Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <phrase-request>
Title: The English equivalent of a saying
Question: A saying in my language would literally translate like this: ‘As long as one lives one is learning!’    I would like to know whether there is an equivalent in English for this saying.

Answers:
sents: text: There is a common expression in the US that goes
text: You learn something new every day.
text: The usage goes back to at least the mid 1800s and has risen in popularity since the later 20th century.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/351/bib
score: 7
sents: text: I've found a saying that seems to be related to the meaning described by you: Live and learn (Wiktionary): An exhortation to gain knowledge from living experiences.
text: Commonly used after an accident or misfortune to indicate a moral lesson.
text: It is also mentioned as You live and learn
text: (The Free Dictionary)
text: : something that you say when you have just discovered something that you did not know.
text: There's a sample sentence:
text: I had no idea they were related.
text: Oh well, you live and learn .
text: P.S.
text: In Russian, we have a saying "Live for a century and learn century through" (Век живи, век учись - Vek zhivi, vek uchis').
text: Or, "one lives through one's life and learns all through one's life", since the word век has an antique sense of 'human lifespan'.
text: It is used to be said exactly in the manner of "live and learn", after one has discovered something previously unknown.
text: Sometimes the contemplative ending ".. and still one dies a fool" is added.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/2127/CowperKettle
score: 6
sents: text: Similar to @PeterBagnall's answer, a related expression in English is: Even old dogs can learn new tricks.
text: Interestingly, there is a related, opposite expression in English: You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
text: This negative expression apparently dates back to 1534 - and started as a literal rather than figurative assertion, also one that underscored difficulty rather than impossibility .
text: Both expressions have many modern variants, but all with which I am familiar include "old dog(s)" and "new trick(s)".
text: Using the positive or negative (variants of these)
text: expression(s) reflects a speaker's general optimism or pessimism about learning as people (figuratively) or dogs (literally) age.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/4797/J0e3gan
score: 6
sents: text: You're never too old to learn Which also has a connotation that you're never too old to start something new.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/4786/Peter Bagnall
score: 5
sents: text: An oft-heard sentiment at commencement ceremonies is: Graduation is not an end, but a beginning.
text: Then there's:
text: The more I learn, the less I know.
text: That ageless paradox goes back a long time.
text: I've found these quotes online, attibuted to Socrates:
text: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
text: “The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know.”
text: Einstein is said to have said: “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” while the music group Kansas famously sang: “
text: And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know.”
text: My dad was fond of quoting this Dutch proverb:
text: We grow too soon old and too late smart.
text: These three are not necessarily well-known sayings, but they are related quotes worth mentioning:
text: “You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love.”
text: (Julia Child)
text: “I am learning all the time.
text: The tombstone will be my diploma.”
text: (Eartha Kitt)
text: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80.
text: Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
text: (Henry Ford)
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/113/J.R.
score: 3

Summary of the answers:
Suggestions for equivalent sayings include: You're never too old to learn; The more I learn, the less I know; You learn something new every day; Live and learn; and The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Live and learn, the more I learn the less I know, the more I learn the more I learn how little I know, you learn something new every day are all possible phrases.