Just as you can regret doing or saying something, you can also regret NOT doing or saying something. If you tell someone ‘I love you’ - they might move in closer, hug you tight, smile and say ‘I love you too’…and you’ll be glad you finally opened up to them. But they might say ‘I’m sorry…I don’t feel the same way’…and you’re left embarrassed, and wishing you hadn’t opened up your big mouth.
You can regret that, in a moment of anger, you called someone a moron. Or that, in your impatience, you pushed in line and acted like a bully. You can regret that you told an untruth about someone that resulted in them losing their job. You can regret that you didn’t take that trip overseas, which you’d always wanted to do.
A person can feel regret for something that they did willfully, as well as for something that they did unintentionally. Feeling regret can be an indication that a person’s conscience is in working order and prompt them to improve themself and their character.
Regret can be fairly innocuous - ‘I regret eating that whole bag of candy.’ Or extremely serious, as when someone confesses before the jury, ‘I did it. I killed him.’ Even such a confession, however, does not indicate regret - but merely admission. The person confessing might actually feel no regret at all. The jury may or may not be moved to show clemency, based upon whether they perceive any regret in the confessor’s admission of guilt to the crime, or not.
Having few regrets doesn’t prove that someone is living a happy, contented, fulfilled life. ‘I have no regrets’ MAY indicate that someone has done everything they wanted to do in life. But, it may simply mean that they have no regrets about what they’ve done…up to the present point.
You can regret that, in a moment of anger, you called someone a moron. Or that, in your impatience, you pushed in line and acted like a bully. You can regret that you told an untruth about someone that resulted in them losing their job. You can regret that you didn’t take that trip overseas, which you’d always wanted to do.
A person can feel regret for something that they did willfully, as well as for something that they did unintentionally. Feeling regret can be an indication that a person’s conscience is in working order and prompt them to improve themself and their character.
Regret can be fairly innocuous - ‘I regret eating that whole bag of candy.’ Or extremely serious, as when someone confesses before the jury, ‘I did it. I killed him.’ Even such a confession, however, does not indicate regret - but merely admission. The person confessing might actually feel no regret at all. The jury may or may not be moved to show clemency, based upon whether they perceive any regret in the confessor’s admission of guilt to the crime, or not.
Having few regrets doesn’t prove that someone is living a happy, contented, fulfilled life. ‘I have no regrets’ MAY indicate that someone has done everything they wanted to do in life. But, it may simply mean that they have no regrets about what they’ve done…up to the present point.