„It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.“

„But I think some people wait forever, and only at the end of their lives do they realize that their life has happened while they were waiting for it to start.“

—  Jess Walter, book Beautiful Ruins

Source: Beautiful Ruins

„If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine.“

—  Morris West Australian writer 1916 - 1999

Source: The Clowns of God (1981), Ch. II (ellipses in original) <!-- p. 35 -->
This statement begins with a quotation from Horace, Odes, Book I, Ode ix, line 13.
Context: "Forbear to ask what tomorrow may bring" … If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you'll never enjoy the sunshine.

„Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day.“

—  John Grogan American journalist 1958

Source: Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog

„The cost of liberty is high, and young people should understand that before they start spending their life with all those gadgets.“

—  Bob Dylan American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist 1941

Rolling Stone #1078 (14 May 2009), p. 45
Context: It's peculiar and unnerving in a way to see so many young people walking around with cellphones and iPods in their ears and so wrapped up in media and video games. It robs them of their self-identity. It's a shame to see them so tuned out to real life. Of course they are free to do that, as if that's got anything to do with freedom. The cost of liberty is high, and young people should understand that before they start spending their life with all those gadgets.

„Clearly, you could die while waiting for other people to start your life for you.“

—  Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan Saga

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, Falling Free (1988), Chapter 14 (p. 254)

„Goddamn it. Wait for me, Eva. I waited my whole life for you.“

—  Sylvia Day American writer 1973

Source: Entwined with You

„It's not enough to believe! Don't you see that, you stupid girl? You could spend your whole life hoping and believing! If a love affair is one-sided, then it's only ever a question, never an answer. You can't live your life waiting for an answer.“

—  Sophie Kinsella, book Twenties Girl

Source: Twenties Girl

„When you spend your whole life living in a hole, the only way you can go is up. (Zero/Hector Zeroni)“

—  Louis Sachar, book Holes

Variant: Zero wasnt worried, " When you spend your whole life living in a shole", he said, "the only way you can go is up.
Source: Holes

„The average american spends six months of his or her life waiting for red lights to turn green. six months wasted, waiting for permission to move on.“

—  Megan McCafferty American novelist 1973

„He who spends life in remoteness is much better, for it was the practice of the foremost saintly people. They liked to live comely instead of grandeur.“

—  Sufyan al-Thawri Muslim Scholar and founder of Thawri Madhhab 716 - 778

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 29

„A man spends his whole life trying to prove his worth to others. A woman spends her life trying to prove her worth to herself.“

—  Tawni O'Dell, book Sister Mine

Source: Sister Mine

„Your birth is a mistake you'll spend your whole life trying to correct.“

—  Chuck Palahniuk, book Invisible Monsters

Source: Invisible Monsters

„Building a career or a company is about living a few years of your life like most people won't so that you can spend the rest of your life living at a level most people can't.“

—  Jay Samit American businessman 1961

Source: Disrupt You! (2015), p. 55

„I could spend my whole life prying loose the secrets of the insane. These people are honest to a fault, and their naivety has no peer but my own.“

—  André Breton French writer 1896 - 1966

„Now I know that if you wait until you think you are ready, you'll wait your whole life“

—  John Flanagan Irish-American hammer thrower 1873 - 1938

Source: Erak's Ransom

„Your greatest self has been waiting your whole life; don't make it wait any longer.“

—  Steve Maraboli 1975

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 146

„My whole life is waiting for the questions to which I have prepared answers.“

—  Tom Stoppard British playwright 1937

Source: Lord Malquist and Mr Moon (1966), Ch. 2: A Couple of Deaths and Exits.

„The truth can wait, for she lives a long life.“

—  Arthur Schopenhauer, book On the Will in Nature

Die Wahrheit kann warten: denn sie hat ein langes Leben vor sich.
Willen in der Natur (On the Will in Nature), 1836; in the chapter Einleitung (Introduction)
Variant translation by Karl Hillebrand:
Truth can bide its time, for it has a long life before it.
Other

„A new start," Pop said as they stopped at the corner and waited to cross over to where te horse and cart waited for them. "A new apartment, Thomas. A new life.“

—  Patricia Reilly Giff American children's writer 1935

A new world to write about.
Source: Water Street (2006), Chapters 1-10, p. 17