One of my heroes from early on was Abraham Lincoln.
He overcame enourmas difficulties to achieve his life goals and bring a country divided by war together again. One of my favorite quotes from him is:

In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.

It is my guiding principle these days. But, sadly, it has not always been so. It should be, though. Is there ever a time when I should act as if there will be no consequences? No, I don't think so. Unfortunately, it took me many years and much loss to discover that to be true. It's a shame that I realized that so late and was never able to help anyone else important to me learn that, either.
Well, there's always hope for them, and, of course, the future.