-have-a-full-fledged-vocation-as-opposed-to-a-half/) [Marisa de los Santos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-de-los-santos/) > [The black gay experience isn't one that is often told.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ncuti-gatwa/the-black-gay-experience-isn-t-one-that-is-often-told/) [Ncuti Gatwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ncuti-gatwa/) > [...fiction is made out of the writer's experience, his whole life from infancy on, everything he's thought and done and seen and read and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/fiction-is-made-out-of-the-writer-s-experience-his-whole-life-from/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Capital isn't that important in business. Experience isn't that important. You can get both of these things. What is important is ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/capital-isn-t-that-important-in-business-experience-isn-t-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A bit of perspective and life experience isn't a bad thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/a-bit-of-perspective-and-life-experience-isn-t-a-bad-thing/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) ## More by Christopher Isherwood > [“From his angle, the curtain seems to form itself into a shrouded, wavering figure, indescribably terrifying in its very indistinctness. Something waiting, hovering on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/from-his-angle-the-curtain-seems-to-form-itself-into-a-shrouded/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“If you really have talent, you know, you'll go on writing - whatever people say to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/if-you-really-have-talent-you-know-you-ll-go-on-writing-whatever/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [But seriously, I believe I'm a sort of Ideal Woman, if you know what I mean. I'm the sort of woman who can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/but-seriously-i-believe-i-m-a-sort-of-ideal-woman-if-you-know-what-i/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [If it’s going to be a world with no time for sentiment, it’s not a world that I want to live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/if-it-s-going-to-be-a-world-with-no-time-for-sentiment-it-s-not-a/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“By the time it has gotten dressed, it has become he; has become already more or less George — though still not the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/by-the-time-it-has-gotten-dressed-it-has-become-he-has-become-already/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“George feels that, even if all this double talk hasn't brought them any closer to understanding each other, the not-understanding, the readiness to remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/george-feels-that-even-if-all-this-double-talk-hasn-t-brought-them/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“Now, for example, people with freckles aren’t thought of as a minority by the nonfreckled. They aren’t a minority in the sense we’re talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/now-for-example-people-with-freckles-aren-t-thought-of-as-a-minority/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“Even when they are geniuses in spite of it, their masterpieces are invariably warped.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/even-when-they-are-geniuses-in-spite-of-it-their-masterpieces-are/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“Here, in their midst, George feels a sort of vertigo. Oh God, what will become of them all? What chance have they? Ought I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/here-in-their-midst-george-feels-a-sort-of-vertigo-oh-god-what-will/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“I put my genius into my life, not into my art.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/i-put-my-genius-into-my-life-not-into-my-art/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [We must remember that nothing in this world really belongs to us. At best, we are merely borrowers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/we-must-remember-that-nothing-in-this-world-really-belongs-to-us-at/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [In the eternal lazy morning of the Pacific, days slip away into months, months into years; the seasons are reduced to the faintest nuance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/in-the-eternal-lazy-morning-of-the-pacific-days-slip-away-into-months/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“Waking up begins with am and now. That which has awoken then lies for a while staring up at the ceiling and down into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/waking-up-begins-with-am-and-now-that-which-has-awoken-then-lies-for/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [“Like a long train which stops at every dingy little station, the winter dragged slowly past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/like-a-long-train-which-stops-at-every-dingy-little-station-the/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [Every writer has certain subjects that they write about again and again, and . . . most people's books are just variations on certain themes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/every-writer-has-certain-subjects-that-they-write-about-again-and/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) [Explore all 169 Christopher Isherwood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) ## More Cowards quotes > [There will always be people who will first wait for somebody's comment and then attack them. I'll say they are just cowards. They have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soni-razdan/there-will-always-be-people-who-will-first-wait-for-somebody-s/) [Soni Razdan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soni-razdan/) > [“The world is not fair, and often fools, cowards, liars and the selfish hide in high places. (p 57)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/the-world-is-not-fair-and-often-fools-cowards-liars-and-the-selfish/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [Artists who say they do not want to mix up in politics are cowards who are not willing to come to terms with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/artists-who-say-they-do-not-want-to-mix-up-in-politics-are-cowards/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [People who keep dogs are cowards who haven't got the guts to bite people themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/people-who-keep-dogs-are-cowards-who-haven-t-got-the-guts-to-bite/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [It is the disease of cowards, who do not have the courage to speak upfront and so talk behind one's back... Watch out against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/it-is-the-disease-of-cowards-who-do-not-have-the-courage-to-speak/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [If our principles are right, why should we be cowards?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretia-mott/if-our-principles-are-right-why-should-we-be-cowards/) [Lucretia Mott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretia-mott/) > [Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-holder/though-this-nation-has-proudly-thought-of-itself-as-an-ethnic-melting/) [Eric Holder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-holder/) > [“Richard had noticed that events were cowards: they didn't occur singly, but instead they would run in packs and leap out at him all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-had-noticed-that-events-were-cowards-they-didn-t-occur-singly/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [No police or military in the world can protect people who are cowards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-police-or-military-in-the-world-can-protect-people-who-are-cowards/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“I can only miss the true and I can only mourn the brave. Cowards make it easy to let go because you're not losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/i-can-only-miss-the-true-and-i-can-only-mourn-the-brave-cowards-make/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [Of two cowards, the one who finds the other out first has the advantage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italian-proverb/of-two-cowards-the-one-who-finds-the-other-out-first-has-the-advantage/) [Italian Proverb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italian-proverb/) > [“People cling to their rotten memories, to all their misfortunes, and you can't pry them loose. These things keep them busy. They avenge themselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-ferdinand-celine/people-cling-to-their-rotten-memories-to-all-their-misfortunes-and/) [Louis-Ferdinand Céline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-ferdinand-celine/) > [Haters are cowards. When confronted they often back down. We must resist haters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-reno/haters-are-cowards-when-confronted-they-often-back-down-we-must/) [Janet Reno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-reno/) > [“Men are such cowards. They outrage every law of the world, and are afraid of the world’s tongue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-are-such-cowards-they-outrage-every-law-of-the-world-and-are/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Newspapers are a great place for cowards and malcontents to have their say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-shaara/newspapers-are-a-great-place-for-cowards-and-malcontents-to-have/) [Jeff Shaara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-shaara/) [Browse all 417 Cowards quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowards/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Experience isn't any use. And yet, in quite another way, it might be. 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