--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sciences may be learned by rote, but…" description: "\"Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.\" — Laurence Sterne" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg" --- # Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not. ![“Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.” quote by Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg) > “Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.” [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning facts by memorization differs from gaining wisdom, which requires experience and reflection. **In simple terms:** Rote learning ≠ wisdom. Key Takeaway Seek experience over memorization. Themes education wisdom learning reflection experience Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - school study - professional training - personal development - mentoring Key Concepts Epistemology critical thinking philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How do you turn knowledge into wisdom? - When does memorization become insufficient? A Different Perspective Wisdom may be inaccessible without practical application. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Sciences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sciences/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [But to me all sciences seem vain and full of error that are not born of experience, mother of all certainty, and do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/but-to-me-all-sciences-seem-vain-and-full-of-error-that-are-not-born/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Because my dad's Chinese-American, and they're very concrete, he said, 'There's no money to be made in literature.' 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I preferred English, drama, music, and history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamzin-outhwaite/sciences-were-not-my-favourite-subjects-at-school-i-preferred-english/) [Tamzin Outhwaite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamzin-outhwaite/) > [“Handwriting is the garden of the sciences.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abu-dulaf/handwriting-is-the-garden-of-the-sciences/) Abu Dulaf > [“The physical sciences capitalize on the lessons of the past, but the social sciences seldom do.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-cleon-skousen/the-physical-sciences-capitalize-on-the-lessons-of-the-past-but-the/) [W. Cleon Skousen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-cleon-skousen/) > [For a long time I thought I should be a civil engineer. 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As we get more and more in the arena of understanding science and getting better opportunities, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-fauci/bioethics-is-a-very-very-important-field-as-we-get-more-and-more-in/) [Anthony Fauci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-fauci/) ## More by Laurence Sterne > [The insolence of base minds in success is boundless; and would scarce admit of a comparison, did not they themselves furnish us with one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-insolence-of-base-minds-in-success-is-boundless-and-would-scarce/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [The world is ashamed of being virtuous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/the-world-is-ashamed-of-being-virtuous/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Digressions incontestably are the sunshine; they are the life, the soul of reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/digressions-incontestably-are-the-sunshine-they-are-the-life-the-soul/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [I was acquainted once with a gallant soldier who assured me that his only measure of courage was this: upon the first fire, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/i-was-acquainted-once-with-a-gallant-soldier-who-assured-me-that-his/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [A man's body and his mind, with the utmost reverence to both I speak it, are exactly like a jerkin and a jerkin's lining;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/a-man-s-body-and-his-mind-with-the-utmost-reverence-to-both-i-speak/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [When the affections so kindly break loose, Joy, is another name for Religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/when-the-affections-so-kindly-break-loose-joy-is-another-name-for/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Sweet pliability of man's spirit, that can at once surrender itself to illusions, which cheat expectation and sorrow of their weary moments! - long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sweet-pliability-of-man-s-spirit-that-can-at-once-surrender-itself-to/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Philosophy has a fine saying for everything.-For Death it has an entire set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/philosophy-has-a-fine-saying-for-everything-for-death-it-has-an/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) > [Dear sensibility! Source inexhausted of all that's precious in our joys, or costly in our sorrows! Eternal fountain of our feelings! 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It's not a burden to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seungri/everything-i-do-is-more-memorable-and-i-understand-music-more-than/) [Seungri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seungri/) > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [The size of a man's understanding might always be justly measured by his mirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-size-of-a-man-s-understanding-might-always-be-justly-measured-by/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look it right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-garcia/once-in-awhile-you-get-shown-the-light-in-the-strangest-of-places-if/) [Jerry Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-garcia/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. 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Pacat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-u-pacat/) [Browse all 22,300 Learning quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Laurence Sterne" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisdom-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Learning" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisdom-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5e3/laurence-sterne-1405_learning_sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisd_2425789.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sciences may be learned by rote, but wisdom not.” — Laurence Sterne", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Laurence Sterne", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Sciences may be learned by rote,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisdom-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/sciences-may-be-learned-by-rote-but-wisdom-not/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```