--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For once, he could look back at the past…" description: "\"“For once, he could look back at the past without regret, and at the future without bewilderment. Simply and touchingly, he wrote in his diary: “I have..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/edmund-morris-26008_diary_for-once-he-could-look-back-at-the-past_287598.jpg" --- # For once, he could look back at the past without regret… ![“For once, he could look back at the past without regret, and at the future without bewilderment. Simply and touchingly, he wrote in his diary: “I have had so much happiness in my life so far that I feel, no matter what sorrows come, the joys will have overbalanced them.” quote by Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/edmund-morris-26008_diary_for-once-he-could-look-back-at-the-past_287598.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/edmund-morris-26008_diary_for-once-he-could-look-back-at-the-past_287598.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/290/edmund-morris-26008_diary_for-once-he-could-look-back-at-the-past_287598.jpg) > ““For once, he could look back at the past without regret, and at the future without bewilderment. Simply and touchingly, he wrote in his diary: “I have had so much happiness in my life so far that I feel, no matter what sorrows come, the joys will have overbalanced them.”” [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reflecting on a life filled with joy, one can feel that happiness outweighs future sorrows. **In simple terms:** Joy can outweigh future sadness. Key Takeaway Focus on present happiness. Themes resilience optimism life reflection Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal journaling - mental health - life planning Key Concepts positive psychology stoicism Questions to Reflect On - What moments bring you lasting joy? - How can you cultivate resilience for future challenges? A Different Perspective Happiness is subjective and may not predict future events. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) [Diary Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary-happiness-2775320/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Past Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past-regret-761530/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Regret Future](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret-future-343199/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Wrote Diary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrote-diary-641313/) ## Related quotes > [For the majority of us, the past is a regret, the future an experiment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/for-the-majority-of-us-the-past-is-a-regret-the-future-an-experiment/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Face the past without regret, the future without fear, and live in the present with gratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-hall/face-the-past-without-regret-the-future-without-fear-and-live-in-the/) [Frank Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-hall/) > [I live in the present because the past is regret, and the future is anxiety.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-evra/i-live-in-the-present-because-the-past-is-regret-and-the-future-is/) [Patrice Evra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-evra/) > [“The only way to compose myself and collect my thoughts," he wrote in his diary,"is to set down at my table, place my diary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/the-only-way-to-compose-myself-and-collect-my-thoughts-he-wrote-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [“Aujourd’hui, rien. That’s what Louis XVI wrote in his diary on the day of the storming of the Bastille.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-walton/aujourd-hui-rien-that-s-what-louis-xvi-wrote-in-his-diary-on-the-day/) [Jo Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-walton/) > [“Richard wrote a diary entry in his head. Dear Diary, he began. On Friday I had a job, a fiancée, a home, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/richard-wrote-a-diary-entry-in-his-head-dear-diary-he-began-on-friday/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [I don't regret my past.. I regret the time I've wasted on wrong people..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaceem-madridista/i-don-t-regret-my-past-i-regret-the-time-i-ve-wasted-on-wrong-people/) [Kaceem Madridista](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaceem-madridista/) > [Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on a past that you can't change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/absolutely-regret-is-counterproductive-it-s-looking-back-on-a-past/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [Do think many times before taking a decision, so that we should never regret about it in future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-think-many-times-before-taking-a-decision-so-that-we-should-never/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I've never regretted it. Questioned it? Sure. But never regretted." "Is there a difference?" I ask. "Absolutely. Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/i-ve-never-regretted-it-questioned-it-sure-but-never-regretted-is/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [“Every man must choose what they want to do with their time to avoid regret in the future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/every-man-must-choose-what-they-want-to-do-with-their-time-to-avoid/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [Never be afraid to say what you want. Because if you don't say it now, you may regret it in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewshycrazyness/never-be-afraid-to-say-what-you-want-because-if-you-don-t-say-it-now/) [EwshyCrazyness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewshycrazyness/) > [“Don't hate yourselves because you will regret in the future. Your souls may be valuable in society.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saaif-alam/don-t-hate-yourselves-because-you-will-regret-in-the-future-your/) [Saaif Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saaif-alam/) > [“Regret is counterproductive. It's looking back on a past that you can't change. Questioning things as they occur can prevent regret in the future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-hoover/regret-is-counterproductive-it-s-looking-back-on-a-past-that-you-can/) [Colleen Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-hoover/) > [When it’s all said and done I would like to look back and think that I help to make modelling a possibility for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alek-wek/when-it-s-all-said-and-done-i-would-like-to-look-back-and-think-that/) [Alek Wek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alek-wek/) ## More by Edmund Morris > [“Yet there was no doubt that Theodore Roosevelt was peculiarly qualified to be President of all the people. Few, if any Americans could match…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/yet-there-was-no-doubt-that-theodore-roosevelt-was-peculiarly/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [ “Wall Street billionaires are predicting that Roosevelt-style railroad rate regulation will sooner or later bring about financial catastrophe. \[ca. 1906\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/wall-street-billionaires-are-predicting-that-roosevelt-style-railroad/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Ordinary psyches often react to bad news with a momentary thrill, seeing the world, for once, in jagged clarity, as if lightning has just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/ordinary-psyches-often-react-to-bad-news-with-a-momentary-thrill/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Norway...looked to Roosevelt "as funny a kingdom as was ever imagined outside of opera bouffe…It is much as if Vermont should offhand try the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/norway-looked-to-roosevelt-as-funny-a-kingdom-as-was-ever-imagined/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Three cheers for Mr. and Mrs. Bower and their really satisfactory American family of twelve children!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/three-cheers-for-mr-and-mrs-bower-and-their-really-satisfactory/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [History admires the wise, but elevates the brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/history-admires-the-wise-but-elevates-the-brave/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Conservatives, he said, “are taught to believe that change means destruction. They are wrong.… Life means change; where there is no change, death comes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/conservatives-he-said-are-taught-to-believe-that-change-means/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“In the tired hand of a dying man, Theodore Senior had written: "The 'Machine politicians' have shown their colors... I feel sorry for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/in-the-tired-hand-of-a-dying-man-theodore-senior-had-written-the/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“The Kaiser was enough of a man to stand a tough, confidential message--and enough of a woman, presumably, to retreat if it could be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/the-kaiser-was-enough-of-a-man-to-stand-a-tough-confidential-message/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [I’m aware of the- the fact that people elsewhere in the world think differently from us. I can sort of see us, us Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/i-m-aware-of-the-the-fact-that-people-elsewhere-in-the-world-think/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“I think that the love of the really happy husband and wife—not purged of passion, but with passion heated to a white heat of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/i-think-that-the-love-of-the-really-happy-husband-and-wife-not-purged/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“As if toughening himself for the crisis to come, Roosevelt intensified his latest exercise routine, "singlesticks." Every evening in the residence, he and Leonard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/as-if-toughening-himself-for-the-crisis-to-come-roosevelt-intensified/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Indeed, until one tries it for himself, it is incredible what dignity there is in an old hat, what virtue in a time-worn coat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/indeed-until-one-tries-it-for-himself-it-is-incredible-what-dignity/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [ “\[Theodore\] Roosevelt had long ago discovered that the more provincial the supplicants, the less able were they to understand that their need was not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/theodore-roosevelt-had-long-ago-discovered-that-the-more-provincial/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) > [“Just because we cannot stop all the large leaks, that is no reason why we should open up all the little ones.” T. Roosevelt”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-morris/just-because-we-cannot-stop-all-the-large-leaks-that-is-no-reason-why-2/) [Edmund Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) [Explore all 21 Edmund Morris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-morris/) ## More Diary quotes > [I don't want to be singing my diary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norah-jones/i-don-t-want-to-be-singing-my-diary/) [Norah Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norah-jones/) > [“What a vast fertility of pleasure books hold for me! (...) I think I could happily live here & read forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/what-a-vast-fertility-of-pleasure-books-hold-for-me-i-think-i-could/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“The platonic love I feel for my cousin, made me write this diary ...” Leione”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pet-torres/the-platonic-love-i-feel-for-my-cousin-made-me-write-this-diary-leione/) [Pet Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pet-torres/) > [“All right, you caught me. I'm secretly obsessed with you and spend all my free time writing about you in my journal. 'Dear Diary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-scott/all-right-you-caught-me-i-m-secretly-obsessed-with-you-and-spend-all/) [Elizabeth Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-scott/) > [I'm so open to different things. The only thing I'd say is I've set the bar pretty high in terms of good female roles…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bel-powley/i-m-so-open-to-different-things-the-only-thing-i-d-say-is-i-ve-set/) [Bel Powley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bel-powley/) > ["The diary, "My diary. Little Ginny's been writing in it for months and months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes - how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-riddle/the-diary-my-diary-little-ginny-s-been-writing-in-it-for-months-and/) [Tom Riddle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-riddle/) > [A man's diary is a record in youth of his sentiments, in middle age of his actions, in old age of his reflections.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/a-man-s-diary-is-a-record-in-youth-of-his-sentiments-in-middle-age-of/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [I'm never without my personalised Anya Hindmarch diary - I keep my schedule online, too, but my diary is always in my bag. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aerin-lauder/i-m-never-without-my-personalised-anya-hindmarch-diary-i-keep-my/) [Aerin Lauder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aerin-lauder/) > [I keep a diary - one for each film and foreign land I travel to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-mcconaughey/i-keep-a-diary-one-for-each-film-and-foreign-land-i-travel-to/) [Matthew McConaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-mcconaughey/) > [Don't read my diary when I'm gone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/don-t-read-my-diary-when-i-m-gone/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [I keep a diary because I love this writer, David Sedaris, and he writes a lot about his diary, and he inspired me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-hawke/i-keep-a-diary-because-i-love-this-writer-david-sedaris-and-he-writes/) [Maya Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-hawke/) > [Memory is the diary that chronicles things that never happened or couldn't possibly have happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/memory-is-the-diary-that-chronicles-things-that-never-happened-or/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“What will become of me? I do not know where am I going or what tomorrow will bring.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-ne-berr/what-will-become-of-me-i-do-not-know-where-am-i-going-or-what/) [Hélène Berr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-ne-berr/) > [“I use my friends rather as giglamps : There's another field I see: by your light. Over there's a hill. I widen my landscape.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-use-my-friends-rather-as-giglamps-there-s-another-field-i-see-by/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [I need a moment of time for myself every day, like a child playing with his things. When I travel, I routinely find a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/i-need-a-moment-of-time-for-myself-every-day-like-a-child-playing/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) [Browse all 453 Diary quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/diary/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For once, he could look back at the past without regret, and at the future without bewilderment. 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