Quotes & Sayings About Regrets

The best recipe for happiness and contentment I've seen is this: dig a big hole in the garden of your thoughts and put into it all your disillusions, disappointments, regrets, worries, troubles, doubts, and fears. Cover well with the earth of fruitfulness. Water it from the well of contentment. Sow on top the seeds of hope, courage, strength, patience, and love. Then when the time for gathering comes, may your harvest be a rich and fruitful one. — Zig Ziglar

My blessings outweigh my regrets. — Dennis Lehane

I did not want to live a life with regrets. You only regretted the shit you didn't do. — Karina Halle

Markus definitely wasn't comfortable. He was sorry about having long legs; as regrets go, it certainly was a useless one.* Not to mention another fact that amped up his torture: there's nothing worse than being seated next to a woman you're dying with desire to look at. The show was to his left, where she was, not on stage. Not only that, but what was he seeing? It was so-so. The fact that it was a Swedish play wasn't exactly helping matters! Had she done it on purpose? As if that weren't enough, the playwright had studied in Uppsala. Might as well have dinner at his parents'. — David Foenkinos

I avoid looking back. I prefer good memories to regrets. — Grace Kelly

We've all made mistakes. We've all done things we wish we hadn't. The goal is to learn, and to move on and try to live a life of no regrets. — Lauren Blakely

I think I've had an interesting life. I've done films, TV, theatre and got married. I don't have any regrets. — Kabir Bedi

I have no regrets in my life even the crazy things I've been in. It all made me the I am today and I wouldn't change anything. I'm happy with who I am! — Alan Cumming

I had seen the light, come to believe that a wedding should be about a feeling between two people, not a show for the masses ... It was a magical, romantic evening, and although I occasionally wish I had worn a slightly fancier dress, and that Nick and I had danced on our wedding night, I have no real regrets about the way we chose to do things. — Emily Giffin

For certainly old age has a great sense of calm and freedom; when the passions relax their hold, then, as Sophocles says, we are freed from the grasp not of one mad master only, but of many. The truth is, Socrates, that these regrets, and also the complaints about relations, are to be attributed to the same cause, which is not old age, but men's characters and tempers; for he who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition youth and age are equally a burden. I — Plato

Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs. — Charles Dickens

No regrets, keep moving . . . — Susan Dennard

That powers my desire to write: the sense of how quickly everything on the surface of life can be cut away and you can suddenly be inside the most inner part of the most inner life of a person. What does it feel like there, and what are the regrets and sensations and longings, and what is the music of it? — Nicole Krauss

Music lets me forget bad experiences. You cannot keep ragas and regrets in your mind together. — Ustad Bismillah Khan

Adult characters are all the things they've encountered over time. But kids haven't accumulated all the life experience, all the regrets. They tend to be more in the moment, more willing to play, to be joyful. — Viggo Mortensen

When the drum beat comes to an end, you shall not hear the drum beat again, but you shall remember how it sounded, and you shall understand clearly how you should or should not have danced to the drum beat — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Just do something. You might make a mistake, then you can fix it. But if you do nothing, you can't fix anything. And your life might turn out full of regrets. — Jenny Colgan

I loved doing 'Pennies from Heaven.' Because you have to understand that I'd been doing comedy for 15 to 20 years, and suddenly along came the opportunity to do this beautiful film. It was so emotional to me. I loved it. I don't think it was a good career move, but I have no regrets about doing it. — Steve Martin

This world
that was our home
for a brief spell
never brought us anything
but pain and grief;
its a shame that not one of our problems
was ever solved.
We depart
with a thousand regrets
in our hearts. — Omar Khayyam

A person without regrets is a nincompoop. — Mia Farrow

Life is full of days and each day comes with its own happenstances; good and unbearable ones! Some days are remembered, for though such days come and go, they leave their memorable footprints on our minds; footprints of difficulties, footprints of sweetness and joy, footprints of regrets, and footprints worth pondering over and over! Until something happens to you in the day, you shall least remember that moment of time and day in your lifetime! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

I think I'm very interested in people, in the way our minds work and how we navigate through the experience that is life. Very interested in people's struggles and their choices and their regrets and joys. I'm very interested in the human animal. — Victor Salva

Personally of course I regret everything.
Not a word, not a deed, not a thought, not a need,
not a grief, not a joy, not a girl, not a boy,
not a doubt, not a trust, not a scorn, not a lust,
not a hope, not a fear, not a smile, not a tear,
not a name, not a face, no time, no place ... that I do not regret, exceedingly.
An ordure, from beginning to end. — Samuel Beckett

Live with no excuses and love with no regrets. — Montel Williams

I call it the "Fuck up, own up, and get up" policy. Make a mistake, admit it, and move on. We all screw up, but a man solves his problems. He doesn't make them worse. — Penelope Douglas

I could never understand how he always seemed so sure of himself. But now I did. It was because Connor really did know what kind of person he was. He had no regrets because he always shot from his heart. — Siobhan Vivian

When the past is mentioned, some cry! When the past is mentioned, some ponder! When the past is mentioned, never again comes into the mind of some people. When the past is mentioned, some recall their had I known! The past is past, but its footprints never go! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Age has no pleasures, wrinkles have no influence, revenge itself dies away in impotent curses. Then comes remorse, with all its vipers, mixed with vain regrets for the past, and despair for the future! - Then, when all other strong impulses have ceased, we become like the fiends in hell, who may feel remorse, but never repentance. - But thy — Walter Scott

Fifty Shades Of Grey proved you can write about a dude choking women and shoving stuff up their butts but heaven forbid if you tell a legitimate joke about it. Sure I doubled the number of feminists who hate me, but I also doubled the number of shows I have on TV. No regrets. — Daniel Tosh

He went on for months, hardly eating or drinking, until he had rolled the boulder to the very peak of the high mountain. There he stopped and surveyed the world. Now he could see more of the world than anyone. This was the place he would live - where no grass grew, where no birds flew. For water, he could only lick the ice and frost. For food, he could only gnaw on moss. Be he had no regrets, because now he could look out over the whole world. — Haruki Murakami

Culturally, though not theologically, I'm a Christian. I was born a Protestant of the white Anglo-Saxon persuasion. And while I do love that great teacher of peace who was called Jesus, and while I do reserve the right to ask myself in certain trying situations what indeed He would do, I can't swallow that one fixed rule of Christianity insisting that Christ is the only path to God. Strictly speaking, then, I cannot call myself a Christian. Most of the Christians I know accept my feelings on this with grace and open-mindedness. Then again, most of the Christians I know don't speak very strictly. To those who do speak (and think) strictly, all I can do here is offer my regrets for any hurt feelings and now excuse myself from their business. — Elizabeth Gilbert

Its not that he didn't appreciate his dishwasher. There was something about washing dishes by hand that was therapeutic, as if he could wash away the regrets of the past and photos he wanted to wipe out of his memory forever. — James L. Rubart

We all have regrets, Urian. Nothing that lives is immune from that nasty emotion. (Acheron)
So what? You want me to go kiss and make up? (Urian)
Hardly. But I want you to set aside your own hurt and anger to see clearly for a minute. This isn't about you and your father anymore than it's about me and Nick hating each other over something we can't change. This is about saving the lives of a million innocent people. People like Phoebe who don't deserve to be hunted and killed. If I can stand at the side of my enemies for the greater good, so can you. (Acheron) — Sherrilyn Kenyon

People who say they have no regrets are full of crap. We all have regrets, but denial is also a powerful force. — Dalya Moon

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. — John Barrymore

I dedicated my 20s, my passion and energy to the name 'Rain.' I always did my best, and I thought if I did, it would eventually show, and even if it didn't turn out well, I wouldn't have any regrets. — Rain

Live fast, fight hard, no regrets! — John Cena

Finally, in my early 30s, I started writing fiction for the first time as an adult. That felt so scary, and I spent a few years feeling miserably 'behind' my high-achieving friends. But I persevered and obviously have no regrets. — Julia Glass

Farewell My Friend

It was beautiful as long as it lasted
The journey of my life.
I have no regrets whatsoever
save the pain I'll leave behind.
Those dear hearts who love and care...
And the strings pulling at the heart and soul...
The strong arms that held me up
When my own strength let me down.
At every turning of my life
I came across good friends,
Friends who stood by me,
Even when the time raced me by.
Farewell, farewell my friends
I smile and bid you goodbye.
No, shed no tears for I need them not
All I need is your smile.
If you feel sad do think of me
for that's what I'll like
when you live in the hearts
of those you love, remember then
you never die. — Gitanjali Ghei

Supposing there was justice for all, after all? For every unheeded beggar, every harsh word, every neglected duty, every slight ... every choice ... Because that was the point, wasn't it? You had to choose. You might be right, you might be wrong, but you had to choose, knowing that the rightness or wrongness might never be clear or even that you were deciding between two sorts of wrong, that there was no right anywhere. And always, always, you did it by yourself. You were the one there, on the edge, watching and listening. Never any tears, never any apology, never any regrets ... You saved all that up in a way that could be used when needed. — Terry Pratchett

If someone you love asks you to give up something you love, don't do it. — James Anderson

I have no regrets - in fact, I am pleased to have expelled the US ambassador, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and to have closed the US military base in Bolivia. Now, without a US ambassador, there is less conspiracy, and more political stability and social stability. Without the International Monetary Fund, we are better off economically. — Evo Morales

Time softens all griefs, they say, and it is useless to dwell on lives that might have been. We are granted only one life, and one is enough. Whom do such regrets profit? What do they achieve, except to bring us unhappiness? — Peter Hobbs

As long as I feel the love of the game and my health is good, I'm going to play. I don't want to be one of these guys who stays too long or regrets leaving early. Football has been great to me. — Justin Tuck

If I should die tomorrow, I will have no regrets. I did what I wanted to do. You can't expect more from life. — Bruce Lee

A Warrior of the Light has no regrets, because regrets can kill. — Paulo Coelho

Sometimes people walk out of your life never to return, and all you have left are bitter memories and what ifs. And though you try to move on and forget them, they become regrets that cut deeper than the sharpest knife, slashing you over and over again. — Mia Asher

My wife who is non-Jewish regrets it all the time that I can say these terrible things about fellow Jews and she can't. — Joseph Epstein

Dark, cool, musty, smoky, where light fell funny and everyone looked like someone you knew or wanted to know. Or, more likely, wanted to forget. — David Baldacci

I'm hanging in there, trying to spend as much quality time with my wife and kids as possible, and though it's very frustrating to know I won't beat the cancer, there's a great satisfaction in knowing that I'm walking off the field with no regrets. — Randy Pausch

Address things now that could otherwise turn into regrets. — Jane Fonda

I have no regrets. I don't believe in looking back. What I am proudest of? Working really hard ... and achieving as much as I could. — Elena Kagan

No regrets, just love. We can dance until we die. You and I, we'll be young forever! — Katy Perry

I have no regrets, none whatsoever. — Jack Kevorkian

I remember her, not a girl but the girl. The brains behind the all time top ten comic book vixens only wish they could conjure a a siren the likes of Susan Glenn, beneath my feet my own private earthquake registered an eight when Susan Glenn was near. In her presence all was beautiful before she arrived turned grotesque and in her shadows others became goblinesque, if she approached Susan Glenn she didn't walk she floated, accompanied by Pyrotechnics spectacals that left me feeling a foot tall. She embodied every desireable quality I have ever wanted. In my mind I was a peasant before a Queen. And so Susan Glenn and I were never a thing, if I could do it again, I'd do it differently. — Keifer Sutherland

Rain caused one to reflect on the shadowed, more poignant parts of life - the inescapable sorrows, the speechless longings, the disappointments, the regrets, the cold miseries. It also allowed one the leisure to ponder questions unasked in the bustle of brighter days; and if one were snug under a sound roof, as Abel was, one felt somehow mothered, though mothers were nowhere around, and absolved of responsibilities. — William Steig

Sometimes I forget this insoluble mess and dream: he'll save me, we'll travel; we'll hunt in the deserts, we'll sleep on the pavements of strange cities, carelessly, without his guilt, without my pain. Or else I'm going to wake up and all the human laws and customs of this world will have changed - thanks to some magical power - or this world, without changing, will let me feel desire and be happy and carefree.
What did I want from him who hurt me more than I thought it was possible for two people to hurt each other? I wanted the adventures found in kids' books. He couldn't give me these because he wasn't able to. Whatever did he want from me? I never understood. He told me he was just average: average regrets, average hopes. What do I care about all that average shit that has nothing to do with adventure? — Kathy Acker

Calvino remembered he had no food in the house and would have to go shopping on Sukhumvit Road. Then he planned to crawl into his bed and sleep, the kind of deep sleep without dreams or hopes, a sleep without regrets, without knowing or thinking how things got the way they are or how occasional fragments of decency escaped the forces of gravity. — Christopher G. Moore

Regrets are a waste of time. They're the past crippling you in the present. — Federico Fellini

Some people live their entire life and never once feel how I felt every time he looked at me. So yes, this hurts. And yes, I feel as if I might die. But I won't. And somehow, I find a way to let it all go...just let it go. No regrets. No grief. It will always hurt a little, down deep in that secret place, but it's become a pain I can handle. Besides, if it didn't always hurt, just a little, it wouldn't mean as much. — Megan Hart

Tomorrow is tomorrow and today is today. Tomorrow will come and we shall still say today. Worry not yourself about tomorrow but today! Plan your tomorrow today and tomorrow will never be a regretful yesterday for you. Those who least plan their tomorrow today always meet tomorrow and still live in yesterday. — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

The man who has not the habit of reading is imprisoned in his immediate world, in respect to time and space. His life falls into a set routine; he is limited to contact and conversation with a few friends and acquaintances, and he sees only what happens in his immediate neighbourhood. From this prison there is no escape. But the moment he takes up a book, he immediately enters a different world, and if it is a good book, he is immediately put in touch with one of the best talkers of the world. This talker leads him on and carries him into a different country or a different age, or unburdens to him some of his personal regrets, or discusses with him some special line or aspect of life that the reader knows nothing about. An ancient author puts him in communion with a dead spirit of long ago, and as he reads along, he begins to imagine what the ancient author looked like and what type of person he was. — Lin Yutang

Despite a legacy consisting of enough violence and death for twenty men, Jackson admitted to having two regrets on his deathbed: "I didn't shoot Henry Clay and I didn't murder John C. Calhoun." In a life rich with murdering people for little-to-no reason, Jackson's only regret was that he didn't kill quite enough people. People like Calhoun, who, it should be noted, was Jackson's vice president. No one is safe from Jackson's wrath. — Daniel O'Brien

It does no good to regret the past... yet regret remains just the same. — Sang-Sun Park

I sometimes regretted to be handsomer; I sometimes wished to have rosy cheeks, a straight nose, and a small cherry mouth; I desired to be tall, stately, and finely developed in figure ... And why had I these aspirations and these regrets? It would be difficult to say — Charlotte Bronte

Many times, the decisions we make affect and hurt your closest friends and family the most. I have a lot of regrets in that regard. But God has forgiven me, which I am very thankful for. It has enabled me to forgive myself and move forward one day at a time. — Lex Luger

An important aspect of self-compassion is to be able to empathically hold both parts of ourselves-the self that regrets a past action and the self that took the action in the first place. — Marshall B. Rosenberg

Patience takes away lots of stress, regrets, & sleepless nights knowing that all is well at the end of the day if we just wait a little bit. — Assegid Habtewold

I have no regrets. The best thing to happen to me was for Lorne Michaels to hire me and fire me. — Jenny Slate

Two days of wedded bliss and dead dragons. Any regrets yet?"

"Not a one. — Ruth Ford Elward

I thought to myself then that it didn't matter where I ended up; I'd always be living that summer in that town, wishing that I;d done things differently, tormented by the fact that I hadn't. I'd never go far enough to be able to escape it. Maybe you're happy about that. OR maybe you're not. Maybe you're carrying your own regrets, and you understand how easy it is to let your life get away from you. I wish I could be the hero of this story, but I'm not. I'm just the one to tell it, at least my part in it- the story of Katie Mackey and the people who failed her. It's an old one, this tale of selfish desires and the lament that follows, as ancient as the story of Adam and Eve turned away forever from paradise. — Lee Martin

I don't want to start the rest of my life having regrets. — Jen Calonita

Back at the scene of the rollover they had brought in the dogs, who got one snootful of all the guts and gore scattered all over the place and, after a whispered conference, expressed their regrets and respectfully declined to participate. — Carsten Stroud

Fear is stupid. So are regrets. -Marilyn Monroe — K. Langston

When I have a child, it will be probably become my whole life, so I don't want to have any regrets that I should have done more. — Sienna Miller

Without courage we will simply accumulate a collection of good ideas and regrets. — Andy Stanley

My one regret was that I never photographed the bat before we drank it. — A.S. King

There's only one movie in my career I've had regrets with cutting it shorter, and I think some scenes maybe I shouldn't have cut. — Ang Lee

To me, it's always interesting to see what people end up regretting, as a way maybe to avoid such regrets in your own life. — Robin Marantz Henig

Regrets are about decisions that you know you should have done different. — Laurell K. Hamilton

There is nothing mysterious about the principles of the gospel. We have studied them in the scriptures, we have discussed them in Sunday School, and we have heard them from the pulpit many times. These divine principles and values are straightforward and clear; they are beautiful, profound, and powerful; and they can definitely help us to avoid future regrets. — Dieter F. Uchtdorf

All this silence between us, to protect her, and what has it wrought! How unthinking I was," he cringed as he beat himself up inside. — K. Farrell St. Germain

Anything that happens in your life was meant to happen. It is your destiny. I was destined to have the life I have now, and I can't have any regrets. — Zlatan Ibrahimovic

The regrets I have are so minor. You know, would I leave my Keith Richards hat, with the silver skull on it, on the stool at the coffee shop at LaGuardia? I wouldn't do that again. But overall, no, I don't have any regrets. — Hunter S. Thompson

We went through a hard time, and we had to turn to music as a means to putting food on the table. And we've been doing it ever since. No regrets either. — Selena

My dream is to do things until 'I have no regrets' — Lee Taemin

Thirty-three percent of all of our regrets pertain to decisions we made about education. — Kathryn Schulz

I will always have two regrets. I don't have a presence in London, and I would have liked to have done more work in the Middle East. — Zaha Hadid

I had no regrets for those that had let me go. You see, I wanted the one that couldn't. — Alfa H

The Jews deserved to die. I have no regrets. If I had the chance I would do it again. — Alois Brunner

I would rather have regrets of excess than regrets of denial. — Jeanette Winterson

It was a long and gloomy night that gathered on me, haunted by the ghosts of many hopes, of many dear remembrances, many errors, many unavailing sorrows and regrets. — Charles Dickens

Don't risk your life for those that doesn't love your life, lest you end up in regrets if not death. — Michael Bassey Johnson

A conscience without regrets ~ to live life without having to say you're sorry. — E.A. Bucchianeri

We can only try to live our lives with enough joy and passion that when our time is finished we leave behind more good memories than regrets. — P.C. Cast

I personally believe this: We have only today; yesterday's gone and tomorrow is uncertain. That's why they call it the present. And sobriety really is a gift ... for those who are willing to receive it. — Ace Frehley

I was trying to convince myself I could learn to be gay - but no. That's one of my great regrets. — Moby

I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my Life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say. — Ingrid Bergman

So if there is something on the planet that is worth living for, I'd better not miss it, because once you're dead, it's too late for regrets, and if you die by mistake, that is really, really dumb. — Muriel Barbery

We should all start to live before we get too old. Fear is stupid. So are regrets. — Marilyn Monroe