About this quote

Regret often grows from assuming there will be another chance to say or do what matters. When you live for the future you let small moments slip by and then find they were the very ones that mattered. Ask yourself which relationship or task you keep postponing and why you assume tomorrow will fix it. Start small: pick one thing you can do today that aligns with how you want to be remembered.

When to use it

• At my dad's hospital bedside I kept thinking of Foer's line and realized I should have called more, so I stopped scrolling and just listened.
• After missing my daughter's recital because of overtime, I told my manager, 'I can't treat this like something I'll catch up on later,' and blocked the calendar.
• When a friend got sudden bad news I drove across town instead of sending a message — I remembered the line and chose presence.
• Studying for finals, I used that quote to quit cramming and actually meet my mentor once, because I didn't want to assume there'd be another day to learn that lesson together.