--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: They say experience is the best teacher…" description: "\"“They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.”\" — Lee Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg" --- # They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be… ![“They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.” quote by Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg) > ““They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.”” [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Experience claims to teach, but its lessons are often vague and personal, leaving us uncertain of their value. **In simple terms:** Experience says it teaches, but we may not know what. Key Takeaway Question the usefulness of vague lessons. Themes learning uncertainty experience Mood inquisitive skeptical Type philosophical conversational When to use this quote - career advice - education - creative writing - self‑improvement Key Concepts epistemology personal growth interpretation Questions to Reflect On - What concrete lesson have you extracted from a recent experience? - Can you identify when experience truly informs you? A Different Perspective Some experiences provide clear guidance; not all are ambiguous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Best teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-teacher/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Experience Is The Best Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience-is-the-best-teacher/) [Mentorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentorship/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Teachers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teachers/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) ## Related quotes > [No matter who tries to teach you about life.You won't understand it until you have to go through it,They say experience is the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vboo/no-matter-who-tries-to-teach-you-about-life-you-won-t-understand-it/) [VBOo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vboo/) > [Experience is the best teacher of all. And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist. Only the journey matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-callahan/experience-is-the-best-teacher-of-all-and-for-that-there-are-no/) [Harry Callahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-callahan/) > [Experience is the best teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/experience-is-the-best-teacher/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Experience is the best teacher in life, and love is the best experience in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/experience-is-the-best-teacher-in-life-and-love-is-the-best/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Experience is the best teacher. Learn from every event that happens in your life. Whether it be good or bad, these experiences will make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/experience-is-the-best-teacher-learn-from-every-event-that-happens-in/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [Do you know why experience is the best teacher of all time? Cos it gives you the test first and then the lessons afterwards...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valucci/do-you-know-why-experience-is-the-best-teacher-of-all-time-cos-it/) Valucci > [Experience is not the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-andrews/experience-is-not-the-best-teacher-other-people-s-experience-is-the/) [Andy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-andrews/) > [“Experience is the best teacher I've ever had. I'm sorry, Mr. Sortz, but it's true.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/experience-is-the-best-teacher-i-ve-ever-had-i-m-sorry-mr-sortz-but/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [Its true that experience is the best teacher, but it does not have to be YOUR OWN experience everytime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/its-true-that-experience-is-the-best-teacher-but-it-does-not-have-to/) Senoraroy > [Experience is the best teacher. I've been through a lot - going to the Olympics, going to the Finals, having a lot of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-durant/experience-is-the-best-teacher-i-ve-been-through-a-lot-going-to-the/) [Kevin Durant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-durant/) > [I think experience is the best teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerami-grant/i-think-experience-is-the-best-teacher/) [Jerami Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerami-grant/) > [Remember, young man, experience is not the best teacher. Other people's experience is the best teacher. By reading about the lives of great people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-andrews/remember-young-man-experience-is-not-the-best-teacher-other-people-s/) [Andy Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-andrews/) > [Experience is the best teacher in life, don't get too curl up to what you are going through at the moment cuz it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaze-olamiday/experience-is-the-best-teacher-in-life-don-t-get-too-curl-up-to-what/) [Blaze Olamiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaze-olamiday/) > [Experience is the best teacher which gives exposure to all aspects of life.There are many aspects of life to be learned unless you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/experience-is-the-best-teacher-which-gives-exposure-to-all-aspects-of/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [Life experience is the best teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/life-experience-is-the-best-teacher/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) ## More by Lee Smith > [“And I belive I am too, and if you think that is awful, then you dont understand a thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/and-i-belive-i-am-too-and-if-you-think-that-is-awful-then-you-dont/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [Certainly I was a very religious child, a deeply weird and very emotional child, an only child with lots of imaginary friends and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/certainly-i-was-a-very-religious-child-a-deeply-weird-and-very/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [I have always been interested in religion, especially in forms of ecstatic religion, where people are touched directly by the Spirit and go completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-have-always-been-interested-in-religion-especially-in-forms-of/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [Born Virginia Marshall but nicknamed Gig, my mother was a home economics teacher who had come all the way across the whole state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/born-virginia-marshall-but-nicknamed-gig-my-mother-was-a-home/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [I had always dreamed of living in Chapel Hill. When I was a college student at Hollins University in Virginia, I came down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-had-always-dreamed-of-living-in-chapel-hill-when-i-was-a-college/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [I think what happens to young writers is that they use up every life experience that they have had up to that point for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-think-what-happens-to-young-writers-is-that-they-use-up-every-life/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [I am so sorry to see the state of reading in such decline. I think it says something really scary and terrible about us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-am-so-sorry-to-see-the-state-of-reading-in-such-decline-i-think-it/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“...for in the world of the mad, time is not a continuum but a fluid, shifting place, relative to nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/for-in-the-world-of-the-mad-time-is-not-a-continuum-but-a-fluid/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“For once I am living my life rather than watching it pass in review.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/for-once-i-am-living-my-life-rather-than-watching-it-pass-in-review/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“I had before me an object lesson, I thought: two ways to face the world. One way as embodied by this old woman—simple, unassuming,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/i-had-before-me-an-object-lesson-i-thought-two-ways-to-face-the-world/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“Is any story not always the narrator's story, in the end?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/is-any-story-not-always-the-narrator-s-story-in-the-end/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“My belief is that we have only one life, that this is all there is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/my-belief-is-that-we-have-only-one-life-that-this-is-all-there-is/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“To much has happened too fast Dear Diary. What I want is for nothing to happen at all. I don't even want good things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/to-much-has-happened-too-fast-dear-diary-what-i-want-is-for-nothing/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“this point I could not show myself, of course, or all would”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/this-point-i-could-not-show-myself-of-course-or-all-would/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) > [“Perhaps any life is such: different stories like different strands, each distinct in itself, each true, yet wound together to form one rope, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/perhaps-any-life-is-such-different-stories-like-different-strands/) [Lee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) [Explore all 43 Lee Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/) ## More Best teacher quotes > [“The best teacher is experience. Not by copying the answers off the kid sitting next to you...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-n-harris/the-best-teacher-is-experience-not-by-copying-the-answers-off-the-kid/) [José N. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-n-harris/) > [Experiences isn't the best teacher - evaluated experience is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/experiences-isn-t-the-best-teacher-evaluated-experience-is/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Experience is the best teacher of all. And for that, there are no guarantees that one will become an artist. Only the journey matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-callahan/experience-is-the-best-teacher-of-all-and-for-that-there-are-no/) [Harry Callahan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-callahan/) > [Truths of life¦ The most beautiful day: Today The easiest thing: Equivocate The biggest obstacle: Fear The gravest error: give up, to despair The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/truths-of-life-the-most-beautiful-day-today-the-easiest-thing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors. The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/books-permit-us-to-voyage-through-time-to-tap-the-wisdom-of-our/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Travel is the best teacher. The only way to an open mind is by taking a plane out into the open world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-joybell-c/travel-is-the-best-teacher-the-only-way-to-an-open-mind-is-by-taking/) [C. JoyBell C](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-joybell-c/) > [Mistakes are often the best teachers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-anthony-froude/mistakes-are-often-the-best-teachers/) [James Anthony Froude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-anthony-froude/) > [Life & Time Are The Worlds Best Teachers. Life Teaches Us The Use Of Time & Time Teaches Us The Value Of Life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-time-are-the-worlds-best-teachers-life-teaches-us-the-use-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your best teacher , supporter, motivator and counselor resides inside your self as your soul , don't feel miserable in opposite circumstances , just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senoraroy/your-best-teacher-supporter-motivator-and-counselor-resides-inside/) Senoraroy > [“Lucy, who apparently had no idea his girlfriend's father held him in such low regard, agreed with Noonan that he was pushing the envelope,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-russo/lucy-who-apparently-had-no-idea-his-girlfriend-s-father-held-him-in/) [Richard Russo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-russo/) > [“Oops! "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results." Basic Text, p. 23 Mistakes! We all know how it feels to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/oops-insanity-is-repeating-the-same-mistakes-and-expecting-different/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“to teach is the best way to learn, but that the imperfect are the best teachers of the imperfect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/to-teach-is-the-best-way-to-learn-but-that-the-imperfect-are-the-best/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [We have seen that, in another unfunded mandate, the so-called No Child Left Behind Act, which created tougher standards, and we all support that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-filner/we-have-seen-that-in-another-unfunded-mandate-the-so-called-no-child/) [Bob Filner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-filner/) > [LIFE and TIME are the worlds best teachers. Life teaches us to make good use of time and time teaches us the value of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/life-and-time-are-the-worlds-best-teachers-life-teaches-us-to-make/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [There was the best teachers from the Czech Philharmonic, highly dedicated people, some of the best musicians in the world passing on the knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miroslav-vitous/there-was-the-best-teachers-from-the-czech-philharmonic-highly/) [Miroslav Vitous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miroslav-vitous/) [Browse all 273 Best teacher quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/best-teacher/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lee Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher-but-i-ll-be-damned-if-i-know/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Best teacher" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher-but-i-ll-be-damned-if-i-know/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d56/lee-smith-15392_best-teacher_they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher_3096731.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“They say experience is the best teacher, but I'll be damned if I know what it teaches you.” — Lee Smith", "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": "Lee Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“They say experience is the best...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher-but-i-ll-be-damned-if-i-know/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-smith/they-say-experience-is-the-best-teacher-but-i-ll-be-damned-if-i-know/#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 } } ] } ```