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Last Updated on December 20, 2022

Regret…it’s the one thing that all adult humans have their fair share of. Regrets come in different shapes and sizes.

Some people regret having wasted their childhood. Others regret wasting their college life. There’s also a category of people who regret entering a relationship with the wrong partners. Or signing up for the wrong subscription plans.

No matter what your object of regret may be, one thing is for sure – regrets form part of our past life. Feelings of failure will often occupy our minds when we reflect about the past. And that’s where the problem begins.

The past, as you may know, can be a prison of its kind. Many people who dwell so much on the past never seem to get out of it. That’s especially if their recollections border on frustrations and broken dreams.

Unfortunately, the past isn’t something we can so easily wish away. We can only learn to live with it. A huge part of living with your past entails letting bygones be bygones. That includes your deepest regrets.

Thankfully, there are various ways to handle your past failures. One such method is by arming yourself with quotes about regrets. In this post, we present a definitive collection of regret quotes to help you pick yourself up and move on.

This vast collection includes quotes that touch on various aspects of regret.

For instance, there are quotes that underscore the fact that everyone has a couple of things they wish they went back in time and did right. It could be an employment opportunity you passed up which you now believe might have paid you huge dividends.

Or a decision you made on a whim which ended up causing you immeasurable suffering. Perhaps you just wish to relive your childhood or youthful days and experience the simple pleasures you often ignored then, but which have proven difficult to come by now. No matter where you are or your social status, there’s definitely a thing or two you deeply regret.

Our collection of regret quotes also includes quotes on the importance of pressing on no matter how painful your failures may be. Although it’s natural to grieve over our past failures, it’s important that we do not let the grief consume us.

When you dwell so much on your failures and shortcomings, you miss the golden opportunity to move on. So, there’s no use agonizing over what could have been but wasn’t. Instead, it’s more prudent to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and move forward.

Most importantly, the below collection emphasizes the significance of learning from your past failures. Even as you endeavor to settle with the past, it’s important to remember that regrets are not to be forgotten. They should act as a rearview mirror, allowing us to peek back into the past and identify the mistakes that shouldn’t be repeated.

Best Regret Quotes

Sample this collection for the best regret quotes to help you settle with a past filled with broken dreams and usher in a future filled with hope and promise.

1. “A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” – Agatha Christie

2. “Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.” – Anthony Liccione

3. “We all do things we desperately wish we could undo. Those regrets just become part of who we are, along with everything else. To spend time trying to change that, well, it’s like chasing clouds.” – Libba Bray

4. “We don’t have to be defined by the things we did or didn’t do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it’s a regret, maybe it’s not. It’s merely something that happened. Get over it.” – Pittacus Lore

5. “If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.” – Mercedes Lackey

6. “Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.” – Katherine Mansfield

7. “The only things I regret, and the only things I’ll ever regret are things I didn’t do. In the end, that’s what we mourn. The paths we didn’t take. The people we didn’t touch.” – Scott Spencer

8. “Don’t live your life regretting yesterday. Live your life so tomorrow you won’t regret today.” – Catherine Pulsifer

9. “Don’t allow yourself to become one who, nearing death, regrets what you might have done if only you had taken a few risks We each have a purpose in life.” – Gillian Stokes

10. “Regrets are not inherited. Regrets are those elements of life that seek to undermine our enthusiasm and our willingness to assume a life filled with new discoveries and the attainment of goals. Let not your regrets be your undoing but instead your vehicle to learn from what did not work.” – Byron Pulsifer

11. “Never regret anything from your past because one day, you’ll look back and thank it for hurting you so much that you decided to become a stronger human being.” – Faith Star

12. “Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.” – Unknown

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13. “A great source of calamity lies in regret and anticipation; therefore a person is wise who thinks of the present alone, regardless of the past or future.” – Oliver Goldsmith

14. “We cannot always change what has happened to us, but we can change how we react and how we live in the future. Living with no regrets is living successfully.” – Dr. Ellen Taricani

15. “Regret, remorse, sorrow all emotions that can result in negative feelings. Only you can change your emotions to positive ones, you cannot change the past but you can change the future” – Catherine Pulsifer

16. “Stop fretting about past decisions. They have provided valuable wisdom. Go forward without fear or regret.” – Paul Martens

17. “Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.” – Victoria Holt

18. “When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, but I shall hold something which I have traded for it. It may be no more than a memory, but if it is a worthy one I shall not regret the price.” – Unknown

19. “Regret is an odd emotion because it comes only upon reflection. Regret lacks immediacy, and so its power seldom influences events when it could do some good.” – William O’Rourke

20. “Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” – Sydney Harris

21. “There is no point in regretting for things that have happened but it makes a big difference to think about a solution or idea to change the unexpected outcome or effects of the choices made.” – Lindsay Hallie

22. “First, imagine taking the potentially regret – producing path of inaction. Then imagine what the very best outcome would be were you to take this risk. By picturing both scenarios in advance, you can avoid the regret of what might have been.” – Wayne Dyer

23. “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell

24. “I don’t dwell in the past; I don’t wallow in old events and emotions. I don’t waste time on regret. No use going over and over the details of what already happened.” – Yanni

25. “It is not the experience of Today that drives a person mad, it is the remorse or bitterness of something which happened Yesterday and the dread of what Tomorrow may bring.” – Unknown

26. “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.” – Jim Rohn

27. “If we don’t deal with the roots of our regrets, if we don’t make the choice to start over, the costs of what we’re missing out on can be enormous and will accrue exponentially over time.” – Dave Ferguson

28. “There is no need to lament on the bygone failures, instead concentrate on things that you can change and let other things take their own course.” – Robert Gallagher

29. “The longer our trail of regrets, the more we tend to value the importance of making wise decisions.” – Bob Santos

30. “Most of us have had regrets and recognize how they can hold us back or keep us stuck in life and relationships. Getting past “the Past” is important for anyone desiring to live beyond mistakes and the problems they make.” – Ron Neff

31. “Many people choose to dwell on their failures. This leads to unnecessary worrying, regret, shame, and stress. Instead of dwelling on the past, you can reflect on your experiences and use negative situations as a learning experience.” – Morris Pratt

32. “Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.” – Henry David Thoreau

33. “I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I’d just been myself.” – Brittany Renee

34. “Looking back, I have this to regret . . . that too often when I loved, I did not say so.” – David Grayson

35. “The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you love them.” – Unknown

36. “A moment in life – followed by an eternity of situations to grow from or regret – is the reality that love is not about winning or losing, but simply to survive.” – William E. Lewis

37. “Never take anyone for granted…we never seem to realize what we have until it is no longer ours then it becomes the only thing we want.” – Unknown

38. “When someone you love says goodbye you can stare long and hard at the door they closed and forget to see all the doors God has open in front of you.” – Shannon Adler

39. “Don’t regret knowing the people who came into your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad ones give you experience. The worst ones give you lessons and the best people give you memories.” – Unknown

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40. “In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, the relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.” – Lewis Carroll

41. “Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” – Kahlil Gibran

42. “There was once a love which I did not learn to cherish, it was only when I lost it that I felt extreme regret. There is no worse experience than such feeling.” – Unknown

43. “Don’t make my mistake. Don’t let yourself be so angry that you stop loving. Because one day you’ll wake up from that anger, and the person you love will be gone.” – Dawson’s Creek

44. “Trust before you love, know before you judge, commit before you promise, forgive before you forget and appreciate before you regret.” – Unknown

45. “The only calibration that counts is how much heart people invest, how much they ignore their fears of being hurt or caught out or humiliated. And the only thing people regret is that they didn’t live boldly enough, that they didn’t invest enough heart, didn’t love enough. Nothing else really counts at all.” – Ted Hughes

46. “When it’s gone, you’ll know what a gift love was. You’ll suffer like this. So go back and fight to keep it.” – Ian McEwan

47. “When you loved someone and had to let them go, there will always be that small part of yourself that whispers, “What was it that you wanted and why didn’t you fight for it?” – Shannon Alder

48. “Sadly enough, the most painful goodbyes are the ones that are left unsaid and never explained.” – Johnathan Harnisch

49. “Mistakes we make in the past sometimes keep us connected. Heartache sometimes keeps us connected.” – Jacqueline Simon Gunn

50. “Never ignore a person who loves and cares for you, because one day you may realize that you’ve lost the moon while counting the stars.” – Anonymous

51. “Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart.” – Basil Rathbone

52. “What hurts more; the pain of ‘what ifs’, or the pain of rejection?” – Izey Odiase

53. “Hurting people you love is the heaviest kind of regret.” ― Charlotte Eriksson

54. “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson

55. “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” – G.K. Chesterson

56. “And perhaps some will never understand, it is mostly the farewells that unite us, and last in our memory forever, even more than the first meeting.” – Mimi Novic

57. “I wish I could turn back the clock. I’d find you sooner and love you longer.” – Unknown

58. “Unforgiving hearts die in regret.” – Unknown

59. ” Who knows how long I’ve loved you, you know I love you still. Will I wait a lonely lifetime? If you want me to I will.” – The Beatles

60. “There’s this place in me where your fingerprints still rest, your kisses still linger, and your whispers softly echo. It’s the place where a part of you will forever be a part of me.” – Gretchen Kemp

61. “Love is never lost. If not reciprocated, it will flow back and soften and purify the heart.” – Washington Irvin

62. “What the heart has once owned and had, it shall never lose.” – Henry Ward Beecher

63. “People should not judge failed love affairs as failed experiences, but as part of the growth process. Something does not have to end well for it to have been one of the most valuable experiences of a lifetime.” – Ethel Person

64. “To love and win is the best thing; to love and lose, the next best.” – William Thackeray

65. “An act of love that fails is just as much a part of the divine life as an act of love that succeeds, for love is measured by fullness, not by reception.” – Harold Loukes

66. “Never take someone for granted. Hold every person close to your heart because you might wake up one day and realize that you’ve lost a diamond while you were too busy collecting stones.” – Unknown

67. “Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right, forget about the ones who don’t and believe that everything happens for a reason.” – Unknown

68. “I have learned that I should be careful with the words I choose to say when I am angry because later, those words always leave a huge wound of regrets in my heart besides hurting the loved ones.” – Nino Varsimashvili

69. “Many times, the decisions we make effect and hurt our 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

70. “Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.” – Paul Pearshall

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71. “At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more race, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with your family.” – Barbara Bush

72. “No human on his deathbed ever regretted having spent too much time with his children.” – George Stamatis

73. “Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the
unlived life of the parent.” – C.G. Jung

74. “People die all the time. Life is a lot more fragile than we think. So you should treat others in a way that leaves no regrets. Fairly, and if possible, sincerely. It’s too easy not to make the effort, then weep and wring your hands after the person dies.” – Haruki Murakami

75. “Your children make it impossible to regret your past. They’re its finest fruits. Sometimes the only ones.” ― Anna Quindlen

76. “Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.” – Catherine M. Wallace

77. “Family is the most important thing in the world.” – Princess Diana

78. “If you want your children to turn out well, spend twice as much time with them and half as much money.” – Abigail Van Buren

79. “Let us make one point, that we meet each other with a smile, when it is difficult to smile. Smile at each other, make time for each other in your family.” – Mother Theresa

80. “The best inheritance a parent can give to their children is a few minutes of their time each day.” – M. Grundler

81. “Love your family. Spend time, be kind, and serve one another. Make no room for regrets. Tomorrow is not promised and today is short.” – Unknown

82. “Think of your family today and every day thereafter, don’t let the busy world of today keep you from showing how much you love and appreciate your family.” – Josiah

83. “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones you accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.” – Unknown

84. “Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible — the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family.” – Virginia Satir

85. “You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.” – Frederick Buechner

86. “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.” – Henry Ward Beecher

87. “Parents were the only ones obligated to love you; from the rest of the world you had to earn it.” – Ann Brashares

88. “That’s what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you’re not so lovable.” – Deb Caletti

89. “To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
– Confucius

90. “Sometimes the best families are the ones God builds using unexpected pieces of our hearts.” – Melanie Shankle

91. “I think people that have a brother or sister don’t realize how lucky they are. Sure, they fight a lot, but to know that there’s always somebody there, somebody that’s family.” – Trey Parker

92. “While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” – Angela Schwindt

93. “The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.” – Charles Kuralt

94. “No matter what you’ve done for yourself or for humanity, if you can’t look back on having given love and attention to your own family, what have you really accomplished?” – Elbert Hubbard

95. “Always kiss your children goodnight – even if they’re already asleep.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

96. “Family faces are magic mirrors looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.” – Gail Lumet Buckley

97. “In time of test, family is best.” – Burmese Proverb

98. “If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.” – William J. Clinton

99. “We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past. But you are not your mistakes, you are not your struggles, and you are here NOW with the power to shape your day and your future.” – Steve Maraboli