The world is made up of endless possibilities, so let these what if quotes inspire you to take chances and believe in yourself!
We all have what-ifs in our lives. These what-ifs are usually the questions that come to our minds whenever we face difficulties and need to decide whether to persevere or retreat. It also appears whenever we are stuck between the fear of failure and the possibility of success.
But, one thing we should understand is that there is no correct answer to any of these questions. All you need to do is to get it done instead of regretting it and asking yourself many times, “What if I did it?”
You shouldn’t worry about failing. It’s okay. Even if you fail, at least you already know the answer and can move on with your life.
Sometimes, we need to take chances instead of getting a headache thinking about what-ifs. You can read this collection to help you when you are still wondering about everything.
Our complete list below will open your mind and give you the courage to move ahead with your life—free from fear and doubt.
Let’s begin.
And don’t forget to check out these try again quotes and rise above quotes.
Best What if Quotes
1. “‘What’ and ‘if’ are two words as non-threatening as words can be. But put them together side-by-side, and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life. What if? What if? What if?” – Anonymous
2. “But what if I fail of my purpose here? It is but to keep the nerves at strain, to dry one’s eyes and laugh at a fall, and baffled, get up and begin again.” – Robert Browning
3. “Never kill your what-ifs, but first, be grateful for what is.” – Anonymous
4. “This is our life; there’s no use in asking ‘what if.’ No one could ever give you the answers. I try, I really do, but it’s hard for me to accept this way of thinking. I’m always wondering about the what-ifs, about the road not taken.” – Jenny Han
5. “Do you think I’ll let it go, that I’ll hide from it because you, who’s anything but a coward, is afraid of what-ifs?” – Nora Roberts
6. “What if we had a chance to do it again and again until we finally did get it right? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” – Kate Atkinson
7. “Never hold back when it comes to life. Refuse to sit back and just watch only to end up wondering ‘what if?’” – Anonymous
8. “What if everything I thought was wrong with me was actually right with me? You have to have the courage to show who you are to the world.” – Lauren Tom
9. “Instead of pondering about what if or what could have been, I’m just going to go out there and do.” – Mustafa Ali
10. “When you ask ‘why,’ ‘what if,’ and ‘why not,’ you force yourself to explore what’s possible and not just what is.” – Josh Linkner
Inspirational What if Quotes
11. “You’d think, ‘What if I make a mistake today? I’ll regret it.’ I don’t believe in regret; I feel everything leads us to where we are, and we have to just jump forward, mean well, commit, and just see what happens.” – Angelina Jolie
12. “It’s better to shoot and miss than to let time run out and wonder what if.” – Michael Jordan
13. “Things usually work out in the end. What if they don’t? That just means you haven’t come to an end yet.” – Jeannette Walls
14. “One should never live with regrets or with what if. I’ve loved the good times, and I have learned from the bad. All in all, it’s been a pretty fabulous life for me.” – Ivana Trump
15. “I wasn’t going to be one of those people who died wondering, ‘What if?’ I would keep putting my dreams to the test, even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.” – Alex Haley
16. “Bravery and adventure! That’s the ticket! Don’t sit and gather moss. Get up, get out, do what you dream of doing, and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, and you don’t need to make that particular mistake again, but at least you won’t get old wondering ‘what if you had?’” – Garrison Keillor
17. “What if you had the ability to make every day the best day of your life? You do! You see, we have the opportunity to make every day our best through the power of our perspective. The quality of our lives has little to do with what happens to us, but is always determined by the perspective we choose to view our lives from.” – Hal Elrod
18. “What if all this time, all this struggle, has been leading you to a beautiful chapter in your life? What if everything does work out, even if it doesn’t seem like it right now? What if who I become is who I needed all along? What if all of this hard work leads to amazing things? What if you replaced negativity with optimism? Would your thoughts and behavior change too? I believe so.” – Anonymous
19. “What if I had been a pebble, or a stone, or a tree or a dog! What if I had been a cloud or a drop of rain? What if I had not been born? I would have loved to be anything but a human being. To live is to suffer. You are responsible for my being here.” – Mubashar Nawaz
Also read: Inspirational Quotes
What if Quotes That’ll Make You Question Everything in Your Life
20. “What if you’re right and they’re wrong?” – Anonymous
21. “What if you just did it your own way? No rules, no right or wrong, just what you think is beautiful?” – Sandra Magsamen
22. “What if all those things I did were the things that got me here?” – Anonymous
23. “What if you could be anything or anybody you chose to be? Think about it. What would you choose to be?” – Nido Qubein
24. “What if I fail? Ah! Then you’ll have a story to tell.” – Julie Orringer
25. “What if today was the day you have been waiting for?” – Anonymous
26. “What if I told you that 10 years from now, your life would be exactly the same? I doubt you’d be happy. So why are you afraid of change?” – Anonymous
27. “What if everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for?” – Anonymous
28. “What if everything that happened here happened for a reason?” – John Locke
29. “What if nothing needs to change other than our perception of what we see?” – Lee L. Jampolsky
30. “You can’t choose where you belong and where you don’t. But what if the place you don’t belong is the only place you have left?” – Stuart Neville
31. “But what if all the tranquility, all the comfort, all the contentment were now to come to a horrifying end?” – Franz Kafka
What if Quotes That Will Blow Your Mind
32. “What if nothing exists and we’re all in somebody’s dream?” – Woody Allen
33. “Delusional pain hurts just as much as the pain from actual trauma. So what if it’s all in your head?” – Octavia E. Butler
34. “What if life is a dream, and when we die, we wake up?” – Anonymous
35. “What if the dog fetches the stick back because it thinks you enjoy the throwing?” – Sanhita Baruah
What if Quotes to Think About What Tomorrow Could Bring
36. “What if we knew what tomorrow would bring? Would we fix it? Could we?” – Cecelia Ahern
37. “Never wait for tomorrow; what if tomorrow never comes?” – Elvis Presley
38. “What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you had thanked God for today?” – Anonymous
39. “What if there was no tomorrow and everyone showed up anyway.” – Nanette L. Avery
40. “You can’t be overwhelmed by the what-ifs, or you’ll miss out on the best part.” – Rebekah Crane
Emotional What if Quotes for People in Relationships
41. “For the rest of my life, I will always be thinking about her. She would always be my biggest what if.” – Rick Riordan
42. “What if you were really meant to be with someone? But you kept messing about and having the horn and so on, and you lost them.” – Louise Rennison
43. “It is a risk to love. What if it doesn’t work out? Ah, but what if it does.” – Peter McWilliams
44. “What if you and I were meant to part ways, only so that we could find each other again.” – Anonymous
45. “What if every relationship you’ve ever been in is someone slowly figuring out they didn’t like you as much as they hoped they would?” – James Acaster
Powerful What if Quotes to Highlight Its Impact
46. “‘What if?’ Is a question that makes everyone go insane.” – Anonymous
47. “The what-ifs and the should-haves will eat your brain.” – John O’ Callaghan
48. “‘What if?’ A question we ask to hurt ourselves.” – Susan Fletcher
49. “You’d be surprised how often what if works.” – Anonymous
50. “You’ll never get anywhere if you go about what-iffing like that.” – Roald Dahl
Thought-Provoking What if Quotes to Ponder On
51. “What unimaginable luxury, never to wrestle with whether or why never to lie awake nights wondering ‘what if.’” – Hillary Jordan
52. “What if I bade you leave the cavern of the mind? There’s a better exercise in the sunlight and wind.” – William Butler Yeats
53. “What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice? Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
54. “What if the leaves were to fall weeping and say, ‘It will be so painful for us to be pulled from our stalks when autumn comes?’ Foolish fear! Summer goes, and autumn succeeds. The glory of death is upon the leaves; and the gentlest breeze that blows takes them softly and silently from the bough, and they float slowly down, like fiery sparks, upon the moss.” – Henry Ward Beecher
More What if Quotes That’ll Make You Think Outside the Box
55. “What if music is what escapes when a heart breaks?” – Jandy Nelson
56. “Life is too short to be wondering what if.” – Charlyne Yi
57. “What if the secret to success is failure?” – Paul Tough
58. “I’d rather have a life of, ‘Oh wells,’ than a life of, ‘What-ifs.’” – Kay Lee Ray
59. “What if all everybody needed in the world was to be sure of one friend? What if you were the one, and you refused to say those simple words?” – Richard Russo
60. “One of the problems of being a storyteller is the cultivated ability to extrapolate; in every situation, all the what-ifs come to me.” – Madeleine L’Engle
What Kind of World Do You Think We’ll Have if We Live With No What-Ifs?
Our lives are indeed full of what-ifs. However, no matter how hard you think about them and how long you dwell on them, they will not disappear. So, all you have to do is be brave in facing your fears, persevere, and take risks.
When you push yourself forward despite thinking about the what-ifs, you show how much you care about your dreams. It won’t be a walk in the park because of the bumpy road ahead. But, if you don’t try, how would you know how much further you could go?
Pave the way to your success instead of drowning in your what-ifs. No matter how hard you think the circumstances are, do it. If you live with this mindset, you’ll realize you have fewer regrets.
With that, we hope this list of quotes was able to remove all your what-ifs in life. Remember that the only true regret is not trying at all and leaving things in the unknown.
