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Anime and Manga
"Unfortunately, we quickly forget the lessons we learn, and then we have to learn them all over again."
— Jet Black, Cowboy Bebop
"Thus proving that the sarge has never met a lesson he actually learned."
— Narrator, Sgt. Frog
Sonic: You want us to let Dr. Eggman use the Chaos Emerald?!
Knuckles: [nods] He's promised to abandon his evil ways if we help him out.
Tails: We've heard that before.
Chris: Tails is right, Knuckles.
Cream: Dr. Eggman is always saying he'll abandon his evil ways, but he never does!
Amy: And yet every time, he somehow gets you to believe him.
Knuckles: [nods] He's promised to abandon his evil ways if we help him out.
Tails: We've heard that before.
Chris: Tails is right, Knuckles.
Cream: Dr. Eggman is always saying he'll abandon his evil ways, but he never does!
Amy: And yet every time, he somehow gets you to believe him.
— Sonic X, "An Enemy in Need"
Film — Live-Action
Dear brother, you're becoming predictable. I trust you, you betray me, round and round in circles we go. See Loki, life is about growth, it's about change, but you seem to just want to stay the same. I guess what I'm trying to say is you'll always be the god of mischief. But you could be more.
— Thor, Thor: Ragnarok
Live-Action TV
Schneider: Look, Rory, all you have to do is get the keys to your father's car, and his credit card...
Ben Sandwich: I dunno, Shane. I got a real bad feeling about this, you know? I've never done anything like this befo... oh, man! We're doing this story again?! How many times have we done this, Matt? A hundred thousand?
Schneider: He's yelling again. Stop the yelling.
Ben Sandwich: You know, how could I learn so much, every week, and still be so stupid?!"
Ben Sandwich: I dunno, Shane. I got a real bad feeling about this, you know? I've never done anything like this befo... oh, man! We're doing this story again?! How many times have we done this, Matt? A hundred thousand?
Schneider: He's yelling again. Stop the yelling.
Ben Sandwich: You know, how could I learn so much, every week, and still be so stupid?!"
"Welcome back to Fondue for Two. Tonight’s guests are two sworn enemies, who became friends, then became enemies again, then became friends again, then enemies and then everybody stopped caring."
— Brittany, Glee
Barney: We're not getting too old for anything.
Ted: You sure? I feel like we collectively learn the opposite lesson, like, at least once a year.
Ted: You sure? I feel like we collectively learn the opposite lesson, like, at least once a year.
Music
You know, although it was a dream,
I learned a valuable lesson, man
I just... don't remember what it was
I learned a valuable lesson, man
I just... don't remember what it was
— Mega Ran, "Boss Fight"
Mythology And Religion
"As a dog returns to his vomit, so a dullard repeats his folly."
Newspaper Comics
"One of the ongoing jokes in the strip is that Calvin usually learns the wrong lesson from his experiences, if he learns anything at all. Calvin's expression in the last panel suggests that he's resisting the moral here, too."
— Bill Watterson, The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book
Visual Novels
It's not hard to remember the last time we fought. When she yelled at me to stop treating her like a child. And now I've managed to do it again. Keep doing it, really. I can feel tears pushing their way to my eyes. Tears of regret, and of anger with myself. How? How could I let this happen again? And again and again and again?
—Amber Golley, Highway Blossoms Next Exit
Webcomics
Linus: I've got a map of camp that I made.
Malachi: Ah, for once I don't need you, for I too have made a map and OH NO YOURS IS WAY BETTER THAN MINE!
Linus: That's okay, though. Being the best isn't important.
Malachi: Oh, right. I forgot I already learned that lesson.
Malachi: Ah, for once I don't need you, for I too have made a map and OH NO YOURS IS WAY BETTER THAN MINE!
Linus: That's okay, though. Being the best isn't important.
Malachi: Oh, right. I forgot I already learned that lesson.
— Camp Weedonwantcha, "Review
"
" Web Original
“You see, in Thor: Ragnarok I learned my true power lies within myself and I never needed a hammer. So step one, I need a new hammer.”
I’m beginning to worry that in this series Laura may have regressed from being a character who has triumphantly overcome her trauma back to someone who is defined by it, from an embodiment of humanist positivity to a once bitten, twice shy cynic... undoing a lot of personal growth and leaving us with a superhero book that says: “don’t be a hero.”
Al: The premise of [Astonishing Iceman] seems to be "What if Bobby Drake faced up to the fact he's an Omega-level mutant and could probably do some good if he got his act together?"
Paul: Oh God, not again! That's the only Iceman story for the last ten years!
Al: It seems to be Iceman as, like, establishment superhero...
Paul: Yeah, I mean, literally the stock Iceman story for ten, fifteen years now has been "Bobby, you have failed to achieve your potential." It was done as an arc in Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic a year or so back, it was done in Astonishing X-Men, it was done in the Iceman solo book that ran for a while. Please, God, if we're going to have an Iceman series, not that one again.
Paul: Oh God, not again! That's the only Iceman story for the last ten years!
Al: It seems to be Iceman as, like, establishment superhero...
Paul: Yeah, I mean, literally the stock Iceman story for ten, fifteen years now has been "Bobby, you have failed to achieve your potential." It was done as an arc in Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic a year or so back, it was done in Astonishing X-Men, it was done in the Iceman solo book that ran for a while. Please, God, if we're going to have an Iceman series, not that one again.
—House to Astonish, "Now With Cobalt"
Jay: So, to some extent, this is the "Dazzler learns about teamwork" story, which happens, like, every three arcs, because she immediately forgets again.
Miles: She's got a very short attention span.
Jay: Yeah, she's distracted by bright things, which when your power involves lights is a pretty big liability.
Miles: She's got a very short attention span.
Jay: Yeah, she's distracted by bright things, which when your power involves lights is a pretty big liability.
Jay & Miles X-Plain The X-Men, "The Eye Killers and Other Cautionary Tales"
Web Video
"It's like I have some selective amnesia that only serves to push certain events forward."
— Dan O'Brien, Agents of Cracked
"Lars and Sadie's relationship is just- it's so poorly handled, oh my God. It's like every time you see them again they reset because every episode pertaining to their relationship is the exact same over and over again. Oh, Sadie needs to learn how to be honest about her feelings and Lars needs to learn to open up and stop being a jerk. Wow, how interesting! Can't wait to see them learn that lesson again!"
— Red Van Buskirk, "The Steven Universe Rant"
""You'd think they would have learned from that experience, but you'd be wrong."
—Chris Chappel, China Uncensored episode "Philippines' China Problem"
""Lancelot, having learned a valuable lesson about his sinful ways, resolves to stop with the adultering, a resolution that lasts until about the next time he sees Guinevere."
— Overly Sarcastic Productions, "Legends Summarized: King Arthur"
Western Animation
Ron: You know, some of us learn and grow from our little adventures.
Bonnie: Whatever, loser.
Bonnie: Whatever, loser.
Marge: Hasn't this experience taught you you can't believe everything you hear?
Homer: Marge, my friend, I haven't learned a thing.
Homer: Marge, my friend, I haven't learned a thing.
— The Simpsons, "Homer Badman"
Lois: So Peter, I guess you've learned a valuable lesson from this.
Peter: Nope.
Peter: Nope.
Okay, okay! I'll never do that again! Until the next time...
—Cheetor, Beast Wars
Ben: I have learned my lesson.
Gwen: You will forget it again, but you learned...
Gwen: You will forget it again, but you learned...
There's something you should know about me by now Roger. I don't learn lessons.
— Stan Smith, American Dad!, "Rough Trade"
Moe: Look at me. It's supposed to be my big triumph, and I'm standing in mud, fightin' with geese. (beat) Well, if I'm gonna fight, I might as well win. (draws shotgun)
— The Simpsons, "Moe 'N' a Lisa".
Grunkle Stan: You're alright, sister.
Hand Witch Will you be my boyfriend now?
Grunkle Stan: Nope. Never. Well, I learned nothing.
Hand Witch Will you be my boyfriend now?
Grunkle Stan: Nope. Never. Well, I learned nothing.
— Gravity Falls, "Little Gift Shop of Horrors"
There might be a lesson to learn from this, if I were the kind of guy who could learn lessons. But lessons are not for me. Lessons are for schoolboys. Schoolboys are for me!
—Roger, American Dad!, "Vision: Impossible"
Molly: Scratch!? Do you know Einstein!?
Scratch: YES! BECAUSE I'VE LEARNED NOTHING!
Scratch: YES! BECAUSE I'VE LEARNED NOTHING!
— The Ghost and Molly McGee, "Not So Honest Abe"
Anne: Lying will only make it worse. I feel like we've learned that lesson by now.
Sprig: Well, one thing's for sure. We have to lie.
Anne: Preach! Wait, what?
Sprig: Well, one thing's for sure. We have to lie.
Anne: Preach! Wait, what?
— Amphibia, "Return to Wartwood"
Real Life
"What experience and history teach is this—that nations and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted upon any lessons they might have drawn from it."
— Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of History
