Ramana Maharshi agrees that first we need to hear the truth and then reflect on it

Question: Why is it that the wise say that hearing alone can create a distorted understanding of any profound Truth? Why are we told to first hear, then reflect and assimilate so that knowledge can become experienced?

Ramana Maharshi: What we hear must be heard then digested within, and then it becomes distilled wisdom. Like the cow eating grass, first in a hurry and then meditatively sitting in the shade and only then does she convert it into milk.

So how man extracts wisdom out of all talk and reading is to profoundly think about it and then dive deeply within in meditation. In that way he really digests what he has heard or read and then it flows into him as an experience and becomes a storehouse of knowledge.

Source: From the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Practical Instructions On Sadhana Swami Sadasivananda Giri