--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Making a choice is like backing a horse…" description: "\"Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred years, they may decide you picked wrongly.\" — Edward Carpenter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg" --- # Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred… ![“Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred years, they may decide you picked wrongly.” quote by Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg) > “Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred years, they may decide you picked wrongly.” [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Making a decision feels like betting on a horse; future outcomes may reveal the choice was wrong. **In simple terms:** Decisions are uncertain and may later seem mistaken. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty and choose wisely. Themes decisionmaking risk future Mood anxious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - career choices - investments - relationships - personal goals Key Concepts probability regret longterm perspective Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance intuition and analysis? - What safeguards can you set for risky choices? A Different Perspective Future outcomes are unpredictable, so over‑analysis can paralyze. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Making a choice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-a-choice/) ## Related quotes > [“When you finally get down to making a choice from your narrowed-down list of alternatives, and you’ve cognitively evaluated the issues, and emotionally and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-burnett/when-you-finally-get-down-to-making-a-choice-from-your-narrowed-down/) [Bill Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-burnett/) > [There’s a redemptive power that making a choice has rather than feeling like you’re an effect to all the things that are happening. Make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-smith/there-s-a-redemptive-power-that-making-a-choice-has-rather-than/) [Will Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-smith/) > [Life does not give itself to one who tries to keep all its advantages at once. I have often thought morality may perhaps consist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-blum/life-does-not-give-itself-to-one-who-tries-to-keep-all-its-advantages/) [Leon Blum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-blum/) > [“It would not benefit us if we stand always at the fork in the road, never making a choice, never making any mistake, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jocelyn-soriano/it-would-not-benefit-us-if-we-stand-always-at-the-fork-in-the-road/) [Jocelyn Soriano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jocelyn-soriano/) > [“Ian pretended that not knowing what to do was the hard part when, somewhere inside, I think he knew that making a choice about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-jay/ian-pretended-that-not-knowing-what-to-do-was-the-hard-part-when/) [Meg Jay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-jay/) > [“You can't always make good choices. Sometimes you have to settle for making a choice you can live with.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikki-wakefield/you-can-t-always-make-good-choices-sometimes-you-have-to-settle-for/) [Vikki Wakefield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikki-wakefield/) > [Free will is the sensation of making a choice. The sensation is real, but the choice seems illusory. Laws of physics determine the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/free-will-is-the-sensation-of-making-a-choice-the-sensation-is-real/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [“At times, good enough and done is a smarter choice than perfect, and simply making a choice is often a sign of maturity, balance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myquillyn-smith/at-times-good-enough-and-done-is-a-smarter-choice-than-perfect-and/) [Myquillyn Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myquillyn-smith/) > [Some of our important choices have a time line. If we delay a decision, the opportunity is gone forever. Sometimes our doubts keep us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-e-faust/some-of-our-important-choices-have-a-time-line-if-we-delay-a-decision/) [James E. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-e-faust/) > [If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can lose her chance forever. -An-mei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/if-she-doesn-t-speak-she-is-making-a-choice-if-she-doesn-t-try-she/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [“Making a choice is a powerful privilege. Accepting one is strength.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-bekoe/making-a-choice-is-a-powerful-privilege-accepting-one-is-strength/) [Marion Bekoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-bekoe/) > [Every time you're making a choice, one choice is the safe/comfortable choice - and one choice is the risky/uncomfortable choice. the risky/uncomfortable choice is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-sivers/every-time-you-re-making-a-choice-one-choice-is-the-safe-comfortable/) [Derek Sivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-sivers/) > [You have to continuously make choices throughout your life. Whether it is made consciously or unconsciously, by making a choice means that you must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/you-have-to-continuously-make-choices-throughout-your-life-whether-it/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [“She cried, 'No choice! No choice!' She doesn't know. If she doesn't speak, she is making a choice. If she doesn't try, she can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-tan/she-cried-no-choice-no-choice-she-doesn-t-know-if-she-doesn-t-speak/) [Amy Tan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-tan/) > [As a personal matter, I stopped voting more than a decade ago, on the grounds that it helped me as an analyst not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/as-a-personal-matter-i-stopped-voting-more-than-a-decade-ago-on-the/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) ## More by Edward Carpenter > [Anyone who realises what Love is, the dedication of the heart, so profound, so absorbing, so mysterious, so imperative, and always just in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/anyone-who-realises-what-love-is-the-dedication-of-the-heart-so/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [With my somewhat vague aspiring mind, to be imprisoned in the rude details of a most material life was often irksome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/with-my-somewhat-vague-aspiring-mind-to-be-imprisoned-in-the-rude/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“In the case of Michel Angelo we have an artist who with brush and chisel portrayed literally thousands of human forms; but with this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/in-the-case-of-michel-angelo-we-have-an-artist-who-with-brush-and/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“It would seem probable that the attachment of such a one is of a tender and profound character; indeed, it is possible that in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/it-would-seem-probable-that-the-attachment-of-such-a-one-is-of-a/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [Great success in examinations does naturally not as a rule go with originality of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/great-success-in-examinations-does-naturally-not-as-a-rule-go-with/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“Anyhow, with their extraordinary gift for, and experience in, affairs of the heart from the double point of view, both of the man and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/anyhow-with-their-extraordinary-gift-for-and-experience-in-affairs-of/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [I saw deep in the eyes of the animals, the human soul look out upon me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/i-saw-deep-in-the-eyes-of-the-animals-the-human-soul-look-out-upon-me-2/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [“So that eternal love, in love's fresh case, Weighs not the dust and injury of age;”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/so-that-eternal-love-in-love-s-fresh-case-weighs-not-the-dust-and/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [IT is curious that, with my somewhat antinomian tendencies, I should have gone to Trinity Hall - which was, and is, before all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/it-is-curious-that-with-my-somewhat-antinomian-tendencies-i-should/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [ “\[A\]s people are beginning to see that the sexes form in a certain sense a continuous group, so they are beginning to see that… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/a-s-people-are-beginning-to-see-that-the-sexes-form-in-a-certain/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [We lived within two hundred yards of the sea, and its voice was in our ears night and day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/we-lived-within-two-hundred-yards-of-the-sea-and-its-voice-was-in-our/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [Early in 1888 one or two of us got together to establish our own Sheffield Socialist Society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/early-in-1888-one-or-two-of-us-got-together-to-establish-our-own/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [The other thing that happened in 1883 was my reading of Thoreau's Walden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/the-other-thing-that-happened-in-1883-was-my-reading-of-thoreau-s/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [I was in the Square at the time. The crowd was a most good-humoured, easy going, smiling crowd; but presently it was transformed. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/i-was-in-the-square-at-the-time-the-crowd-was-a-most-good-humoured/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) > [Do not think too much of the dead husk of your friend, or mourn too much over it, but send your thoughts out towards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/do-not-think-too-much-of-the-dead-husk-of-your-friend-or-mourn-too/) [Edward Carpenter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) [Explore all 35 Edward Carpenter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/) ## More Choice quotes > [Making the right decision is hard,telling someone your decision is even harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/making-the-right-decision-is-hard-telling-someone-your-decision-is/) [Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/) > [“That’s all! Now either leave us alone or join us as a father rather than a receiver of sacrifices. You have the choice of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/that-s-all-now-either-leave-us-alone-or-join-us-as-a-father-rather/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“Exactly. So, what can't you take? Decide which of the two options is harder, and do the other. That way, no matter how hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-angelini/exactly-so-what-can-t-you-take-decide-which-of-the-two-options-is/) [Josephine Angelini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-angelini/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) Pancho Barnes > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [There has always been a feeling with people that they love my singing but not always the choice of material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-moyet/there-has-always-been-a-feeling-with-people-that-they-love-my-singing/) [Alison Moyet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-moyet/) > [I have too many options when it comes to guitars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-nielsen/i-have-too-many-options-when-it-comes-to-guitars/) [Rick Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-nielsen/) > [“Amazing how a small choice can change your life forever.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-c-dockens/amazing-how-a-small-choice-can-change-your-life-forever/) Randy C. Dockens > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Since I don't outline my books very much, I feel like sometimes I don't have a choice in what the characters do; they just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-todd/since-i-don-t-outline-my-books-very-much-i-feel-like-sometimes-i-don/) [Anna Todd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-todd/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Words can only have an effect on you if you choose to listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernajoy-vaal/words-can-only-have-an-effect-on-you-if-you-choose-to-listen-to-them/) [Bernajoy Vaal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernajoy-vaal/) [Browse all 8,092 Choice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred years, they may decide you picked wrongly.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Carpenter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse-in-a-hundred-years-they-may/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Choice" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse-in-a-hundred-years-they-may/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5f/edward-carpenter-18169_choice_making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse_2688240.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Making a choice is like backing a horse - in a hundred years, they may decide you picked wrongly.” — Edward Carpenter", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edward Carpenter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-carpenter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Making a choice is like backing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse-in-a-hundred-years-they-may/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-carpenter/making-a-choice-is-like-backing-a-horse-in-a-hundred-years-they-may/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```