Regret is a powerful emotion one that can teach, haunt, and transform us. Regret often reminds us of life’s fragile nature and the importance of being present, honest, and bold. But within regret lies wisdom and the chance to grow.
- “Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are, ‘It might have been.’”
— Kurt Vonnegut - “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take.”
— Lewis Carroll - “Never regret anything that made you smile.”
— Mark Twain - “Regret is an appalling waste of energy. You can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.”
— Katherine Mansfield - “We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.”
— Lucy Maud Montgomery
- “Regret is the past crippling you in the present.”
— Unknown - “The pain of regret is far worse than the pain of discipline.”
— Nathan Whitley - “No space for regret when you’re chasing growth.”
— Unknown - “Regret is insight that comes a day too late.”
— Unknown - “You can’t rewind the clock, but you can press play again.”
— Unknown
- “Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them.”
— William Arthur Ward - “Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves: regret for the past and fear of the future.”
— Fulton Oursler - “It’s better to look back and say, ‘I can’t believe I did that,’ than to look back and say, ‘I wish I had.’”
— Unknown - “The only things you’ll regret are the risks you didn’t take.”
— Unknown - “A missed opportunity is a lifetime of regret.”
— Robin Sharma
- “The one that got away is the one that stays in your heart forever.”
— Unknown - “I loved you, and I regret not saying it when it mattered.”
— Unknown - “Sometimes the hardest thing to live with is what you never said.”
— Unknown - “You never know what you have until it’s gone—and sometimes, that’s the deepest regret of all.”
— Unknown - “Hearts don’t break from being loved. They break from regret.”
— Unknown
- “Your past mistakes are meant to guide you, not define you.”
— Unknown - “Regret is the compost in which new life grows.”
— Cheryl Strayed - “Failure and regret are not the same. One is a step forward, the other is a chain backward.”
— Unknown - “Let regret be your teacher, not your jailer.”
— Robin Sharma - “Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”
— John C. Maxwell
- “You can’t start the next chapter if you keep rereading the last.”
— Unknown - “Regret is a heavy burden. Forgiveness is how you put it down.”
— Unknown - “Accept what is. Let go of what was. And have faith in what will be.”
— Sonia Ricotti - “Let your regrets go. They were just lessons in disguise.”
— Unknown - “Don’t let your regrets become your reasons to stop living.”
— Unknown
- “Regret is a mirror we hold to our younger selves.”
— Unknown - “Time doesn’t heal regret, only action does.”
— Unknown - “It’s not the mistake you regret. It’s the decision that led to it.”
— Steve Maraboli - “Don’t regret growing older. It’s a privilege denied to many.”
— Unknown - “We all make mistakes. But if you never learn from them, that’s the real regret.”
— Unknown - “Regret means you cared. Redemption means you grew.”
— Unknown
Regret is universal. We all carry some “what ifs” or “if onlys” in our hearts. But it’s how we respond to those moments that defines our future. These quotes offer not only comfort, but also courage to forgive yourself, to learn, and to move forward with a wiser heart.
