No Pratchett source has been found for this line. It was added to Wikiquote’s Pratchett page without a source in 2005 and moved to the talk page’s “Unsourced” list in 2009. It reworks an anonymous saying: “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.”
“Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom” Widely credited to Terry Pratchett, but no source in his writings has been found (Wikiquote lists it as unsourced). Via Quotle.info
Can you use it?
? We couldn’t verify where this wording comes from, so there’s no rights status to give. Safe to present as an unverified or anonymous line — just don’t assert a specific author or source.
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In context
Evoking the themes of wisdom, failure and growth. Theme: "Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Minimalist
Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
Provenance
Where the line actually turns up
Status
Unsourced — no Pratchett text located
Added to Wikiquote
19 September 2005, under “Attributed,” no source given
Moved to
Talk:Terry Pratchett, “Unsourced” list, 26 January 2009
Related saying
“Good judgment comes from experience…” (anonymous, in print by 1932)
Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.
As it appeared, with no source, in the 19 September 2005 revision of Wikiquote’s Terry Pratchett page. The same wording now sits on the “Unsourced” list of that page’s talk page.
Wikiquote, 19 September 2005: the line is added to the Terry Pratchett page under “Attributed,” with no source — 2005 revision ↗
Wikiquote, 26 January 2009: an editor moves unsourced quotes, this one among them, to the talk page’s “Unsourced” list, where it still is — 2009 revision ↗
Quote Investigator traces the older saying “Good judgment comes from experience…” to an anonymous 1932 newspaper item. Its article does not mention Pratchett — Quote Investigator ↗
A search of the L-Space Pratchett Quote File, a large fan collection of lines from his books and Usenet posts, finds no match — Pratchett Quote File ↗
No published work by Terry Pratchett is known to contain this wording, so there is no work whose copyright status could be stated. His novels are in copyright, but this line has not been traced to any of them, and the wording has no identified author.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Why it gets pinned on Pratchett
Clever, unsourced lines often end up credited to Terry Pratchett, and Quote Investigator ↗ has looked into several of them. This one has no Pratchett source that anyone has found.
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The popular creditTerry Pratchett unsourced
Wikiquote requires a precise source for every quotation and lists this line as unsourced on its Pratchett talk page ↗. It is not among the sourced quotations on his main Wikiquote page ↗.
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A credit in printJ. L. Collins, The Simple Path to Wealth secondhand
Goodreads ↗ files the line under Collins’s personal-finance book, where it is printed with a “—Terry Pratchett” credit. When a book quotes an attribution, it repeats the credit. It is not a source for it.
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The underlying jokeAnonymous folk saying older saying
The line has the same shape as “Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.” Quote Investigator ↗ finds that saying in 1932 and says the link to Will Rogers is unsupported. Rita Mae Brown called it an “old saying” when she used it.
✓No Pratchett source has been found. Treat the line as an unsourced attribution that reworks an anonymous saying. See Wikiquote’s Unsourced list ↗.
Context
An old joke in new words
The line is a short version of a joke about experience that was already circulating. Quote Investigator ↗ found its earliest match in The Muncie Evening Press in 1932. There, Fred Rose was reported quoting: “Good Judgment depends mostly on experience and experience usually comes from poor judgment.”
The same article notes a related thought from Oscar Wilde, in Lady Windermere’s Fan (published 1893): “Experience is the name every one gives to their mistakes.” The “lack of wisdom” wording gives the same circular joke a new vocabulary. A famous name is what made it travel.
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Filed under
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The author
About Anonymous
AN
Anonymous
Folk saying · in print by 1932 (Quote Investigator)
The idea behind this line is an anonymous saying: good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. Quote Investigator’s earliest match is a 1932 Indiana newspaper item, where the speaker did not claim to have coined it. Later credits to Will Rogers are unsupported, and Rita Mae Brown used it in 2001 as an “old saying.” The “lack of wisdom” version credited to Terry Pratchett has no identified author.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Best available record
No primary source. Listed without a source in Wikiquote, “Terry Pratchett,” revision of 19 September 2005, section “Attributed”; moved to “Talk:Terry Pratchett,” section “Unsourced,” 26 January 2009.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/wisdom-comes-from-experience-experience-is-often-a-result/