There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

Rogers is joking about how people learn: some absorb knowledge from books, a smaller number learn by watching the world carefully, and many only learn through direct, often painful experience. The crude image of “pee on the electric fence” underscores the stubbornness of experiential learners—those who ignore advice and evidence until consequences force understanding. The line also reflects Rogers’s broader persona as a folksy social commentator: he uses plain speech and exaggerated humor to criticize human folly without sounding moralistic. In modern terms, it’s a quip about the limits of secondhand knowledge and the persistence of trial-and-error learning.

1) “There are three kinds of men: the one that learns by reading; the few who learn by observation; the rest of them have to touch an electric fence for themselves.”
2) “There are three kinds of people: those who learn by reading, a few by observation, and the rest by experience.”
3) “There are three kinds of men… the rest have to pee on the electric fence themselves.”