The context is "things one learns from other people's experience, so one doesn't have to learn them first hand." I suppose the answer to your question is, that if he didn't learn it from his patient, he might have to learn it for himself, and that would be foolish since he had this lovely bad example to learn it from, right there.
As Will Rogers is reputed to have said, "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." I know I have always aspired to be the first.
(no subject)
As Will Rogers is reputed to have said, "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." I know I have always aspired to be the first.