What do you mean you can't catch up with the past, but you can wait for the future?

"You can't catch up with the past, but you can wait for the future" means that the lost years can't be recovered, but the future years can still be expected. This sentence mainly tells us to cherish precious time, don't dwell on the past, grasp the present and cherish the good times in the future.

This poem is from Four Poems of Shun Sheng written by Hu Han, a poet in Ming Dynasty. The full text is as follows:

You can't chase the past, but you can still look forward to the future.

Take six arts English in the morning and forget fatigue at night.

The sea is a mass of water, and saints are also man-made.

You have your own book, so you can't use it