it is precisely the fact that I could’ve chosen…
Page 69 it is precisely the fact that I could’ve chosen a different and perhaps equally valuable way to spend this afternoon that bestows meaning and the choice I did make.
— from Decisions & Choices (Decision/Choice/Focus/Forethought/Consequences)
In the book
Decide comes from the Latin decidere — "to cut off" — a cousin of words like homicide. To decide is to slice away alternatives; every choice is a ceaseless waving goodbye to the lives you might otherwise have led. That sounds like a loss, and it is — but it is precisely that sacrifice that gives a choice its meaning, because if every option stayed open forever, none of them would matter. And here is the iron law underneath every decision you will ever make: you are free to choose your actions, but you are never free to choose their consequences — those are governed by a kind of natural law, and they will arrive whether you like them or not. — Decisions & Choices (Decision/Choice/Focus/Forethought/Consequences)