"Do it or do not do it-you will regret both"- Soren Kierkegaard? Do you agree?

[ChiTown33]

Life is less about making the right choice as you'll have regrets regardless of what you do. Rather life is about making the choice with the regrets you can live with.

[loveslongnails]

I studied Kierkegaard in my college philosophy courses, and he was one depressive mf. I also think it's silly that he's called the "father of modern existentialism" when Socrates did much of same thing some 2,200 years before him. Anyway...

I disagree with that statement completely. People will inevitably regret some of their decisions, but certainly not all of them. You will regret somethings you did, somethings you DIDN'T do, but it's ridiculous to assert you'll regret every do/do not decision you've ever made.

[ChiTown33]

I wasn't asserting EVERYTHING. But i was asserting that either path you choose will give you some regrets. Hence why i said, "the regrets you can live with". I think this is why people have regrets. They think another path would have made them happier. When in actuality it might have given them MORE regrets. It's the unknowns and what ifs. It's just human nature. Some people more than others obviously.

[loveslongnails]

I understand what you were asserting. " But i was asserting that either path you choose will give you some regrets." That's what I disagree with. I'll give you an example which of course, is a personal anecdote.

When I was 19, I had two options. The first was to remain in hometown, the suburb of a large city, with my own apartment and a car, and attend college there. The second was to sell the car, use the money for the apartment to pay for tuition at a major university a thousand miles away, in a completely different atmosphere from my upbringing.

I chose #2, and never ONCE in my life have I regretted that decision. Not once, not ever. It changed my world forever for the better. I have "wondered" what might have been had I stayed, but that's very different than regret. I never ONCE thought the other choice would have made me happier, or given me the opportunities and experiences I had. I don't think I'm a unicorn when it comes to this, either.

[OneViewpoint]

I agree to some degree. Few choices in life are clear cut. Most involve some sort of opportunity cost. As the stakes get higher, more people have a problem making those tradeoffs because they involve meaningful tradeoffs.

[DryGermanGuy]

"There are two great tragedies in life: one is not getting what you want and the other is getting it."

— Oscar Wilde

[TheStaleMarshmellow]

Opportunity cost is the consequence of pattern recognition

[strateguy632]

Nope. You choose best availablle choices.