or.... I regret not the things I've done, but those I did not do.
I remember reading this in a short story in highschool. It is quite a popular quote, in searching the Internet though most people have no idea where it is from or even worse think it was originally said by a character in the movie Empire Records, or by George Lucas, or various other modern day people. One place attributed it to Mark Twain, but I could find no one to confirm that with a title of the work.
Anyone have any ideas?
"I do not regret the things I've done, but those I did not do."
Rory Cochrane
Brainy Quote
But it must have originated elsewhere! This site labels it's original author "unknown".
This site has the "top ten" Twain quotes and it isn't there. I'm not sure . . .
Supposedly Twain said "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." but I can't find a reference to where he wrote/said it.
http://en.thinkexist.com/quotes/mark_twain/
I do love this quote, but like many I'm not sure where it is from. I think it expresses an ideal that we have, and that lots of people can relate to. Popular quotes are always misattributed.
Only origin of this I know is the Butthole Surfers - Sweet Loaf.
Sampled in it's entirety by Orbital in their song Satan, and quoted by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers in Deep Kick.Quote:
"Daddy, what does regret mean?
Well son, the funny thing about regret is,
It's better to regret something you have done,
Than to regret something you haven't done.
And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend,
Be sure and tell her, SATAN, SATAN, SATAN!!!"
I don't have your answer, but Latin came to mind right away, possibly a proverb modernized to that. Else, gist of a piece from Homer - thats the Greek one, not the tv one, though he would have said it too :lol: .Quote:
Originally Posted by Admin
Then, its Lucille Ball:- "I would rather regret the things that I have done, than the things that I have not".
At this site GO HERE, they cite Rory Cochrane as the one to have said it. But further Googling led to the source "Anon". I personally thought it was Einstein that said it. But anyhow...
i think there's a quotation like: 'The only things you will regret are the things you didn't do', which I think is a Twain quote...
This quote is from the movie "Empire Records". I think it's the first scene.
Hello,
Tom Dunn here.Thank you a million times over .I think it might have been back in the
1950's or 60's when I read a short story in the Readers digest (?).the way I recall it a woman who lived all her life in a small New England town
was elderly now and was reminiscing about her life. She regretted not encouraging that handsome class mate she liked but was too shy to talk to her-----she regretted not buying that polka dot dress she saw many times in the store window ---mother and father would not approve--
-She should have fixed her hair the way it was shown in the magazine--she could have done it very easily but it would upset mother and father
She regretted not marrying and having children --someone to love and care for and worry about --------this not a verbatum account but it is the gist of it and I often think of it ----thank you for the enrichment----Tom Dunn----by-the way on line go to search and put in ---Tragedy Jill Spargus---
wishing you well
Tom Dunn
I think that we regret many things we have done and many things we didn't do. But if I have to talk about what we regret the most is what we didn't do and we would do easily now if we had a second chance.
They just want to know where the quote came from.
Hi Readers Digest 1953--www.devpsy.org/non science/daisieshtmail---------Tom Dunn
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 Smith (Clergyman!!!)