Article image

Quotes About Hindsight To Help You Move Forward

You know what they say: Hindsight is 20/20. In other words, we tend to look back on things that have happened with far more clarity than we had in the moment.

Hindsight is what we call “learned wisdom” — a mechanism that allows us to glean lessons from just about anything we’ve experienced, whether good or bad. It’s what gives us perspective after a breakup or understanding in the aftermath of a career change. It’s how we begin to piece together a narrative that makes sense of our current situation.

If we’re not careful, though, hindsight can also become a roadblock in our lives going forward. For instance, we might be warier of new acquaintances as a result of falling out with a friend. This sort of hindsight-based distortion can hinder our willingness to remain open to possibilities.

So how do we strike a balance between learning from our past and not allowing our negative experiences too much power? These 13 quotes offer some wisdom on the double-edged sword of hindsight and how best to wield it as we continue navigating the ups and downs of learning and living.

Hindsight is wonderful. It’s always very easy to second-guess after the fact.
Helen Reddy

Share Quote

If we were able to live at the level of the soul all the time, there would be no need for hindsight to appreciate the great truths of life.
Deepak Chopra

Share Quote

The real trick in life is to turn hindsight into foresight that reveals insight.
Robin Sharma

Share Quote

Hindsight is illuminating but not always what we want to see.
Kylie Minogue

Share Quote

When I was younger, I made some decisions that I shouldn’t have. And, in hindsight, I’ve almost always been wrong when I haven’t listened to myself.
Daniel Day-Lewis

Share Quote

Art is made in hindsight.
Virgil Abloh

Share Quote

History changes with each tiny event, shaping an outcome that we can only fully grasp in hindsight. And that view changes as we move farther downstream.
Lynn E. Noel

Share Quote

I think it is only in hindsight that you can determine whether something is a mistake or not.
Scott D. Anthony

Share Quote

The historian is a prophet facing backwards.
Friedrich von Schlegel

Share Quote

Hindsight, usually looked down upon, is probably as valuable as foresight, since it does include a few facts.
Grace Paley

Share Quote

But then, I suppose, when with the benefit of hindsight one begins to search one’s past for such “turning points,” one is apt to start seeing them everywhere.
Kazuo Ishiguro

Share Quote

It has been a mistake living my life in the past. One cannot ride a horse backwards and still hold its reins.
Richard Paul Evans

Share Quote

It's so difficult, isn't it? To see what's going on when you're in the absolute middle of something? It's only with hindsight we can see things for what they are.
S.J. Watson

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Mike Windle/ Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Joyce Chen
Joyce Chen is a writer, editor, and community builder based in Seattle, Washington.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "You must love in such a way that the person you love feels ___." - Thích Nhất Hạnh

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

Don't surrender all your joy for an idea you used to have about yourself that isn't true anymore.

separator icon
Cheryl Strayed
motivation theme icon

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake.

separator icon
Kurt Vonnegut
hope theme icon

It isn't a sadness, but a joy, that we don't do the same things for the length of our lives.

separator icon
Gabrielle Zevin
love theme icon

We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.

separator icon
Seneca
wisdom theme icon

Success is the process itself.

separator icon
Matt Damon
happiness theme icon

In all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.

separator icon
Carl Sagan
motivation theme icon

Act as if someone just said there’s no reason to be afraid.

separator icon
Phoebe Waller-Bridge
hope theme icon

The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way.

separator icon
Keanu Reeves
love theme icon

Don't allow your rituals to become ruts.

separator icon
Todd Henry
wisdom theme icon

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

separator icon
Joan Didion
happiness theme icon

Everything that truly makes us happy is quite simple: love, sex, and food!

separator icon
Meryl Streep