proverb · Words worth keeping
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying makes good judgment come from experience and experience come from bad judgment. It gives learning from mistakes a circular, paradoxical form.
What the words are saying
The repeated terms connect an earlier error with a possible later improvement. A qualified interpretation can encourage reflection without treating mistakes as the only way to learn or harm as necessary. The supplied medical example is not established by the actual wording and is not repeated as clinical evidence.
Everyday example
Someone reviews a poor decision and changes the process while also learning from another person’s example.
When to use it
Use it to discuss reflection and learning without requiring avoidable mistakes.
What it does not mean
Errors do not automatically teach good judgment, and no clinical outcome is verified.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- Contributor-provided proverb reference
Supplied reference A; unit 373; PDF page 56
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.