Who said “Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does…”?

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Elizabeth Bowen. A published source records them saying or writing it.

SourceThe Death of the Heart (1939), Part 1, chapter 1

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“Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience.”
— Elizabeth Bowen
VerifiedThe Death of the Heart (1939), Part 1, chapter 1 · evidenceExperience
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Cite this quote

For academic work, cite the original where you can: The Death of the Heart (1939), Part 1, chapter 1.

APA

Bowen, E. (n.d.). Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience. [Quotation]. Famous Quotations Network. Retrieved October 24, 2026, from https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9606-experience-isnt-interesting-until-it-begins-to-repeat/

MLA

Bowen, Elizabeth. “Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience.” Famous Quotations Network, https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9606-experience-isnt-interesting-until-it-begins-to-repeat/. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Bowen, Elizabeth. “Experience isn't interesting until it begins to repeat itself. In fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience.” Famous Quotations Network. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://www.famous-quotations.com/quotes/9606-experience-isnt-interesting-until-it-begins-to-repeat/.

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“Deep experience is never peaceful.”
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More quotes by Elizabeth Bowen

“Intimacies between women go backwards, beginning in revelations and ending up in small talk without loss of esteem.”
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“Only in a house where one has learnt to be lonely does one have this solicitude for things. One's relation to them, the daily seeing or touching, begins to become love, and to lay one open to pain.”
VerifiedThe Death of the Heart (1939), Part 2, chapter 2 · evidenceDetails & citeLoneliness
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“Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.”
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“Nobody speaks the truth when there's something they must have.”
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All 18 Elizabeth Bowen quotes →