
“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Source: The Girl with No Shadow
Ronald Coase in speech to the "International Society of New Institutional Economics" the 17 September 1999, Washington DC. He claims he was quoting fellow economist Ely Devons which reportedly said this in a meeting
1990s and later
“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Source: The Girl with No Shadow
Fodor (1990). A Theory of Content and Other Essays. The MIT Press.
The Fantastic Imagination (1893)
Context: "But surely you would explain your idea to one who asked you?"
I say again, if I cannot draw a horse, I will not write THIS IS A HORSE under what I foolishly meant for one. Any key to a work of imagination would be nearly, if not quite, as absurd. The tale is there, not to hide, but to show: if it show nothing at your window, do not open your door to it; leave it out in the cold. To ask me to explain, is to say, "Roses! Boil them, or we won't have them!" My tales may not be roses, but I will not boil them.
So long as I think my dog can bark, I will not sit up to bark for him.
“If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride. (Dark-Hunter)”
Source: Sins of the Night
In Futurism, ed. Didier Ottinger; Centre Pompidou / 5 Continents Editions, Milan, 2008.
1914 - 1916, Pittura e scultura futuriste' Milan, 1914
Source: Culture and Value (1980), p. 36e
Statement upon seeing Bucephalas being led away as useless and beyond training, as quoted in Lives by Plutarch, as translated by Arthur Hugh Clough