Bǎi shèng nán lǜ dí; sān zhé nǎi liángyī.

百勝難慮敵, 三折乃良醫。

Lit [Even a general who has won a] hundred victories [may be] hard put to see through the enemy['s stratagems, but one who has] broken [his] arm three [times will] be a good doctor.

Fig One cannot always depend on past successes to guarantee future success, but one can always learn from lessons drawn from failure.

Note [A rhymed line from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Liu Yuxi; see also sān zhé gōng zhī below.]

Topics EXPERIENCE FAILURE LEARNING Liu Yuxi rhyme SUCCESS Tang_dynasty