[Ads-l] Education versus Experience: Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't

ADSGarson O'Toole adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM
Wed Jun 9 17:39:21 UTC 2021


The quip in the subject line was spoken by folk singer activist Pete
Seeger during an interview published in the October 1979 issue of
"Rolling Stone" magazine. Seeger receives credit for this joke in
several reference works.

Yet, the comment is attributed to another person in the earliest
instance I located in "The Wall Street Journal" on February 14, 1961.

[Begin excerpt]
Candid Comment
People may get an education from reading the fine print, but what they
get from not reading it is usually experience.-- Vesta M. Kelly.
[End excerpt]

The phrasing is variable, so the expression is difficult to trace.
Here is the QI article:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/06/08/small-print/

Feedback welcome,
Garson

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



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