“Great minds have purposes, others have wishes.”

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Great minds have purposes, others have wishes." by Washington Irving?
Washington Irving photo
Washington Irving 46
writer, historian and diplomat from the United States 1783–1859

Related quotes

Washington Irving photo

“Great minds have purpose, others have wishes. Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortunes; but great minds rise above them.”

"Philip of Pokanoket : An Indian Memoir".
A more extensive statement not found as such in this work is attributed to Irving in Elbert Hubbard's Scrap Book (1923) edited by Roycroft Shop:
The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon (1819–1820)
Variant: Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it.

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Thomas Carlyle photo
John Steinbeck photo

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.”

John Steinbeck (1902–1968) American writer

"...like captured fireflies" (1955); also published in America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (2003), p. 142

Bruce Lee photo
Steve Jobs photo

“I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check. If that was the case, Microsoft would have great products.”

Steve Jobs (1955–2011) American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple Inc.

On why he delayed the Leopard OS in favor of developing the iPhone rather than hiring more developers, at the annual Apple stockholder's meeting (10 May 2007) as quoted in "Apple's Jobs brushes aside backdating concerns" at c|net News (10 May 2007) http://archive.is/20130628220833/http://news.com.com/2100-1041_3-6182965.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news
As quoted in "Apple iPhone: more secrets revealed" (11 May 2007) http://www.tech.co.uk/computing/mac/news/apple-iphone-jobs-spills-more-secrets?articleid=1431998781
2000s
Variant: I wish developing great products was as easy as writing a check … if so, then Microsoft would have great products.

Yann Martel photo

“My greatest wish — other than salvation — was to have a book.”

Source: Life of Pi (2001), Chapter 73, p. 230

Fausto Cercignani photo

“Wishing to dare serves no purpose at all, if it remains a wish.”

Fausto Cercignani (1941) Italian scholar, essayist and poet

Examples of self-translation (c. 2004), Quotes - Zitate - Citations - Citazioni

François de La Rochefoucauld photo

“The stamp of great minds is to suggest much in few words; by contrast, little minds have the gift of talking a great deal and saying nothing.”

Comme c’est le caractère des grands esprits de faire entendre en peu de paroles beaucoup de choses, les petits esprits au contraire ont le don de beaucoup parler, et de ne rien dire.
Maxim 142.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

Related topics