The only thing we have learnt from experience is that we learn nothing from experience.

The aphorism expresses a bleak irony: even repeated exposure to consequences does not guarantee wiser behavior. It points to the gap between having experiences and extracting durable lessons from them—because of denial, self-interest, selective memory, or the pressure of circumstance. Read in a political or historical key, it suggests societies may reenact familiar mistakes (corruption, violence, authoritarianism) despite ample evidence of harm. Read personally, it critiques the comforting belief that time and hardship automatically produce insight; learning requires reflection, honesty, and the willingness to change, not merely the accumulation of events.