Emotions

"In truth there is no such thing in man's nature as a settled and full resolve either for good or evil, except at the very moment of execution."

"You may be whatever you resolve to be. Determine to be something in the world, and you will be something. I cannot, never accomplished anything: I will try, has wrought wonders."

"Nor cast one longing, ling'ring look behind."

"I will be as harsh as truth and as uncompromising as justice."

"I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch AND I WILL BE HEARD."

"Videlicit, That each man swore to do his best To damn and perjure all the rest."

"It seem'd so hard at first, mother, to leave the blessed sun, And now it seems as hard to stay—and yet His will be done! But still I think it can't be long before I find release; And that good man, the clergyman, has told me words of peace."

"Placeat homini quidquid deo placuit."

"Unum est levamentum malorum pati et necessitatibus suis obsequi."

"Placato possum non miser esse deo."

"To will what God doth will, that is the only science That gives us any rest."

"Dare to look up to God and say, Deal with me in the future as Thou wilt; I am of the same mind as Thou art; I am Thine; I refuse nothing that pleases Thee; lead me where Thou wilt; clothe me in any dress Thou choosest."

"To be resign'd when ills betide, Patient when favours are denied, And pleased with favours given;— Dear Chloe, this is wisdom's part, This is that incense of the heart Whose fragrance smells to heaven."

"Thus ready for the way of life or death, I wait the sharpest blow."

"The pious farmer, who ne'er misses pray'rs, With patience suffers unexpected rain; He blesses Heav'n for what its bounty spares, And sees, resign'd, a crop of blighted grain. But, spite of sermons, farmers would blaspheme, If a star fell to set their thatch on flame."

"That's best Which God sends. 'Twas His will: it is mine."

"Mieux vaut faire, et se repentir / Que se repentir, et rien faire"

"Men, be kind to your fellow-men; this is your first duty, kind to every age and station, kind to all that is not foreign to humanity. What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness? Love childhood, indulge its sports, its pleasures, its delightful instincts. Who has not sometimes regretted that age when laughter was ever on the lips, and when the heart was ever at peace? Why rob these innocents of the joys which pass so quickly, of that precious gift which they cannot abuse? Why fill with bitterness the fleeting days of early childhood, days which will no more return for them than for you? Fathers, can you tell when death will call your children to him? Do not lay up sorrow for yourselves by robbing them of the short span which nature has allotted to them. As soon as they are aware of the joy of life, let them rejoice in it, go that whenever God calls them they may not die without having tasted the joy of life."

"It is better to believe in men too rashly, and regret, than believe too meanly."

"I don't really regret anything I've done, even if it's bad. I mean, I have a $100,000 Chopard watch. I don't need a $100,000 watch, but I like it. It's all diamonds. That's a little extreme, but I don't care."

"There are two sorts of regrets, child: those things one does...and those things one does not do. The latter are the worst."

"I have made it a rule of my life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy, and no one who intends to become a writer can afford to indulge in it. You can't get it into shape; you can't build on it; it's only good for wallowing in."

"There's only us, there's only this. Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other road, no other way, no day but today. I can't control my destiny. I trust my soul. My only goal is just to be. There's only now, there's only here. Give in to love, or live in fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today."

"Over every human being’s journey through life there watches a providence who provides everyone two guides: the one calls forward, the other calls back. Yet they do not contradict each other, the two guides, not do they let the traveler stand there irresolute, confused by the double call; on the contrary, the two have an eternal understanding with each other, for the one calls forward to the good, the other calls back from the evil. Nor are they blind guides-this is precisely why they are two, because in order to safeguard the journey there must be a looking ahead and a looking back. Alas, perhaps there was many a one who went astray by mistakenly continuing a good beginning, since the continuation was on a wrong rod, by unremittingly pressing forward-so that regret could not lead him back to the old road. Perhaps there was someone who went astray in the prostration of the repentance that does not move from the spot-so the guide could not help him to find the road forward. When a long procession is to start, there is first a call from the person who is in the lead, but everyone waits until the last one has answered. The two guides call to a person early and late, and if he pays attention to their calls, he finds the road and he can know where he is on the road, because these two calls determine the place and indicate the road, the call of regret perhaps the better, since the casual traveler who goes down the road quickly does not get to know it as does the traveler with his burden. The one who is only striving does not get to know the road as well as the one who regrets; the former hurries ahead to something new-perhaps also away from the experience; but the one who regrets comes along afterward, laboriously gathers up the experience. The two guides call to a person early and late-and yet to so, for when regret calls to a person it is always late. The call to find the road again by seeking God in the confession of sins is always at the eleventh hour."

"I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both."

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us."

"I...regret...what I did. It was wrong. Very wrong. But regret is meaningless."

"I knew that what I had felt was envy or regret, not for something lost but for something never achieved."

"We must know, as much as possible, in our beautiful art...what we are talking about — and the only way to know is to have lived and loved and cursed and floundered and enjoyed and suffered. I think I don't regret a single "excess" of my responsive youth — I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace."

"Never regret yesterday. Life is in you today, and you make your tomorrow."

"Regret...when it comes to you, I have oceans of it."

"I feel like those words are going to be engraved on my tombstone. It was brought up every single time I did an interview. I apologized for it; I acknowledged it; I said it was true; I said it was a joke. Do I regret it? I used to regret. Not anymore. I don't regret anything anymore. Would I hope that I would never say something like that ever again? Yes. Am I capable of saying something like that again? I hope not."

"To sum it all up, I must say that I regret nothing."

"Of all fruitless errands, sending a tear to look after a day that is gone is the most fruitless."

"It would be wonderful to say you regretted it. It would be easy. But what does it mean? What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It's what you can bear. There it is. No-one's going to forgive me. It was death. I chose life."

"At this time of year, so many people will be assessing their lives and relationships, wondering if the grass is greener on the other side. Many will mistake contentment for boredom, forgetting to cherish the good things they have. I would urge those who are considering walking away from such riches to think again. … To those out there thinking of walking away from humdrum relationships, I would say don't mistake contentment for unhappiness, as I did. It could be a choice you'll regret for the rest of your life."

"The superior man accords with the course of the Mean. Though he may be all unknown, unregarded by the world, he feels no regret — It is only the sage who is able for this."

"多聞闕疑，慎言其餘，則寡尤。多見闕殆，慎行其餘，則寡悔。言寡無，行寡悔，祿在其中矣。"

"Regret, they say, is the most expensive thing in the world, but it’s a lie. Regret is free; you get to have as much regret as you want. And then, when you’re done wanting regret, you find it’s yours to keep forever."

"There is nothing between the paradise dreamed of and the paradise lost. There is nothing, since we always want what we have not got. We hope, and then we regret. We hope for the future, and then we turn to the past, and then we begin slowly and desperately to hope for the past! The two most violent and abiding feelings, hope and regret, both lean upon nothing. To ask, to ask, to have not! Humanity is exactly the same thing as poverty. Happiness has not the time to live; we have not really the time to profit by what we are. Happiness, that thing which never is — and which yet, for one day, is no longer!"

"I do not regret my youth and its beliefs. Up to now, I have wasted my time to live. Youth is the true force, but it is too rarely lucid. Sometimes it has a triumphant liking for what is now, and the pugnacious broadside of paradox may please it. But there is a degree in innovation which they who have not lived very much cannot attain. And yet who knows if the stern greatness of present events will not have educated and aged the generation which to-day forms humanity's effective frontier? Whatever our hope may be, if we did not place it in youth, where should we place it?"

"The only thing I regret about my past is the length of it. If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner."

"Aussi tous avaient-ils besoin d'oublier et leur malheur et leur pensée qui doublait le malheur."

"Right motive and a clear vision of the sources of action are still imperative needs of yours. They will lead to right activity, truthful thought and right speech. But you have made progress, my brother, and have no cause for depression or to waste time in regret over the past. The only regret that is justifiable is based on failure to learn the lessons of failure. You, however, are learning. p. 605"

"Whoever sows good shall harvest happiness, and whoever sows evil shall harvest regret."

"Give what thou canst, without thee we are poor; And with thee rich, take what thou wilt away."

"Le remords s'endort durant un destin prospère et s'aigrit dans l'adversité."

"Man, wretched man, whene'er he stoops to sin, Feels, with the act, a strong remorse within."

"Remorse is as the heart in which it grows; If that be gentle, it drops balmy dews Of true repentance; but if proud and gloomy, It is the poison tree, that pierced to the inmost Weeps only tears of poison."

"Cruel Remorse! where Youth and Pleasure sport, And thoughtless Folly keeps her court,— Crouching 'midst rosy bowers thou lurk'st unseen Slumbering the festal hours away, While Youth disports in that enchanting scene; Till on some fated day Thou with a tiger-spring dost leap upon thy prey, And tear his helpless breast, o'erwhelmed with wild dismay."