Wishes Quotes
(1 - 10 of 35)Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.
Pull the string, and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all.
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which more
Man wants but little, nor that little long;
How soon must he resign his very dust,
Which frugal nature lent him for an hour!
He calls his wish, it comes; he sends it back,
And says he called another; that arrives,
more
He calls his wish, it comes; he sends it back,
And says he called another; that arrives,
Meets the same welcome; yet he still calls on;
Till one calls him, who varies not his call,
But holds him fast, in chains of darkness bound,
Till Nature dies, and judgment sets him free;
A freedom far less welcome than this chain.
What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
What folly can be ranker. Like our shadows,
Our wishes lengthen as our sun declines.
We cannot wish for that we know not.
[Fr., On ne peut desirer ce qu'on ne connait pas.]
We cannot wish for that we know not.
[Fr., On ne peut desirer ce qu'on ne connait pas.]
Wishers and woulders be small householders.
Wishers and woulders be small householders.
What most we wish, with ease we fancy near.
What most we wish, with ease we fancy near.
As you can not do what you wish, you should wish what you can do.
[Lat., Quoniam id fieri more
As you can not do what you wish, you should wish what you can do.
[Lat., Quoniam id fieri quod vis non potest
Id velis quod possis.]
I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house more
I've often wished that I had clear,
For life, six hundred pounds a year,
A handsome house to lodge a friend,
A river at my garden's end,
A terrace walk, and half a rood
Of land, set out to plant a wood.
If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a more
If I live to grow old, as I find I go down,
Let this be my fate in a country town;
May I have a warm house, with a stone at my gate,
And a cleanly young girl to rub my bald pate.
May I govern my passions with an absolute sway,
Grow wiser and better as my strength wears away,
Without gout or stone, by a gentle decay.
- Walter Pope, The Old Man's Wish,
