Biggest Regret Quotes

“If we’re going to become kinder, that process has to include taking ourselves seriously—as doers, as accomplishers, as dreamers. We have to do that, to be our best selves.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“As you get older, your self will diminish and you will grow in love. YOU will gradually be replaced by LOVE. If you have kids, that will be a huge moment in your process of self-diminishment. You really won’t care what happens to YOU, as long as they benefit. That’s one reason your parents are so proud and happy today. One of their fondest dreams has come true: You have accomplished something difficult and tangible that has enlarged you as a person and will make your life better, from here on in, forever.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“In your life, there have been High Kindness periods and Low Kindness periods, and you know what inclined you toward the former and away from the latter. It’s an exciting idea: Since we have observed that kindness is variable, we might also sensibly conclude that it is improvable; that is, there must be approaches and practices that can actually increase our ambient level of kindness.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“We get our butts kicked by real life, and people come to our defense, and help us, and we learn that we’re not separate, and don’t want to be. We see people near and dear to us dropping away, and are gradually convinced that maybe we too will drop away (someday, a long time from now). Most people, as they age, become less selfish and more loving.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“Over the years I’ve felt: Kindness, sure—but first let me finish this semester, this degree, this book; let me succeed at this job, and afford this house, and raise these kids, and then, finally, when all is accomplished, I’ll get started on the kindness. Except it never all gets accomplished. It’s a cycle that can go on … well, forever.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“Your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving: Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now. There’s a confusion in each of us, a sickness, really: selfishness. But there’s also a cure.

Find out what makes you kinder, what opens you up and brings out the most loving, generous, and unafraid version of you—and go after those things as if nothing else matters. Because, actually, nothing else does.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering and I responded … sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness

“Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the most undeniable feelings of warmth?

Those who were kindest to you.”
― George Saunders, Congratulations, by the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness