--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I went to school for 12 years, and uni…" description: "\"I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I learnt more about human existence in the 30 hours it took my first child to be born than I did i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png" --- # I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I… ![“I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I learnt more about human existence in the 30 hours it took my first child to be born than I did in all those years of study.” quote by Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png) > “I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I learnt more about human existence in the 30 hours it took my first child to be born than I did in all those years of study.” [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Personal experience of parenthood taught more about humanity than formal education, highlighting experiential learning’s depth. **In simple terms:** Childbirth taught more about life than school. Key Takeaway Value lived experience. Themes education parenthood humanity Mood reflective insightful Type personal inspirational When to use this quote - parenting - life coaching - philosophy seminars - career counseling Key Concepts experiential learning existential insight Questions to Reflect On - What lessons have you learned outside school? - How does parenthood reshape worldview? A Different Perspective May generalize from a single event. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Human existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-existence/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) ## Related quotes > [Every three or four years I pick a new subject. It may be Japanese art; it may be economics. 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I might, at some point, take two years off to study interior decoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sania-mirza/i-like-interior-decoration-so-i-might-do-something-in-that-i-might-at/) [Sania Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sania-mirza/) > [I think '12 Years a Slave' really helped me, as a person and as a student, to grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-reid/i-think-12-years-a-slave-really-helped-me-as-a-person-and-as-a/) [Storm Reid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-reid/) > [I learned more in 11 months in running for president than I did in 12 years of school.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-exotic/i-learned-more-in-11-months-in-running-for-president-than-i-did-in-12/) [Joe Exotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-exotic/) > [I love actors. 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The immense beauty of many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/where-i-had-expected-to-appreciate-the-monuments-and-love-the-natural/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I've been a writer and a parent since adolescence, it feels like, and I'm still making both gigs up as I go along. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-ve-been-a-writer-and-a-parent-since-adolescence-it-feels-like-and-i/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [Surviving is the strongest memory I have; the sense of having walked on water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/surviving-is-the-strongest-memory-i-have-the-sense-of-having-walked/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [The end of the world begins in the sea we love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/the-end-of-the-world-begins-in-the-sea-we-love/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [“Few landscapes have been so deeply known. And fewer still have been so lightly inhabited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/few-landscapes-have-been-so-deeply-known-and-fewer-still-have-been-so/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [“Life was something you didn't argue with, because when it came down to it, whether you barracked for God or nothing at all, life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/life-was-something-you-didn-t-argue-with-because-when-it-came-down-to/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [“Shit, he said as a great, green glut of water poured up at our feet. I wonder what the ordinary people are doin today.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/shit-he-said-as-a-great-green-glut-of-water-poured-up-at-our-feet-i/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [“Keep the day ahead of you, that's what the old man used to say.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/keep-the-day-ahead-of-you-that-s-what-the-old-man-used-to-say/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I guess it must be a time-of-life thing, looking back and trying to make some sense of who I am and where I've been.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-guess-it-must-be-a-time-of-life-thing-looking-back-and-trying-to/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [Will you look at us by the river! The whole restless mob of us on spread blankets in the dreamy briny sunshine skylarking and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/will-you-look-at-us-by-the-river-the-whole-restless-mob-of-us-on/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [The night is full of stories. They float up like miasmas, as though the dead leave their dreams in the earth where you bury…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/the-night-is-full-of-stories-they-float-up-like-miasmas-as-though-the/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [I grew up in a whaling town. We didn't stop whaling in Australia until 1978. And I've always lived in fishing communities. You could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-grew-up-in-a-whaling-town-we-didn-t-stop-whaling-in-australia-until/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [There is nowhere else I'd rather be, nothing else I would prefer to be doing. I am at the beach looking west with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/there-is-nowhere-else-i-d-rather-be-nothing-else-i-would-prefer-to-be/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) > [“Rare as rocking-horse turds, these days, feeling halfway to decent, with barely a sick twinge, and he was damned if he’d waste”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/rare-as-rocking-horse-turds-these-days-feeling-halfway-to-decent-with/) [Tim Winton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) [Explore all 122 Tim Winton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/) ## More Born quotes > [My mother says I didn't open my eyes for eight days after I was born, but when I did, the first thing I saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-taylor/my-mother-says-i-didn-t-open-my-eyes-for-eight-days-after-i-was-born/) [Elizabeth Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-taylor/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [The real world out there isn't nearly as nice as some people prefer it to be, so don't swallow everything your high-born teachers tell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-real-world-out-there-isn-t-nearly-as-nice-as-some-people-prefer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Anybody looking for a quiet life has picked the wrong century to born in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/anybody-looking-for-a-quiet-life-has-picked-the-wrong-century-to-born/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I was born and raised in Orlando, where the economy and culture has been powerfully shaped by tourism, and so I've long been interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/i-was-born-and-raised-in-orlando-where-the-economy-and-culture-has/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [I know that in the rap game you've got a lot of people, that come from poverty, was born in poverty and if it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-connor/i-know-that-in-the-rap-game-you-ve-got-a-lot-of-people-that-come-from/) [Jon Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-connor/) > [Nothing old is ever reborn but neither does it totally disappear. And that which has once been born, will always reappear in a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvar-aalto/nothing-old-is-ever-reborn-but-neither-does-it-totally-disappear-and/) [Alvar Aalto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alvar-aalto/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Must I go bound while you go free Must I love a manwho doesn't love me Must I be born with so little art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/must-i-go-bound-while-you-go-free-must-i-love-a-manwho-doesn-t-love/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [I'm not against gay people. I have a relative who is also gay. We can't help it if they were born that way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manny-pacquiao/i-m-not-against-gay-people-i-have-a-relative-who-is-also-gay-we-can-t/) [Manny Pacquiao](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manny-pacquiao/) > [“Every child is born as angel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/every-child-is-born-as-angel/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/) [Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/) > [There are two kinds of beauty; there is a beauty which God gives at birth, and which withers as a flower. 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I was born after Valentine's Day, so they wanted to change it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-romero/if-you-can-believe-it-hollywood-wanted-to-change-my-birthdate-i-was/) [Cesar Romero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-romero/) Browse all 11,606 Born quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I learnt more about human existence in the 30 hours it took my first child to be born than I did in all those years of study.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tim Winton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-for-four-but-i-learnt-more/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Born" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-for-four-but-i-learnt-more/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c33/tim-winton-3739_born_i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-fo_3020257.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I went to school for 12 years, and uni for four, but I learnt more about human existence in the 30 hours it…” — Tim Winton", "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": "Tim Winton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-winton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I went to school for 12...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-for-four-but-i-learnt-more/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-winton/i-went-to-school-for-12-years-and-uni-for-four-but-i-learnt-more/#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 } } ] } ```