E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Learn (1 syl.).
Live and learn.
1
Cato, the censor, was an old man when he taught himself Greek.
2
Michael Angelo, at seventy years of age, said, “I am still learning.”
3
John Kemble wrote out Hamlet thirty times, and said, on quitting the stage, “I am now beginning to understand my art.”
4
Mrs. Siddons, after she left the stage, was found studying Lady Macbeth, and said, “I am amazed to discover some new points in the character which I never found out while acting it.”
5
Milton, in his blindness, when past fifty, sat down to complete his Paradise Lost.
6
Scott, at fifty-five, took up his pen to redeem an enormous liability.
7
Richardson was above fifty when he published his first novel, Pam’ela.
8
Benjamin West was sixty-four when he commenced his series of paintings, one of which is Christ Healing the Sick.
