Family Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old Family quotes, Family sayings, and Family proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.


A stumble may prevent a fall.      -- English (on experience)
After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
All experience is education for the soul.      -- unknown
An old ox makes a straight furrow.      -- Spanish (on experience)
By crawling, a child learns to stand.      -- Hausa (West African) (on experience)
Experience is the best teacher.      -- Latin Proverb
Experience is the mother of wisdom.      -- unknown
Experience teaches slowly and at the cost of mistakes.      -- James Anthony Froude (1818-1894)
If you are not a fish, how can you tell if the fish are happy?      -- Chinese (on experience)
If youth knew, if age could.      -- Henri Estienne (1531-1598)
If you've never run aground, you've never been anywhere!      -- unknown sailor - thanks to John M.
It is foolish to try to imitate the skills of others.      -- Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It pays to be prepared.      -- Aesop (c.620-560 BC)
It takes a heap of licks to hit a nail in the dark.      -- African American (on common sense)
Learn from other peoples mistakes.      -- unknown
Learn from your mistakes.      -- unknown
Learning is best when put into practice.      -- unknown
Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.      -- Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
Only the sufferers know how their bellies ache.      -- Burmese (on experience)
The buyer needs a hundred eyes, the seller but one.      -- George Herbert (1593-1633)
The early bird catches the worm.      -- William Camden (1551-1623)
The grand instructor, time.      -- Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom spun too fine.      -- Ben Franklin (1706-1790)
The person with burnt fingers asks for tongs.      -- Samoan (on experience)
The years teach much which the days never know.      -- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Well begun is half done.      -- Aristotle (384-322 BC)
You cannot put an old head on young shoulders.      -- unknown