Wish quotes
4.8K quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Browse quotes that often appear alongside wish — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
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"When it wishes anything done which is really serious, it collects twelve of the ordinary men standing round. The same thing was done, if I remember right, by the Founder of Christianity."
"Let us not kid ourselves; let us remember that literature is of no use whatever, except in the very special case of somebody's wishing to become, of all things, a Professor of Literature."
"I wish my father could be around."
"I wish you all the aloneness you hunger for."
"Those who wish to change the world should have the best possible understanding of the world, including what is revealed by the sciences, some of which they might be able to use for their purposes. That's why workers education, including science and mathematics, has commonly been a concern of left intellectuals."
"I have made a very rude translation of the Seven against Thebes, and Pindar too I have looked at, and wish he was better worth translating. I believe even the best things are not equal to their fame. Perhaps it would be better to translate fame itself,--or is not that what the poets themselves do? However, I have not done with Pindar yet."
"I do not wish to be any more busy with my hands than is necessary."
"I do not wish, it happens, to be associated with Massachusetts, either in holding slaves or in conquering Mexico. I am a little better than herself in these respects."
"I wish to learn what life has to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I have not truly lived."
"When the State wishes to endow an academy or university, it grants it a tract of forest land: one saw represents an academy, a gang, a university."
"You can't buy peace by just wishing it and avoiding the challenges that other nations present to you."
"You wanted to look at life for yourself - but you were not allowed; you were punished for your wish. You were ground in the very mill of the conventional."
"My sole wish is to frustrate as utterly as possible the post-mortem exploiter."
"Sometimes she went so far as to wish that she should find herself in a difficult position, so that she might have the pleasure of being as heroic as the occasion demanded."
"Granting our wish is one of Fate's saddest jokes."
"I have no artistic sensibilities. I wish I did. It is probably really cool. I have work habits and work ethic. For me, all the things I do are jobs."
"What I felt for you was a combination of respect and affection. There was a closeness I felt through intimate interaction. The affection part is all over with. All that remains is the respect. If I put my arms around you and told you that I missed you, I would be lying. You're alright with me and I wish you well. But you're not me and that makes you one of them and you can only get so close."
"I can die anytime I want. I wish I could do the same with life."
"To burn a CDR of music you like to give as a gift to someone you wish to become closer to is a cold, moist-palmed, mouth-breathing bummer."
"I don't wish to be anything more or less than what I am. If this is how it is, then so be it."
