"Whatever the thing you wish to say, there is but one word to express it, but one verb to give it movement, but one adjective to qualify it; you must seek until you find this noun, this verb, this adjective."
Wish quotes
Wish
4.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Topics related to Wish
Browse quotes that often appear alongside wish — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Wish quotes (page 13 of 238)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"How does an artist know when the line that he just painted is good or not good? That's the catch. De Kooning was the greatest of my contemporaries in art, and he knew when he'd done a good line. When he didn't, he threw it away. I wish I'd thrown away some of mine."
"Some things youll never know, and some things youll wish you never knew."
"Sir, I wish to understand the true principles of the Government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more."
"The world is full of people who are waiting for someone to come along and motivate them to be the kind of people they wish they could be. The problem is that no one is coming to the rescue."
"I wish to do something Great and Wonderful, but I must start by doing the little things like they were Great and Wonderful"
"The secret to changing your life is in your intentions. Wishing, hoping and goal setting cannot accomplish change without intention. What is needed is a shift from the inert energy of wanting to the active energy of doing and intention."
"What then is time? If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to him who asks, I do not know."
"Sometimes the lines in a song are lines you wish you could text-message somebody in real life."
"Be careful what you wish for. You never know who will be listening."
"Love easily confuses us because it is always in flux between illusion and substance, between memory and wish, between contentment and need."
"And that is my wish for you: flourish and prosper!"
"There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it."
"Awareness is learning to keep yourself company. And then learn to be more compassionate company, as if you were somebody you are fond of and wish to encourage."
"If the tax-gatherer, or any other public officer, asks me, as one has done, "But what shall I do?" my answer is, "If you really wish to do anything, resign your office." When the subject has refused allegiance, and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished."
"You're thinking about putting scientists into small cages and doing research on them. I wish it could happen sometimes."
"I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them."
"Increase your joy by doing the good you wish to have done to you."
"The root of happiness is altruism - the wish to be of service to others."
""I wish I had never been born," she said. "What are we born for?" "For infinite happiness," said the Spirit. "You can step out into it at any moment...""