--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Regret for the things we did can be…" description: "\"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" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/sydney-j-harris-1578_inconsolable_regret-for-the-things-we-did-can-be-temp_2156142.png" --- # Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it… ![“Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.” quote by Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/sydney-j-harris-1578_inconsolable_regret-for-the-things-we-did-can-be-temp_2156142.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/sydney-j-harris-1578_inconsolable_regret-for-the-things-we-did-can-be-temp_2156142.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e8/sydney-j-harris-1578_inconsolable_regret-for-the-things-we-did-can-be-temp_2156142.png) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Regret over inaction is deeper than regret over action; time eases the former but not the latter. **In simple terms:** Not doing something can haunt you more than doing it. Key Takeaway Act before hesitation. Themes regret time action Mood reflective somber Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - career moves - personal relationships - missed opportunities Key Concepts decision theory psychology life choices Questions to Reflect On - What actions have you delayed? - How do you cope with missed chances? A Different Perspective Time may not fully heal all regrets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Did Inconsolable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/did-inconsolable-4554589/) [Inconsolable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inconsolable-90438/) [Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret/) [Regret Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/regret-things/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Time Regret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time-regret-994054/) ## Related quotes > [“Regret for things we have done can be tempered by time, it is regret for things we have not done that is inconsolable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris-2/regret-for-things-we-have-done-can-be-tempered-by-time-it-is-regret/) [Sydney J Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris-2/) > [Regret for the things you have done is easier tempered through time than regret for the things you did'nt do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/regret-for-the-things-you-have-done-is-easier-tempered-through-time/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Regret for the things you have done can be tempered with time, It's regret for the things you have not doen that is inconsolable.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reader-s-digest/regret-for-the-things-you-have-done-can-be-tempered-with-time-it-s/) [Reader's Digest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reader-s-digest/) > [Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorian-cox/regret-for-the-things-we-did-can-be-tempered-by-time-it-is-regret-for/) [Dorian Cox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorian-cox/) > [“Some of the people we feel sorry for feel sorry for us for thinking that they are the ones who should be felt sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-of-the-people-we-feel-sorry-for-feel-sorry-for-us-for-thinking/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“Jasper, who is six, is the only one of us who responds appropriately. He wails, inconsolable for an hour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sheff/jasper-who-is-six-is-the-only-one-of-us-who-responds-appropriately-he/) [david sheff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sheff/) > [“Monica's about sick, she's almost inconsolable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/monica-s-about-sick-she-s-almost-inconsolable/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“Gray. 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She gave me a ring made from a leaf, a cluster of golden berries, a flower that opened and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-slept-and-i-woke-she-gave-me-a-ring-made-from-a-leaf-a-cluster-of/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [In the end you regret less the things you believed that weren't true than the things that never came true because you didn't believe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/in-the-end-you-regret-less-the-things-you-believed-that-weren-t-true/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“I would rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done. ~Lucille Ball”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-langston/i-would-rather-regret-the-things-i-ve-done-than-regret-the-things-i/) [K. Langston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-langston/) > [Time moves on and we later regret the things not done, the words not said, the love not shown, life's too short, do what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/time-moves-on-and-we-later-regret-the-things-not-done-the-words-not/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [I can't really regret things; you just have to move on and live your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meghan-mccain/i-can-t-really-regret-things-you-just-have-to-move-on-and-live-your/) [Meghan McCain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meghan-mccain/) > [I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-ball/i-would-rather-regret-the-things-that-i-have-done-than-the-things/) [Lucille Ball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-ball/) ## More by Sydney J. Harris > [This is a lesson mankind has not yet learned. We identify, and stratify, and treat persons largely on the basis of their accidental (physical)…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/this-is-a-lesson-mankind-has-not-yet-learned-we-identify-and-stratify/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Character is something you forge for yourself; temperament is something you are born with and can only slightly modify.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/character-is-something-you-forge-for-yourself-temperament-is/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Middle Age is that perplexing time of life when we hear two voices calling us, one saying, 'Why not?' and the other, 'Why bother?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/middle-age-is-that-perplexing-time-of-life-when-we-hear-two-voices/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [The profound immoralities of our time are cruelty, indifference, injustice and the use of others as means rather than ends in themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/the-profound-immoralities-of-our-time-are-cruelty-indifference/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Marriages we regard as the happiest are those in which each of the partners believes he or she got the best of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/marriages-we-regard-as-the-happiest-are-those-in-which-each-of-the/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“...it calls for deciding things on their own merit, not because you read it or were told it or grew up believing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/it-calls-for-deciding-things-on-their-own-merit-not-because-you-read/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Ignorance per se is not nearly as dangerous as ignorance of ignorance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/ignorance-per-se-is-not-nearly-as-dangerous-as-ignorance-of-ignorance/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Patriotism is proud of a country's virtues and eager to correct its deficiencies; it also acknowledges the legitimate patriotism of other countries, with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/patriotism-is-proud-of-a-country-s-virtues-and-eager-to-correct-its/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from the past, his is also one who is permanently disappointed in the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/a-cynic-is-not-merely-one-who-reads-bitter-lessons-from-the-past-his/) [Sydney J. 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Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/any-philosophy-that-can-be-put-in-a-nutshell-belongs-there/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [“Like all persecuted minority groups, they strike back by forming cabals, by “taking over” certain spheres of activity (in the arts, for instance), and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/like-all-persecuted-minority-groups-they-strike-back-by-forming/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) > [Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-j-harris/intolerance-is-the-most-socially-acceptable-form-of-egotism-for-it/) [Sydney J. Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) [Explore all 226 Sydney J. Harris quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-j-harris/) ## More Inconsolable quotes > [“I slept and I woke. She gave me a ring made from a leaf, a cluster of golden berries, a flower that opened and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/i-slept-and-i-woke-she-gave-me-a-ring-made-from-a-leaf-a-cluster-of/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Jealousy is inconsolable because it cannot know the beloved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/jealousy-is-inconsolable-because-it-cannot-know-the-beloved/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“Gray. The overcast skies had the colour of deadened stones, and seemed closer than usually, as though they were phlegmatically observing my every movement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/gray-the-overcast-skies-had-the-colour-of-deadened-stones-and-seemed/) [Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/) > [“Monica's about sick, she's almost inconsolable”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/monica-s-about-sick-she-s-almost-inconsolable/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [“Jasper, who is six, is the only one of us who responds appropriately. He wails, inconsolable for an hour.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sheff/jasper-who-is-six-is-the-only-one-of-us-who-responds-appropriately-he/) [david sheff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sheff/) > [“Some of the people we feel sorry for feel sorry for us for thinking that they are the ones who should be felt sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/some-of-the-people-we-feel-sorry-for-feel-sorry-for-us-for-thinking/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) [Browse all 7 Inconsolable quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inconsolable-90438/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sydney J. 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