A goal without a plan is just a wish.
—Unknown
A hangover is when you open your eyes in the morning and wish you hadn’t
—Drew Barrymore (b.1975) American Actress, Producer, Director
Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of the facts and evidence.
—John Adams (1735–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
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
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
Every wish is like a prayer—with God.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–61) English Poet
Every man desires to live long, but no man wishes to be old.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Wishing—the constant hectic of the fool.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics.
—Moses Maimonides (1135–1204) Jewish Philosopher, Rabbinic Scholar
Man is free at the instant he wants to be.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Prayer, in its simplest definition, is merely a wish turned God-ward.
—Phillips Brooks (1835–93) American Episcopal Clergyman, Author
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
Like our shadows, Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
What then is freedom? The power to live as one wishes.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Wishes run over in loquacious impotence; will presses on with laconic energy.
—Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741–1801) Swiss Theologian, Poet
Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer, but wish we didn’t.
—Erica Jong (b.1942) American Novelist, Feminist
God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Everyone wishes that the man whom he fears would perish.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year.
—Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) Italian Polymath, Painter, Sculptor, Architect
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 Leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
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, Philosopher
An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
What we ardently wish we soon believe.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
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
The best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
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, Governor
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