Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other.

What it means

Learning by your own painful mistakes is expensive. The wise learn from advice and from others' mistakes. Take the cheaper lesson when it is offered.

The source

"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." Benjamin Franklin said it in The Way to Wealth (Poor Richard Improved, 1758). Written in English: Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1805 London printing.

"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other"

Original English (Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1805 London printing), The Way to Wealth (Poor Richard Improved, 1758). Text read at gutenberg.org.

Who said it

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790). Printer, inventor and American founder who published Poor Richard's Almanack for 25 years. The Way to Wealth (1758) gathers its best sayings.

Questions

What does "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." mean?

Learning by your own painful mistakes is expensive. The wise learn from advice and from others' mistakes. Take the cheaper lesson when it is offered.

Who said "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other."?

Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790). Source: The Way to Wealth (Poor Richard Improved, 1758).

What is the original wording?

Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other (Original English (Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1805 London printing)). Written in English: Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1805 London printing.

Is "Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." on a shirt?

Yes. We print it to order on our tees in 7 illustrated looks, from $44, with free US shipping.

"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other." (Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (Poor Richard Improved, 1758), trans. Original English (Franklin's Way to Wealth, 1805 London printing)). https://spartansurfers.com/quotes/experience-keeps-a-dear-school-but-fools-will