"Experience is the best teacher," people say. Indeed, the most important, and sometimes the hardest, lessons we learn in life come from our participation in situations. For my part, you can't learn everything from a book. And only practice makes you a successful person.
To begin with, first-hand experience is important for a child. When we were children, we learned the fundamental lessons of life solely from experience. That is to say, parents teach us by experience such as how to walk steadily, how to cope with the adults, and so on and so forth. Secondly, first-hand experience is also important for an adolescent. At school, we do not learn everything from books, in that few books can teach us successfully how to meet new people and make more friends. Finally, as we leave adolescence behind and enter adult life, no book can teach us how to fall in love and get married. But experiencing our own triumphs and disasters is really the only way to learn how to live a successful life.
To conclude, knowledge gained both from experience and from books have their respective roles to play in our life. However, in my view, I think the former one is more important than the latter one. The most important lessons can't be taught; they have to be experienced.