wise men learn by other men's harms, fools by their own
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Intelligent people learn from others' mistakes, while foolish people learn from their own
Examples
The warning label on the product was a reminder that wise men learn by other men's harms, fools by their own
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wise men learn by other men's harms, fools by their own” mean?
Intelligent people learn from others' mistakes, while foolish people learn from their own
Is “wise men learn by other men's harms, fools by their own” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.