If You’re Under 60, These Quotes Might Save You Years of Regret
Youth is a wonderful thing, but it often comes with a blind spot:
the illusion of endless time.
It’s easy to postpone dreams, tolerate toxic situations,
and make choices based on short-term comfort rather than long-term fulfillment.
The wisdom that guides a life of few regrets is often hard-earned
through experience.
But what if you could borrow a little of that wisdom now?
The following quotes are like a conversation with your future self.
They are the lessons people often wish they had learned decades earlier.
Read them, not as simple platitudes,
but as potential shortcuts to a life of greater meaning and fewer “what ifs.”
Quotes
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” — Mark Twain
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” — John D. Rockefeller
“Your 20s are about learning, your 30s are about earning, but your 40s and beyond should be about yearning—for a life of purpose.” — Unknown
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” — Buddha
“Your net worth to the world is usually determined by what remains after your bad habits are subtracted from your good ones.” — Benjamin Franklin
“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.” — Babe Ruth
“Your health is an investment, not an expense.”
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” — Theodore Roosevelt
“The greatest risk is not that you aim too high and miss, but that you aim too low and hit.” — Michelangelo
“Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.” — W. Clement Stone
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs
“Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear.” — George Addair
“Don’t save your best for someone else’s special occasion. Every day you’re alive is a special occasion.” — Thomas S. Monson
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — Confucius
“Your career does not take care of you when you are old. The relationships you cultivated do.”
“Learn to say ‘no’ to the good so you can say ‘yes’ to the great.” — John C. Maxwell
“Character is how you treat those who can do nothing for you.”
“Buy the ticket, take the ride.” — Hunter S. Thompson
“Failures are lessons in disguise. The more you have, the smarter you get—if you’re paying attention.”
“Travel far enough to meet yourself.” — David Mitchell
“Start before you’re ready. You’ll never feel 100% prepared.”
“Your life is a result of the standards you consistently accept.”
“Be kind to your knees. You’ll miss them when they’re gone.” — Kurt Vonnegut
“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” — Dolly Parton
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Your 40-year-old self will thank your 30-year-old self for starting that retirement fund. Your 60-year-old self will be eternally grateful.”
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.” — Steve Jobs
“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 J. Harris
“Spend extravagantly on the things you love and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.” — Ramit Sethi
“The things you own end up owning you.” — Chuck Palahniuk
“Learn how to learn. It is the most critical skill for the 21st century.”
“Your reputation is the most valuable currency you have. Protect it with your life.”
“The only way to avoid disappointment is to have no goals. And that is the biggest disappointment of all.”
“Marry the person who makes you laugh. You’ll need it.”
“Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.” — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
“Read. Every book is a cheat sheet for someone else’s experience.”
“Your body is not a temple, it’s a home. Don’t trash it, but make sure you throw a good party every once in a while.”
“The goal isn’t to live forever; it’s to create something that will.” — Chuck Palahniuk
“Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake. Order the drink. Stop waiting for a ‘special occasion.’ You are alive today. That is the special occasion.”
“Your future self is watching you right now through memories.”
