What Could Have Been
“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”
― John Greenleaf Whittier
What Could Have Been Love
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Man Lab Excerpt
“What could have been” has been described as one of the worst human emotions. It leaves a person with one a feeling of emptiness. Thinking about what could have been leads people to a world of fantasy optimism. This fantasy environment is often the subject of fan-fiction. This emotion is very sentimental. As time goes on, people will think about what has happened and how it can change.
Various What if Situations?
The two art gods of the Renaissance, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, were once commissioned to paint a mural together. After a series of delays and other misfortunes, they let the matter fall.
John Keats died at 25, in the middle of working on his own epic.
In 1954, newly formed American Motors - Nash and Hudson - suggested to Kaiser-Willys and Studebaker-Packard that they all merge into one big company, similar to GM, to survive the Big Three's price war. Had they actually merged, they might still be around, and would have been able to challenge Cadillac, Lincoln and, from 1955 on, Imperial with Packard, already a legendary luxury marque, offer quality mid and low range cars (Studebaker, Hudson, Nash, Kaiser), Studebaker Trucks and the original Jeep, Willys, as well as Studebaker's General Products division and defense contracts (later renamed General Dynamics, and still in business), its other diversified, non-automotive related businesses and Packard's Ultramatic automatic transmission.
More here: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WhatCouldHaveBeen/RealLife