It has been said Not everything that is learned is contained in books Compare and contrast knowledge gained from experience with knowledge gained from books In your opinion which source is more important Why

The most important quality an individual should posess is ability to learn throughout his/her life. An indiviudal can enhance his/her knowledge through books or by gaining practical experience. In my opinion, the learning a person obtained through experience is of much more value compared to one gained through books. In the below paragraphs I have supported my opinion with several reasons.

Firstly, books gives us basic knowledge about different concepts. The knowledge obtained through books is passive until it is put into action in real world environment. For example, an IT professional learns about different ways a software could be developed. But only by applying that knowledge in real world situations he reliazes whether he has sufficient knowledge or needs more learning to become an efficient developer. Books gives us direction on how to start on a journey, but what will happen on a journey is different for each individual. Hence through experience our bookish knowledge is supplemented with additional information.

Knowledge obtained through books gives us a foundation through which we could build our career. In several fields a person has to first earn a certified degree in a field to earn a job or make a career. But in real world, freshly graduates are not given more importance compared to an experienced professional when considered for a job. The major reason behind this is that experience teaches person those things which are not contained in books. An experienced person knows things how to cooperate within a team or the approach one should take when a crisis arises. These things are not mentioned in books and need knowledge gained by experience.

However, one cannot say that knowledge obtained through books is of no value. Whatever one learns from books helps build personality and overall outlook on things. We learn the virtues of honesty, respect for elders and religious tolerance. Several scientist and lawyers before putting themselves into action in their work, do lot of research to develop a comprehensive understanding in their area. This is imperative as this learning can guide in their experiment when similar situation arises in practical world. Hence whatever one learns from books is also important when situations are similar to those written in book.

To sum up, knowledge obtained is always of greater value than that gained from book as book teaches us about basic facts which have already happened. Experience is more critical for learning as it teaches us those things which are not known before and surprises us every time.