Is it better to regret something you have done or something you haven't done?

Answer 1

it depends.. i think the best choice is to make our decisions wisely so that we do not regret our actions be it after doing something wrong or not embarking to do something at all.

Answer 2

I completely agree with Smart Blonde. She is quite smart.

It's natural to regret some things that we have done (mistakes that we have made, foolish things that we've said in anger), but the consequences of those actions could still lead to something positive a bit further down the line (although this may require some serious looking at the big picture).

It's much more disheartening to regret something that we haven't done, because who knows where it might have lead? And it's often the not knowing that's the killer. I'm one for just trying things, just taking a chance. True, it may go a rse up, but people have the strength to get over just about anything.

My advice would always be - yes, quit your job and head off to Asia for a couple of years, yes, listen to your heart and take a chance on that boy/girl that your head tells you is completely wrong for you. Then again, I'm a bit of a romantic (and therefore, probably a bit of a fool), so maybe I'll end up with lots of regrets at the end of my life. Nah, no way!

Answer 3

As others have said, it is better to regret something you did as doing nothing will leave you wondering what the outcome would have been.

The secret is never to regret anything that you have done, (disallowing major crimes etc), as nobody takes a decision to set out on a course of action that will cause them a negative result. Even though parts of the action might cause pain to any party involved, such as in divorce, the step is instigated with the belief that the final result will be better than the present circumstances. If subsequently someone regrets their decision it is better to change the outlook to having learnt a valuable lesson which you can use in decision making at a future point.

Answer 4

I think it is better to regret something you have done - assuming that you act with good intentions.

If your intention is to do something good and it goes horribly wrong and there are dire consequences then at least you have the consolation of knowing that what happened wasn't what you intended.

If you don't act in a situation where action is required and there are dire consequences (say someone dies) then you're always going to wonder if you could have avoided that outcome by doing something.

Better to regret positive action than negative inaction.

Answer 5

To regret something one has done involves a sense of sorrow or sadness and to me that would require guilt. Why would it be better to regret something that one has done involving that? Besides, hind sight is always 20/20 as they say.
As for the context of regretting something that was not done, well, that could be a sorrow of a different nature. One could regret not doing something without suffering any guilt. As in I regret not buying Microsoft stock at its initial IPO - No guilt and can still live with that choice albeit on a tighter budget. Although I suppose there could be regrets of things not done that could contain guilt. As in I regret not taking the keys from my drunken friend so he could not drive home.

So I guess my answer would be to not actively choose to or live to regret anything regardless. Best to try and live without regret; think twice, act once and never make a choice that you know you will regret later on.

Answer 6

i would say it is better to regret something u have done because at least u know u have done it and u learned from your mistake and u can move on and not make the same mistake twice!

if u dont do something u will regret it for ever because u will always be thinking what if and what would have happened!

Answer 7

You should never regret anything!
Regretting something you've done is better, if you haven't done it you'll never have experienced it. It could be the best thing of your life and you'd have missed it.
Live life to the full. Learn from your mistakes, don't see them as regrets. x

Answer 8

From a personal point of view, it is always better to have experienced something you can learn from first hand, as long as you do learn from the things that you regret. As a result I think therefore that it is better to regret the things you have done rather than spend the rest of your lifetime wondering 'what if?'

Answer 9

Absolutely correct! It depends upon nothing but your own good self!
This is the right principle under all circumstances. First of all you have shown great courage to do something that you felt is the right thing to do. You did something that you were initially doubtful about - a victory of faith over doubt. Then you acted out to realise some inner desire, or a wish - a great show of moral courage and sincerity.

And then as if that was not enough, you, at your best, have given yourself a chance, or got yourself an chance, to learn something, or to teach yourelf something. It is always better to do whatever you feel like doing; you will only get better at it!

Answer 10

"An unexamined life is not worth living". Socrates
I was looking for a poem I read about this very thing the last line of which is "What could have been"... It's a famous poem but for the life of me I couldn't dig it up anywhere. There was also an essay written by the recent late Hunter S. Thomson titled "Security" in which he states. "These are the men who dream at night of what could have been, but who wake at dawn to take their places at the now-familiar rut and to merely exist through another day. For them the romance of life is long dead"... It seems to be the consensus that it is a terrible thing to regret the chances in life that one did not take and I agree, especially if when weighing the risks in retrospect one sees that one had little to lose and much to gain. What ever it is go for it. Ask questions later. So many times I wish I had. It is the same premise as "Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all". Alfred Lord Tennyson

Answer 11

It's better to do something and regret it than to not do something and regret it. If you do someone and regret whatever the consequences may be then at least you know the outcome. If you don't do it then you'll never know what could have happened.