George Woodcock Quotes

I found after seventy years that I was not a lunatic but a moron.... I should have been able to do better.

The fact is that this conversation is going on at every level at every age, we're all going, "God, what a jerk I've been," "How could I have married that guy?" or "How could I have done this or that?" With time, this is the gift of being older, that you get to look back and say, "It wasn't all about them."

Men regret their life has been ill-spent, but this does not always induce them to make a better use of the time they have yet to live.

I always see where I didn't do things the right way. I only see the heavy lifting. That's a bit of my wisdom, if you want to call it that.

I don't feel like a very nostalgic person. I think about the past much more clinically. When I look back and wonder, 'Why was I doing that? Was it a waste of time?' I don't beat myself up. Instead, I say, 'I'm so glad I did that, because now I really know what matters to me.'

There are things that you think about in your life that you're proud of, some things that you're not proud of.

To me, I look at situations and try to look back and see if there was anything I could have done.

When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.

At thirty, man suspects himself a fool; Knows it at forty, and reforms his plan.

[At age 92:] There are places I'd like to return to. But not as I was then but as I am now. 'Cause I'm trying to understand. And I've understood nothing.

I have never compared myself to anyone, but it's hard to resist him!!

I've learned so much from all my mistakes. I just wish I had gotten my education.

It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done.

I have never gauged myself against anyone else.

Half my life is an act of revision.

It's pathetic to have regrets about fashion. Things to do with my life, yes, I have regrets there.

I'm at peace with myself and where I am. In the past, I was always looking to see how everybody else was doing. I wasn't competitive, I was comparative. I just wanted to be where everybody else was. Now I've gotten to an age when I am not comparing anymore.

As we grow older I always think, why didn't I do more when I was young, why didn't I risk more?

I've done a lot of growing up since the age of 16 and I really wanted that to be reflected in my music.

I have only got down on to paper, really, three types of people: the person I think I am, the people who irritate me, and the people I'd like to be.

If I had to do it over, I wouldn't change a thing.

My inspiration comes from my real life experiences.

I know I've done good things, I know I've done bad things.

Intelligent, successful, attractive people can be intimidating. They force us to hold a mirror to ourselves; we can be disappointed, jealous or inspired toward personal growth.

There were a couple of years where I got a bit lost - I went out too much, I was a bit heartbroken, thought I was a bit more of a dude than I really was. I would love to go back and have a strong word with myself.