--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was thinking that we all learn by…" description: "\"I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some of us have to go to summer school.\" — Peter De Vries" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg" --- # I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some… ![“I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some of us have to go to summer school.” quote by Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg) > “I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some of us have to go to summer school.” [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He jokes that learning by experience sometimes requires formal schooling, blending sarcasm with a comment on education. **In simple terms:** Learning sometimes needs structured schooling. Key Takeaway Balance experience with formal learning. Themes education humor learning Mood witty reflective Type philosophical humorous When to use this quote - career development - academic courses - skill workshops Key Concepts experience vs. formal instruction sarcasm Questions to Reflect On - When is formal education essential? - How can experience complement schooling? A Different Perspective May undervalue informal learning. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Learn By Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learn-by-experience/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer/) [Summer school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/summer-school/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [We all learn by experience but some of us have to go to summer school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/we-all-learn-by-experience-but-some-of-us-have-to-go-to-summer-school/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [“Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others experience.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/fools-say-that-they-learn-by-experience-i-prefer-to-profit-by-others/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Whatever it is you want to do, take a job in that field. You will learn by experience and, slow and steady, you'll get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-ray/whatever-it-is-you-want-to-do-take-a-job-in-that-field-you-will-learn/) [Rachael Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-ray/) > [We do not learn by experience, but by our capacity for experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/we-do-not-learn-by-experience-but-by-our-capacity-for-experience/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Writers who have delved into human nature, ancient masters of strategy, historians of human stupidity and folly, kings and queens who have learned the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/writers-who-have-delved-into-human-nature-ancient-masters-of-strategy/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [None of us feels the true love of God till we realize how wicked we are. But you can't teach people that - they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/none-of-us-feels-the-true-love-of-god-till-we-realize-how-wicked-we/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [I wasn't a very good student. I prefer to learn by experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristin-milioti/i-wasn-t-a-very-good-student-i-prefer-to-learn-by-experience/) [Cristin Milioti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristin-milioti/) > [there are some people who never learn; indeed, few people learn by experience, so far as I have ever seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-oliphant/there-are-some-people-who-never-learn-indeed-few-people-learn-by/) [Margaret Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-oliphant/) > [We all learn by experience, and your lesson this time is that you should never lose sight of the alternative. Sherlock Holmes speaking with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/we-all-learn-by-experience-and-your-lesson-this-time-is-that-you/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [All I can do is share what I'm thinking - and learn from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blake-lively/all-i-can-do-is-share-what-i-m-thinking-and-learn-from-others/) [Blake Lively](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blake-lively/) > [Summer School: Never stop learnin' if you want to stop earnin'. I'm reasonably sure there G's in learning and earning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/summer-school-never-stop-learnin-if-you-want-to-stop-earnin-i-m/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [We must learn by experience to avoid either trains of thought or social situations which for us (not necessarily for everyone) lead to temptations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/we-must-learn-by-experience-to-avoid-either-trains-of-thought-or/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. In vague ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/and-not-only-did-he-learn-by-experience-but-instincts-long-dead/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [ “Adults, in their dealing with children, are insane," he \[Ed Ricketts\] said. "And children know it too. Adults lay down rules they would not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/adults-in-their-dealing-with-children-are-insane-he-ed-ricketts-said/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Normality is the ability to learn by experience, to be flexible, and to adapt to a changing environment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-s-kubie/normality-is-the-ability-to-learn-by-experience-to-be-flexible-and-to/) Lawrence S. Kubie ## More by Peter De Vries > [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Celibacy is the worst form of self-abuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/celibacy-is-the-worst-form-of-self-abuse/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/marriage-is-a-lottery-in-which-men-stake-their-liberty-and-women/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [What we are assigned to bear is in a sense a measure of our stature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/what-we-are-assigned-to-bear-is-in-a-sense-a-measure-of-our-stature/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [ “Who of us is mature enough for offspring before the offspring themselves arrive? 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It may be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/we-must-love-one-another-yes-yes-that-s-all-true-enough-but-nothing/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Gluttony is an emotional escape, a sign something is eating us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/gluttony-is-an-emotional-escape-a-sign-something-is-eating-us/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [The tuba is certainly the most intestinal of instruments, the very lower bowel of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/the-tuba-is-certainly-the-most-intestinal-of-instruments-the-very/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [My father hated radio and could not wait for television to be invented so he could hate that too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/my-father-hated-radio-and-could-not-wait-for-television-to-be/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [You can make a sordid thing sound like a brilliant drawing-room comedy. Probably a fear we have of facing up to the real issues.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/you-can-make-a-sordid-thing-sound-like-a-brilliant-drawing-room/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Confession is good for the soul only in the sense that a tweed coat is good for dandruff - it is a palliative rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/confession-is-good-for-the-soul-only-in-the-sense-that-a-tweed-coat/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Life is a crowded superhighway with bewildering cloverleaf exits on which a man is liable to find himself speeding back in the direction he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/life-is-a-crowded-superhighway-with-bewildering-cloverleaf-exits-on/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [If there's anything I hate it's the word humorist-I feel like countering with the word seriousist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/if-there-s-anything-i-hate-it-s-the-word-humorist-i-feel-like/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) [Explore all 88 Peter De Vries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“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 > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some of us have to go to summer school.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Peter De Vries" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-experience-but-some-of-us-have-to/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Education" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-experience-but-some-of-us-have-to/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c76/peter-de-vries-7735_education_i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-expe_2022834.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I was thinking that we all learn by experience, but some of us have to go to summer school.” — Peter De Vries", "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": "Peter De Vries", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I was thinking that we all...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-experience-but-some-of-us-have-to/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/i-was-thinking-that-we-all-learn-by-experience-but-some-of-us-have-to/#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 } } ] } ```