Hoyt & Roberts, comps. Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations. 1922.
Regret
Keen were his pangs, but keener far to feel,
He nursed the pinion, which impell’d the steel.
Byron—English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. L. 823.
Thou wilt lament
Hereafter, when the evil shall be done
And shall admit no cure.
Homer—Iliad. Bk. LX. L. 308. Bryant’s trans.
No simple word
That shall be uttered at our mirthful board,
Shall make us sad next morning; or affright
The liberty that we’ll enjoy to-night.
Ben Jonson—Epigram CI.
O lost days of delight, that are wasted in doubting and waiting!
O lost hours and days in which we might have been happy!
Longfellow—Tales of a Wayside Inn. Pt. III. The Theologian’s Tale. Elizabeth.
For who, alas! has lived,
Nor in the watches of the night recalled
Words he has wished unsaid and deeds undone.
Sam’l Rogers—Reflections. L. 52.
I could have better spar’d a better man.
Henry IV. Pt. I. Act V. Sc. 4. L. 104.