Quotes About Regret

Gretchen is sixty-nine years old and one of those former knockouts who just can't stop mourning the loss of her looks. She admits that if she didn't think God would punish her by making her die on the OR table—and if she could afford it—she'd have every bit of plastic surgery she could, head to toe. Gretchen knows she is shallow in this regard, but she kind of enjoys being shallow this way.

It's not always a good idea, digging around in the past," he said. "I done that once. I went to see the girl who got away. And I remembered real soon why I let her get away.

I don't hold Travis anymore, of course- not to read to him, or for any other reason, either. I wish I'd known that the last time was going to be the last time.

People talk about how sad it would be to die before they've done everything they want to do or seen everything they want to see. But I think it would be worse to live life and have there be nothing left that you want to see or do.

She wished him at her side this very moment. If only to turn it all to rights by doing his very best to turn it all to ruin.

One can brood too much. Nostalgia can fuzz things up.

we may fall victim to the misconception that time will heal all wounds and that eventually everything will shake itself out. But as we get older, we learn this sad truth: some things can never be fixed. Some mistakes can never be put right—not by the passage of time, and not by our most fervent wishes, either.

He looks at you like you're someone he's never met before, much less someone he once loved with high passion. The irony is, you can hardly blame him. I mean, check yourself out. You're a pathetic mess, unrecognizable even to your own eyes.

Equally disquieting are the times when we do make a choice, only to later feel as though we have murdered some other aspect of our being by settling on one single concrete decision.

I still can't say whether I ever want children….I can only say how I feel now--grateful to be on my own. I also know that I won't go forth and have children just in case I might regret missing it later in life; I don't think this is a strong enough motivation to bring more babies onto the earth.

We're already separated that's official but there's still a window of hope left open that perhaps someday we could give things another try.

In all of our lives, there are days that we wish we could see expunged from the record of our very existence.

This much I do know - I'm exhausted by the cumulative consequences of a lifetime of hasty choices and chaotic passions.

I also know that I won't go forth and have children just in case I might regret missing it later in life; I don't think this is a strong enough motivation to bring more babies onto the earth.

It's good to be sorry - but don't make a fetish of it. The one good thing about being Protestant is that we are not expected to cringe forever in contrition. Yours was a venial sin, Vivian, but not a mortal one.' 'I don't know what that means.' 'I'm not sure I do, either. It's just something I once read. Here is what I do know, however: sins of the flesh will not get you punished in the afterlife. They will only get you punished in this life. As you've now learned.

I thought of how many people go to their graves unforgiven and unforgiving. I thought of how many people have had siblings or friends or children or lovers disappear from their lives before precious words of clemency or absolution could be passed along.

Of course you are. I'm sorry for many of the things I've done, too. Everyone is sorry. It's good to be sorry—but don't make a fetish of it.

Chérie, je suis Brésilien du sud. Je peux passer dix ans avec le coeur brisé à cause d'une femme que je n'ai même pas embrassée.

Though I suppose people do reproduce sometimes for that reason—for insurance against later regret.

when I was nineteen years old and an idiot

Never buy inexpensive or poorly made gloves," Edna instructed us. "That's not the place to save your money. Whenever you are faced with the prospect of purchasing gloves, you must ask yourself if you would be bereft to lose one of them in the back of a taxicab. If not, then don't buy them. You should only buy gloves so beautiful that to lose one of them would break your heart.

I suppose there are worse ways to lose your virginity." "All the other ways are worse," Jennie said. Believe me. I've tried them all.

Without a doubt, you were lucky to be raised here. But you never got to move here—and for that, I am sorry for you. You missed one of life's great experiences.

How could I be such a criminal jerk as to proceed this deep into a marriage, only to leave it?