“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”
Joanne Harris (1964) British author
Source: The Girl with No Shadow
“If wishes were butter-cakes, beggars might bite.
If wishes were thrushes, beggars would eat birds.
If wishes would bide, beggars would ride.”
— John Ray
Source: English Proverbs (1670), p. 174
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If wishes were thrushes, beggars would eat birds.
If wishes would bi…" by John Ray?
John Ray8
British botanist 1627–1705Related quotes
“If wishes were horses, even beggars would ride. (Dark-Hunter)”
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Source: Sins of the Night
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Randall Jarrell (1914–1965) poet, critic, novelist, essayist
“Stories”, p. 141
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“[I] would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married.”
Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603) Queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until 1603
Statement to the envoy of Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg while discussing a proposal of marriage to the duke's son, Christoph. (26 January 1563), quoted by J. Horace Round in "A Visit to Queen Elizabeth," http://books.google.com/books?id=iP0CAAAAIAAJ&q=%22would+rather+be+a+beggar+and+single+than+a+queen+and+married%22&pg=PA629#v=onepage The Nineteenth Century magazine (October 1896)
“Set a beggar on horseback and he will ride a gallop.”
Robert Burton book The Anatomy of Melancholy
Section 2, member 2.
The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), Part II
“He wrapped himself in quotations - as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.”
Rudyard Kipling book Many Inventions
The Finest Story in the World http://www.telelib.com/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/prose/ManyInventions/fineststory.html (1893). <br class="br">Other works <br class="br">Source: Many Inventions <br class="br">Context: When next he came to me he was drunk—royally drunk on many poets for the first time revealed to him. His pupils were dilated, his words tumbled over each other, and he wrapped himself in quotations—as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors.
“If wishes were wings, pigs would fly.”
Robert Jordan book The Eye of the World
Old saying in Randland
(15 October 1994)
Source: The Eye of the World
“I wish she was dead,' he says. 'I wish they were all dead and we were, too. It would be best.”
Suzanne Collins (1962) American television writer and novelist
“We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified.”
Aesop book The Old Man and Death
The Old Man and Death.