If God wants us to do a thing, he should make his wishes sufficiently clear. Sensible people will wait till he has done this before paying much attention to him.
—Samuel Butler
I wish I had an answer to that, because I’m tired of answering that question
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
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
In all the professions every one affects a particular look and exterior, in order to appear what he wishes to be thought; so that it may be said the world is made up of appearances
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
I could write down twenty cases wherein I wished that God had done otherwise than he did, but which I now see, if I had had my own way, would have led to extensive mischief.
—Richard Cecil
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
The trouble with lying and deceiving is that their efficiency depends entirely upon a clear notion of the truth that the liar and deceiver wishes to hide. In this sense, truth, even if it does not prevail in public, possesses an ineradicable primacy over all falsehoods.
—Hannah Arendt (1906–75) German-American Philosopher, Political Theorist
He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
Here the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one’s wishes.
—Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971) Russian Head of State, Political leader
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
It is one of the most effective attitudes of the neurotic to measure thumbs down, so to speak, a real person by an ideal, since in doing so he can depreciate him as much as he wishes.
—Alfred Adler (1870–1937) Austrian Psychiatrist
A scientific man ought to have no wishes, no affections, – a mere heart of stone.
—Charles Darwin (1809–82) English Naturalist
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
My only wish is that my wishes be at rest.
—Friedrich Ruckert (1788–1866) German Poet, Translator
We all have our own life to pursue, our own kind of dream to be weaving, and we all have the power to make wishes come true, as long as we keep believing.
—Louisa May Alcott (1832–88) American Novelist
There is nothing more properly the language of the heart than a wish. It is the thirst and egress of it, after some wanted, but desired object.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that’s a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.
—Lucille Clifton (1936–2010) American Poet, Children’s Book-Writer
We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his best wishes.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Our inventions mirror our secret wishes.
—Lawrence Durrell (1912–90) British Biographer, Poet, Playwright, Novelist
Like our shadows, Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
My wish isn’t to mean everything to everyone but something to someone.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest.
—Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) American Novelist
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 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
Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.
—Unknown
We are very far from always knowing our own wishes.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
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
It is probable that God punishes the wrong wish as truly as he does the actual performance; for what is performance but a wish perfected with power; and what is a wish but a desire wanting opportunity of action; a desire sticking in the birth, and miscarrying for lack of strength and favorable circumstances to bring it into the world.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
Don’t be afraid of missing opportunities. Behind every failure is an opportunity somebody wishes they had missed.
—Lily Tomlin (b.1939) American Comedy Actress
Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but wish for them as they are, and you will find them.
—Epictetus (55–135) Ancient Greek Philosopher
We are never further from what we wish than when we believe that we have what we wished for.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Men’s arguments often prove nothing but their wishes.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
The poor man wishes to conceal his poverty, and the rich man his wealth: the former fears lest he be despised, the latter lest he be plundered.
—Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916) Austrian Novelist
Nothing is so common-place as to wish to be remarkable. Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else, – very rarely to those who say to themselves, “Go to, now, let us be a celebrated individual!”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–94) American Physician, Essayist
Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. He that labors in any great or laudable undertaking has his fatigues first supported by hope and afterward rewarded by joy.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
A tough lesson in life that one has to learn is that not everybody wishes you well.
—Dan Rather (b.1931) American Newscaster, Author
Wishers were ever fools
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Oh, the secret life of man and woman—dreaming how much better we would be than we are if we were somebody else or even ourselves, and feeling that our estate has been unexploited to its fullest.
—Zelda Fitzgerald (1899–1948) American Writer, Artist
That is ever the way. ‘Tis all jealousy to the bride and good wishes to the corpse.
—J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) Scottish Novelist, Dramatist
Destiny has two ways of crushing us—by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
When a child, my dreams rode on your wishes, I was your son, high on your horse, My mind a top whipped by the lashes Of your rhetoric, windy of course.
—Stephen Spender (1909–95) English Poet, Critic
Everyone wishes that the man whom he fears would perish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
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
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
Wishing—the constant hectic of the fool.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes for a truce.
—Sun Tzu (fl. c.544–496 BCE) Chinese General, Military Theorist