Some people develop a wishbone where their backbone should be.
—Unknown
Beware what you set your heart upon. For it shall surely be yours.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The apparently irreconcilable dissimilarity between our wishes and our means, between our hearts and this world, remains a riddle.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
The poet enjoys the incomparable privilege of being able to be himself and others, as he wishes.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
The President wishes the Japanese to be very prudent about the introduction of opium, and if a treaty is made, he wishes that opium may be strictly prohibited.
—Townsend Harris
If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Wishes run over in loquacious impotence; will presses on with laconic energy.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
When we get to wishing a great deal for ourselves, whatever we get soon turns into mere limitation and exclusion.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
The poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the single wish to be married, and the married wish to be dead.
—Ask Ann Landers (1918–2002) American Advice Columnist
May you have love that never ends, lots of money and lots of friends. Health be yours, whatever you do and may God send many blessings to you.
—Irish Blessing
The public wishes itself to be managed like a woman; one must say nothing to it except what it likes to hear.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Men admire the man who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel and brass.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
A wise unselfishness is not a surrender of yourself to the wishes of anyone, but only to the best discoverable course of action.
—David Seabury (1885–1960) American Psychologist
Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
One of the great attractions of patriotism – it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
If a lecturer, he wishes to be heard; if a writer, to be read. He always hopes for a public beyond that of the long-suffering wife.
—Samuel Eliot Morison (1887–1976) American Historian, Naval Officer
Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained
—C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) Irish-born British Academic, Author, Literary Scholar
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn’t.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
It’s so hard to know what to do when one wishes earnestly to do right.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Inventor, Architect
There is no requirement that police stop a person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess a crime or a person who calls the police to offer a confession because volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the 5th Amendment.
—Earl Warren (1891–1974) American Judge, Politician
Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
No poet or novelist wishes he were the only one who ever lived, but most of them wish they were the only one alive, and quite a number fondly believe their wish has been granted.
—W. H. Auden (1907–73) British-born American Poet, Dramatist
He that humbleth himself wishes to be exalted.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Although one may fail to find happiness in theatrical life, one never wishes to give it up after having once tasted its fruits.
—Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) Russian Ballerina