what does it mean “life is not a dress rehearsal”?

My take on it was a dress rehearsal you get a chance to prefect and improve and work on thing to make your performance better. In life you do not get that.

When you are in a play and rehearse, the dress rehearsal comes after much practice and you finally put on your costumes because you are now ready to try the play in full dress with everything in place. . .as the public will see it. A dress rehearsal isn’t reality though, it’s a play. Life is reality. Usually when you say that quote you are warning someone to be careful because there are no do overs, that there are consequences so get it right.

Very Philosophical question

Many people believe that life is the actual show and not a preparation for anything. I don’t believe that. Just as in a dress rehearsal you learn from your mistakes, so you do in life. However, everyone with a religion (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist etc.) believe that life is infact a dress rehearsal (preperation) for heaven or the next life.

It is very atheistic saying…

Im dress rehearsals u practice and go over whats going to happen, life isnt like that there can be things that go wrong all the time, nobody is ever going to be as prepared for the bumps in life like a rehersal. In life you dont know what to do sometimes in a rehersal everythings there and its written out for u what ur to do. hope this helps.

It means you only live your life once, so get it right the first time!

The expression is taken from stage plays, in which the actors rehearse in full costume before they present the play to an audience.

It means:

Life is the REAL THING… it’s not just a preparation for another thing or whatsoever… you can only do it once because… just like theater acts, if you screw up in front of the audience during the play (not the rehearsal), that’s it… you destroyed the play… you can’t undo it anymore…

*it’s a pretty nice analogy…

It means that you have one life to live. There aren’t any practices, and you can’t go back and change it if you mess it up. You have to make the best out of the one chance you have to get it right. =]

‘THINK’ before you ‘ACT’, the first action is also the last action. Somethings in life can be done differently a second time like returning to school, 2nd marriage, so on, but the rule is: once you did it, it is done.

This quote means that what you do and what you did is all that matters. There is no practicing in Life. Life is a play….. Direct It.

Life is not something you simulate its the real thing its showtime all the time if you mess up people are going to see

all it means is that life is real its not pracitce.