--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you want to really know something you…" description: "\"“If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on hap..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/jonathan-d-spence-71798_books_if-you-want-to-really-know-something-you_1814447.jpg" --- # If you want to really know something you have to observe… ![“If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on happening to see it in a book, you'll be a laughingstock to those who really know.” quote by Jonathan D. Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/jonathan-d-spence-71798_books_if-you-want-to-really-know-something-you_1814447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/jonathan-d-spence-71798_books_if-you-want-to-really-know-something-you_1814447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f20/jonathan-d-spence-71798_books_if-you-want-to-really-know-something-you_1814447.jpg) > ““If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on happening to see it in a book, you'll be a laughingstock to those who really know.”” [Jonathan D. Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-spence/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True understanding requires personal observation; second‑hand knowledge leads to ridicule. **In simple terms:** Learn by doing, not just reading. Key Takeaway Validate knowledge through experience. Themes learning experience truth credibility Mood inquisitive cautious Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - research - travel - field work - education Key Concepts epistemology critical thinking Questions to Reflect On - What experiences have reshaped your beliefs? - How can you verify information before accepting it? A Different Perspective Experience can be limited or biased. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience Person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-person-392186/) [Hearsay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hearsay/) [Hearsay Happening](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hearsay-happening-2142276/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Laughingstock Really](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laughingstock-really-2142277/) [Observation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observation/) [Observe Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observe-experience-2116913/) ## Related quotes > [If you can observe your own experience with a minimum of interference, and if you don't try to control what you experience, if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-kurtz/if-you-can-observe-your-own-experience-with-a-minimum-of-interference/) [Ron Kurtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-kurtz/) > [Philosophy begins with the understanding that you cannot just observe or experience and then report what you see, because how you conceptualize and symbolize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-gendlin/philosophy-begins-with-the-understanding-that-you-cannot-just-observe/) [Eugene Gendlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-gendlin/) > [To want to be an actor is enough - you don't need to tell us about it. 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One person decides…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-robbins/if-you-become-a-master-of-meaning-you-become-a-master-of-your-life/) [Tony Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-robbins/) > [“In Joe’s experience, the person who talked the most very often had the least to say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-box/in-joe-s-experience-the-person-who-talked-the-most-very-often-had-the/) [C.J. Box](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-box/) > [“Sometimes maybe you need an experience. The experience can be a person or it can be a drug. The experience opes a door that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-burgess/sometimes-maybe-you-need-an-experience-the-experience-can-be-a-person-3/) [Melvin Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-burgess/) > [When you fight someone, you share the experience with that one person, and you're never going to have that experience with someone else-even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-carano/when-you-fight-someone-you-share-the-experience-with-that-one-person/) [Gina Carano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gina-carano/) > [I wouldn't change my experience for anything. It made me the person I am today. Not just on the court but off the court.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gooden/i-wouldn-t-change-my-experience-for-anything-it-made-me-the-person-i/) [Drew Gooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gooden/) > [“Events and experiences in life determine our attitude. If we have a positive experience with a person, our attitude towards him is likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-khera/events-and-experiences-in-life-determine-our-attitude-if-we-have-a/) [Shiv Khera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-khera/) > [When a person with money meets a person with experience, the person with the experience winds up with the money and the person with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-mackay/when-a-person-with-money-meets-a-person-with-experience-the-person/) [Harvey Mackay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-mackay/) > [The aesthetic experience has to be given. And beauty is a regular experience of every person - every person who is not clinically depressed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-schjeldahl/the-aesthetic-experience-has-to-be-given-and-beauty-is-a-regular/) [Peter Schjeldahl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-schjeldahl/) > [“Sometimes maybe you need an experience. The experience can be a person or it can be a drug. The experience opens a door that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-burgess/sometimes-maybe-you-need-an-experience-the-experience-can-be-a-person-2/) [melvin burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-burgess/) > [Sometimes maybe you need an experience. The experience can be a person or it can be a drug. The experience opens a door that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melvin-burgess/sometimes-maybe-you-need-an-experience-the-experience-can-be-a-person/) [Melvin Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melvin-burgess/) > [A memoir takes some particular threads, some incidents, some experience from a person's life and gives an account of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hell/a-memoir-takes-some-particular-threads-some-incidents-some-experience/) [Richard Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hell/) ## More by Jonathan D. Spence > [“The written word has its limits and its challenges, for the primal sound in the whole world is that made by the human voice,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-d-spence/the-written-word-has-its-limits-and-its-challenges-for-the-primal/) [Jonathan D. Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-spence/) > [“Shelves full of books are all around me. Opening the different volumes I take a look, and find the pages covered with writings in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-d-spence/shelves-full-of-books-are-all-around-me-opening-the-different-volumes/) [Jonathan D. Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-spence/) > [“Seek joyfulness when you can, for seeking joy leads to an auspicious atmosphere.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-d-spence/seek-joyfulness-when-you-can-for-seeking-joy-leads-to-an-auspicious/) [Jonathan D. Spence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-spence/) [Explore all 4 Jonathan D. Spence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-d-spence/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) [Christopher K. 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There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [“Be careful about reading health books. Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) [Markus Herz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/markus-herz/) > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you want to really know something you have to observe or experience it in person; if you claim to know something on the basis of hearsay, or on happening to see it in a book, you'll be a laughingstock to those who really know.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan D. 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