--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They keep telling you, when you’re older…" description: "\"“They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have experience—and that’s supposed to be so great. What would you say about that, sir? Is it really ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/christopher-isherwood-2302_experience_they-keep-telling-you-when-you-re-older_1495519.png" --- # They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have… ![“They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have experience—and that’s supposed to be so great. What would you say about that, sir? Is it really any use, would you say?" "What kind of experience?” “Well—places you’ve been to, people you’ve met. Situations you’ve been through already, so you…” quote by Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/christopher-isherwood-2302_experience_they-keep-telling-you-when-you-re-older_1495519.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/christopher-isherwood-2302_experience_they-keep-telling-you-when-you-re-older_1495519.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/christopher-isherwood-2302_experience_they-keep-telling-you-when-you-re-older_1495519.png) > ““They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have experience—and that’s supposed to be so great. What would you say about that, sir? Is it really any use, would you say?" "What kind of experience?” “Well—places you’ve been to, people you’ve met. Situations you’ve been through already, so you know how to handle them when they come up again. All that stuff that’s supposed to make you wise, in your later years.” “Let me tell you something, Kenny. For other people, I can’t speak—but, personally, I haven’t gotten wise on anything. Certainly, I’ve been through this and that; and when it happens again, I say to myself, Here it is again. But that doesn’t seem to help me. In my opinion, I, personally, have gotten steadily sillier and sillier and sillier—and that’s a fact.” “No kidding, sir? You can’t mean that! You mean, sillier than when you were young?” “Much, much sillier.” “I’ll be darned. Then experience is no use at all? You’re saying it might just as well not have happened?” “No. I’m not saying that. I only mean, you can’t use it. But if you don’t try to—if you just realize it’s there and you’ve got it—then it can be kind of marvelous.”” [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 does not guarantee wisdom; repeated situations can feel futile without active reflection. **In simple terms:** Experience alone isn’t enough. Key Takeaway Seek purposeful reflection on past events. Themes wisdom experience reflection aging Mood contemplative skeptical Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - career mentorship - personal growth - elder counseling Key Concepts cognitive bias learning theory Questions to Reflect On - What can you learn from repeated patterns? - How might you turn experience into actionable insight? A Different Perspective Experience can be misinterpreted as progress without critical analysis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life advice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-advice/) ## Related quotes > [“Experience," which is just a euphemism for heartache and heartbreak, failed love and false promises, for every time you told yourself This is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wurtzel/experience-which-is-just-a-euphemism-for-heartache-and-heartbreak/) [Elizabeth Wurtzel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wurtzel/) > [If things aren't as successful as you thought they would be, sometimes that's not the worst thing that can happen. 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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. 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Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [My favorite job is the next one. Its such a gratifying experience getting to creatively keep trying something new and push things in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-craig-smith/my-favorite-job-is-the-next-one-its-such-a-gratifying-experience/) [Roger Craig Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-craig-smith/) > [I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/i-happen-to-think-it-s-the-politics-that-makes-you-electable-but-the/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [Education is a lifelong experience. Experience is a lifelong education. Education plus experience equals expertise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bugeja/education-is-a-lifelong-experience-experience-is-a-lifelong-education/) Michael Bugeja > [Prison experience puts distance between me and any person who hasn't been there, done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mcconnell/prison-experience-puts-distance-between-me-and-any-person-who-hasn-t/) [Patricia McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mcconnell/) > [Experience is a thorough teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-jane-holmes/experience-is-a-thorough-teacher/) [Mary Jane Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-jane-holmes/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [I have no physical genius about me. 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And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) [Browse all 11,792 Experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They keep telling you, when you’re older, you’ll have experience—and that’s supposed to be so great. What would you say about that, sir? Is it really any use, would you say?\" \"What kind of experience?” “Well—places you’ve been to, people you’ve met. Situations you’ve been through already, so you know how to handle them when they come up again. All that stuff that’s supposed to make you wise, in your later years.” “Let me tell you something, Kenny. For other people, I can’t speak—but, personally, I haven’t gotten wise on anything. Certainly, I’ve been through this and that; and when it happens again, I say to myself, Here it is again. But that doesn’t seem to help me. In my opinion, I, personally, have gotten steadily sillier and sillier and sillier—and that’s a fact.” “No kidding, sir? You can’t mean that! You mean, sillier than when you were young?” “Much, much sillier.” “I’ll be darned. Then experience is no use at all? You’re saying it might just as well not have happened?” “No. I’m not saying that. I only mean, you can’t use it. 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