Should Have quotes

Should Have

2.1K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.

2.1K quotes

Explore further

Browse quotes that often appear alongside should have — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.

Quote collection

Should Have quotes (page 7 of 105)

Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.

Jonathan Adler Designer
Should Have

"I've had a million setbacks along the way--from kiln fires burning down buildings to shipping disasters--that should have put me out of business, or at least left me lying in the fetal position on my bed for a few days. Luckily, though, I've never for one second thought that I had any other option than to just keep going."

Read quote 13 likes
Desmond Tutu Theologian, Activist
Should Have

"I can't for the life of me imagine that God would say, 'I will punish you because you are black; you should have been white. I will punish you because you are a woman; you should have been a man. I punish you because you are homosexual; you ought to have been heterosexual. I can't, I can't for the life of me believe that that is how God sees things."

Read quote 12 likes
Keith Ellison Politician
Should Have

"Worked hard on [our message of strengthening the middle class, working people], but it didn't come through in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania.It really should have, because people are struggling. And the Democratic message and the Democratic platform would help them, but somehow it didn't come up the way it should have. But it will."

Read quote 12 likes
Dalai Lama Spiritual Leader
Should Have

"Every human should have the idea of taking care of the environment, of nature, of water. So using too much or wasting water should have some kind of feeling or sense of concern. Some sort of responsibility and with that, a sense of discipline."

Read quote 11 likes
Barack Obama Politician
Should Have

"I've never said that troops should be withdrawn. What I've said is, is that we've got to make sure that we secure and execute the rebuilding and reconstruction process effectively and properly, and I don't think we should have an artificial deadline when to do that."

Read quote 11 likes
Edward Abbey Author, Environmentalist
Should Have

"Our suicidal poets (Plath, Berryman, Lowell, Jarrell, et al.) spent too much of their lives inside rooms and classrooms when they should have been trudging up mountains, slogging through swamps, rowing down rivers. The indoor life is the next best thing to premature burial."

Read quote 11 likes
Sharon Stone Actress
Should Have

"You grow. You don't want to stay the same. The thing that was great for you before isn't going to be great for you now. A woman should have many faces through her life, not just one face, not just one hairdo, not just one way. You want to keep rediscovering what's fun for you."

Read quote 11 likes
Jack Ma Entrepreneur, Philanthropist
Should Have

"Your employee should have superior technical skills than you. If he doesn't, it means you have hired the wrong person."

Read quote 11 likes
Rainer Maria Rilke Poet, Novelist
Should Have

"At the bottom no one in life can help anyone else in life; this one experiences over and over in every conflict and every perplexity: that one is alone. That isn't as bad as it may first appear; and again it is the best thing in life that each should have everything in himself; his fate, his future, his whole expanse and world."

Read quote 10 likes
Stephen Hawking Theoretical Physicist
Should Have

"The victim should have the right to end his life, if he wants. But I think it would be a great mistake. However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. While there's life, there is hope."

Read quote 10 likes