People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.

The line argues that genuine understanding is experiential rather than merely instructional. Advice, warnings, and explanations may transmit information, but they rarely produce the internal conviction that changes behavior; that comes from discovery, trial, error, and personal consequence. In this view, learning is less a transfer of knowledge from teacher to student than a process of self-realization—people must “own” an insight before it becomes usable wisdom. The quote also implies a limit to persuasion: even well-meant guidance can be ineffective if it bypasses the learner’s autonomy. As a result, it can be read both as a counsel of patience (with others’ choices) and as a reminder to seek firsthand engagement rather than secondhand certainty.