---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: . . . but mostly, given another shot at…"
description: "\". . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute - look at it and really see it - live it - and never give it back.\" — Erma Bom..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png"
---

#  . . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would…

![“. . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute - look at it and really see it - live it - and never give it back.” quote by Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png)

> “. . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute - look at it and really see it - live it - and never give it back.”

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Given a second chance, she would fully engage each moment, observing deeply and refusing to waste time.

**In simple terms:** Seize every moment fully.

Key Takeaway

Live fully, no regrets.

Themes

mindfulness carpe diem gratitude

Mood

reflective determined hopeful

Type

motivational philosophical

When to use this quote

- daily living
- personal growth
- healthful habits

Key Concepts

second chances presence time value

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you truly “see” each minute?
- What prevents you from seizing every minute?

A Different Perspective

Life’s brevity can limit full engagement.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Every Minute](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/every-minute/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Live each day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-each-day/)

## Related quotes

> [If I had my life to live over again, I would have waxed less and listened more. ... I would have cried and laughed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/if-i-had-my-life-to-live-over-again-i-would-have-waxed-less-and/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [“ If I had my life to live over... Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/if-i-had-my-life-to-live-over-someone-asked-me-the-other-day-if-i-had/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [There's a ton of talent in this country. Some just need to be given a shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddy-rice/there-s-a-ton-of-talent-in-this-country-some-just-need-to-be-given-a/)

[Buddy Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddy-rice/)

> [“We only have one shot at life, and every minute is precious. Don’t waste your time doing things that don’t bring you joy and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margie-k-aliprandi/we-only-have-one-shot-at-life-and-every-minute-is-precious-don-t/)

[Margie K. Aliprandi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margie-k-aliprandi/)

> [Given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it... live it...and never give it back. Stop sweating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/given-another-shot-at-life-i-would-seize-every-minute-look-at-it-and/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [The minute we look, we cease being afraid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-crichton/the-minute-we-look-we-cease-being-afraid/)

[Michael Crichton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-crichton/)

> [Take a minute: look at your goals, look at your performance, see if your behavior matches your goals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-blanchard/take-a-minute-look-at-your-goals-look-at-your-performance-see-if-your/)

[Ken Blanchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-blanchard/)

> [ I loved playing \[the Doctor\], and taking part in the basic essence and message of the series which is, it's a short life, seize… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-eccleston/i-loved-playing-the-doctor-and-taking-part-in-the-basic-essence-and/)

[Christopher Eccleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-eccleston/)

> [Each day is a new life. Seize it. Live it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guy-powers/each-day-is-a-new-life-seize-it-live-it/)

David Guy Powers

> [Plunge boldly into the thick of life, and seize it where you will, it is always interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/plunge-boldly-into-the-thick-of-life-and-seize-it-where-you-will-it/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [“There must be more than distant hopes to sustain the joy of life. Seize”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-a-salvatore/there-must-be-more-than-distant-hopes-to-sustain-the-joy-of-life-seize/)

[R.A. Salvatore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-a-salvatore/)

> [If you come upon the opportunity to improve another's life, seize it immediately](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-hensley-mccain/if-you-come-upon-the-opportunity-to-improve-another-s-life-seize-it/)

Cindy Hensley McCain

> [“But bid life seize the present? It lives less in the present Than in the future always, And less in both together Than in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/but-bid-life-seize-the-present-it-lives-less-in-the-present-than-in/)

[Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/)

> [I have come to the point in my life that I realize enjoy every minute you have. Even the hardest things we do in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-white/i-have-come-to-the-point-in-my-life-that-i-realize-enjoy-every-minute/)

Cindy White

> [You only get one shot at life. Make the best of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dolmayan/you-only-get-one-shot-at-life-make-the-best-of-it/)

[John Dolmayan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dolmayan/)

## More by Erma Bombeck

> [Cats invented self-esteem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/cats-invented-self-esteem/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [To my way of thinking, the American family started to decline when parents began to communicate with their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-my-way-of-thinking-the-american-family-started-to-decline-when/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [The woman who says, 'My kids are all speaking to one another and they love us' is a psychopathic liar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/the-woman-who-says-my-kids-are-all-speaking-to-one-another-and-they/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [The term 'working mother' is redundant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/the-term-working-mother-is-redundant/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [To say, "Well, I write when I really get into it" is a bunch of bull. Put the paper in the typewriter, stare at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/to-say-well-i-write-when-i-really-get-into-it-is-a-bunch-of-bull-put/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [I used everything you gave me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-used-everything-you-gave-me/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [Just think of all those women on the Titanic who said, 'No thank you' to desert that night. And for what?!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/just-think-of-all-those-women-on-the-titanic-who-said-no-thank-you-to/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [The mole rat is the only rodent born without a fur coat. With a good lawyer, someone would pay for that little oversight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/the-mole-rat-is-the-only-rodent-born-without-a-fur-coat-with-a-good/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [God created man, but I could do better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/god-created-man-but-i-could-do-better/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [If the nest is truly empty, who owns all this junk?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/if-the-nest-is-truly-empty-who-owns-all-this-junk/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [Housework, if it is done properly, can cause brain damage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/housework-if-it-is-done-properly-can-cause-brain-damage/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It's the only thing "real" men do that doesn't seem to threaten their masculinity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/making-coffee-has-become-the-great-compromise-of-the-decade-it-s-the/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [I have a friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: Seize the Moment. Just possibly, she may be the wisest woman on this planet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-have-a-friend-who-lives-by-a-three-word-philosophy-seize-the-moment/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/when-i-stand-before-god-at-the-end-of-my-life-i-would-hope-that-i/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

> [Before we sent kids to computer camps and told them they were having a good time, there was imagination among the human species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/before-we-sent-kids-to-computer-camps-and-told-them-they-were-having/)

[Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

[Explore all 372 Erma Bombeck quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/)

## More Given quotes

> [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise I live without options. I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-could-not-limit-my-values-and-pursuits-to-what-makes-others/)

[Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/)

> [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/)

[John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/)

> [A low-minded person should not be given good advice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chanakya/a-low-minded-person-should-not-be-given-good-advice/)

[Chanakya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chanakya/)

> [The old charters of Massachusetts, Virginia, and the Carolinas had given title to strips of territory extending from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-bushnell-hart/the-old-charters-of-massachusetts-virginia-and-the-carolinas-had/)

[Albert Bushnell Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-bushnell-hart/)

> [I just think my own ambition would not allow me to sit on the gifts that my creator had given me. And so that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/i-just-think-my-own-ambition-would-not-allow-me-to-sit-on-the-gifts/)

[Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/)

> [Susan B. Anthony must be turning in her grave if she knew that millions of women who have the right to vote are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-m-kunin/susan-b-anthony-must-be-turning-in-her-grave-if-she-knew-that/)

[Madeleine M. Kunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-m-kunin/)

> [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/)

[Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/)

> [If life were like a competitive race, some people would be given a flying start and others would line up with weights tied to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mardy-grothe/if-life-were-like-a-competitive-race-some-people-would-be-given-a/)

[Mardy Grothe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mardy-grothe/)

> [Consideration is the soil in which wisdom may be expected to grow, and strength be given to every up-springing plant of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/consideration-is-the-soil-in-which-wisdom-may-be-expected-to-grow-and/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Music is one of the ways by which you can know everything which is going on in the world. You can feel... through music...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-simone/music-is-one-of-the-ways-by-which-you-can-know-everything-which-is/)

[Nina Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-simone/)

> [Today, at Harvard, any student with the currently fashionable color of skin is given rights denied to students of the currently unfashionable color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-capp/today-at-harvard-any-student-with-the-currently-fashionable-color-of/)

[Al Capp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-capp/)

> [Much like teaching art to young art students age 10 to 15 or so on, you have to break it down into bite-sized pieces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kehinde-wiley/much-like-teaching-art-to-young-art-students-age-10-to-15-or-so-on/)

[Kehinde Wiley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kehinde-wiley/)

> [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/)

[Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/)

> [It was given out that the animals there practised cannibalism, tortured one another with red-hot horseshoes, and had their females in common. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/it-was-given-out-that-the-animals-there-practised-cannibalism/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [God has given believers the responsibility of spreading the Gospel to all the world, and we need to use all at our disposal to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-epp/god-has-given-believers-the-responsibility-of-spreading-the-gospel-to/)

[Theodore Epp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-epp/)

Browse all 10,948 Given quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": ". . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute - look at it and really see it - live it - and never give it back.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Erma Bombeck"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i-would-seize-every-minute-look/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Given"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i-would-seize-every-minute-look/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b95/erma-bombeck-780_given_but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i_3126888.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“. . . but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute - look at it and really see it…” — Erma Bombeck",
                "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": "Erma Bombeck",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": ". . . but mostly, given...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i-would-seize-every-minute-look/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/but-mostly-given-another-shot-at-life-i-would-seize-every-minute-look/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
