59 Looking Back Quotes To Inspire You

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published November 9, 2023

If you are searching for the top looking back quotes, this is the post for you.

There are some downsides to looking back and revisiting the past.

However, it has its benefits, too!

Tell us your favorite looking back quote in the comment section below.

What are the benefits of reading these looking back quotes?

No one wants you to get stuck in the past and disregard the present moment.

You cannot change the past, but it can help you to look back occasionally.

Looking back can:

increase positivity
create strong bonds
add meaning to our life
build empathy
make the future brighter

Going back to our life’s best moments, we can energize our bodies and minds with happiness and contentment.

We develop a strong connection with our friends and families by remembering the best memories.

Looking back gives us a sense of triumph when we remember conquering our adversities.

It also gives you an idea of how a person feels under specific circumstances.

Contrary to popular belief that looking back in time leaves you stuck in the past, nostalgia gives you a glimpse of a better future.

These looking back quotes will show you what you should be thankful for in the past and what you have to look forward to in the future!

Top 10 looking back quotes about life

These short, looking back quotes will make perfect captions for those posts about moving forward.

1. “Look up, always. Look back, never.” — Karen Quan

2. “Always look ahead, but never look back.” — Miles Davis

3. “Never look back. Nothing ever changes there.” — Steffi Graf

4. “Stop looking back when your future is ahead of you.” — Ricky Maye

5. “I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now.” — Walt Disney

6. “Never look backwards or you’ll fall down the stairs.” — Rudyard Kipling

7. “Do not look backwards if your goal is to move forward.” — Germany Kent

8. “Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is to never look back.” — Sushil Jain

9. “Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.” — Robert H. Schuller

10. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” — Robert Breault

Looking back quotes with deep meaning

Often, looking back helps you see a message you weren’t able to see before.

11. “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” ― Oscar Wilde

12. “Don’t look back unless it’s a good view.” ― Tupac Shakur

13. “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.” ― Satchel Paige

14. “Too much looking backward… is bad for progress.” — Henry Ward Beecher

15. “I hate that word: ‘lucky.’ It cheapens a lot of hard work.” ― Peter Dinklage

16. “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ― Albert Einstein

17. “They say not to look back, but if you’re not sure what lies ahead, what else is there but looking back?” ― Laurell K. Hamilton

18. “I have been, on the whole, a lucky man. And I would say that even now. Perhaps especially I would say it now.” ― Iris Murdoch

19. “From the outer edge of his life, looking back, there was only one remorse, and that was only that he wished to go on living.” ― Ray Bradbury

20. “Looking back through life, you will find the pleasure of achieving your dreams is always greater than the pain you met while achieving them.” ― Moffat Machingura

Impressive looking back quotes to live by

Check out these quotes with some impressive perspectives!

21. “Don’t stumble over something behind you.” — Akash Gautam

22. “Never look back unless you are planning to go that way.” ― Henry David Thoreau

23. “We only irritate ourselves when we scratch at an itch that no longer exists.” ― Jason N Versey

24. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” ― Steve Jobs

25. “College. I didn’t even realize it was carefree at the time, but looking back, that was the most carefree time ever.” ― Blake Griffin

26. “You know, I try not to look back because looking forward is so much better than looking backward.” ― Jim Baker

27. “The whole thing was so intense, so full of hurt that when I look back at it I squint. I want it forgotten.” ― Helen Oyeyemi

28. “Once you make the decision to move on, don’t look back. Your destiny will never be found in the rear view mirror.” — Mandy Hale

29. “The only reason time seems to be moving rather fast is that sometimes we’re too busy living in the past.” ― Dominic Riccitello

30. “Living the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, causing you to bump into people not going your way.” ― Edna Ferber

Looking back quotes about new perspectives

These looking back quotes will give some perspective and help you move on without regret.

31. “In looking back, I see nothing to regret, and little to correct.” — John C. Calhoun

32. “It’s sad to know I’m done. But looking back, I’ve got a lot of great memories.” — Bonnie Blair

33. “Looking back at my life’s voyage, I can only say that it has been a golden trip.” — Ginger Rogers

34. “You live life looking forward; you understand life looking backward.” — Soren Kierkegaard

35. “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” — Steve Jobs

36. “Looking back, we see with great clarity, and what once appeared as difficulties now reveal themselves as blessings.” — Dan Millman

37. “When the most important times are occurring, we don’t even recognize them or notice. We are just busy living our lives. Only looking back do we know what was a great moment in our lives.” ― Federico Fellini

38. “If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away.” — Steve Jobs

39. “The years go by. The time, it does fly. Every single second is a moment in time that passes. And it seems like nothing–but when you’re looking back… well, it amounts to everything.” — Ray Bradbury

40. “Wisdom is looking back at your life and realizing that every single event, person, place, and idea was part of the perfected experience you needed to build your dream. Not one was a mistake.” — John Frederick Demartini

Looking Back Quotes on Memories

These looking back quotes will remind you of the memories you have made.

41. “But there’s no point in looking back and saying I was unlucky.” — Jamie Redknapp

42. “We don’t want to get distracted by looking back, we need to move forward.” — Valerie Jarrett

43. “Ever since I made tomorrow my favorite day, I’ve been uncomfortable looking back.” — Paul Harvey

44. “I never looked through a keyhole without finding someone who was looking back.” — Judy Garland

45. “If you make the mistake of looking back too much, you aren’t focused enough on the road in front of you.” — Brad Paisley

46. “I’m an incurable optimist, and I’m a great believer in never looking back. Life is too short, and new challenges are exciting.” — Cherie Blair

47. “Looking back, I realize that nurturing curiosity and the instinct to seek solutions are perhaps the most important contributions education can make.” — Paul Berg

48. “That’s the funny thing about time. It is only in looking back that it’s easy to connect the dots. To see exactly why everything needed to happen the way that it did.” — Rebecca Serle

49. “Hopefully, through all aspects of life, you learn from things you’ve got right, things you’ve got wrong, but I’m not one for looking back. I’m looking ahead; you’ve got to.” — Nigel Farage

50. “I’ve had the good fortune of having a long and varied career. Looking back, some might think things have been plain sailing but, as with anything, there have been both highs and lows.” — Vera Lynn

51. “Looking back at it now, I really feel like it was a gift because I don’t know if I have the talent to become a prima ballerina. It’s such a hard job to have. I don’t have any regrets about it.” ― Diane Kruger

52. “I had this vivid image of myself at the age of 60 looking back on my life and truly regretting the fact that I hadn’t tried to be an actor.” ― Lupita Nyong’o

53. “I fear looking back and wishing I had done things I hadn’t.” ― Tom Hiddleston

54. “Looking back, I think we were very much a part of democratizing music, and we wanted to demystify the process of making music – to show it’s a myth.” ― Stephen Mallinder

55. “Looking back, I’m proud of what I’ve been able to do, grateful for the fact that I really have very few, if almost zero, nightmare stories of being on sets and working with the wrong people.” ― Tyler Hoechlin

56. “Obviously everyone has things in their past that they don’t enjoy looking back on [Laughs], but no, you can’t change it.” ― Taylor Momsen

57. “The interesting thing about doing press is that I learn what the album is about – I now know, a year later, looking back, what was on my mind at the time.” ― How to Dress Well

58. “Looking back, nothing seems so simple than a utopian vision realised.” ― Wernher von Braun

59. “I don’t think I made any really big mistakes; it’s just that I chose something difficult to do. Looking back, I suppose I should be grateful that I got as far as I got.” ― Harvey Pekar