“Wish not the thing, which thou mayest not obtain!”

—  Pythagoras

The Sayings of the Wise (1555)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update May 17, 2024. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Wish not the thing, which thou mayest not obtain!" by Pythagoras?
Pythagoras photo
Pythagoras 121
ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher -585–-495 BC

Related quotes

Marcus Aurelius photo

“Thou mayest foresee… the things which will be. For they will certainly be of like form”

VII, 49
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII
Context: Thou mayest foresee... the things which will be. For they will certainly be of like form, and it is not possible that they should deviate from the order of things now: accordingly to have contemplated human life for forty years is the same as to have contemplated it for ten thousand years.

Marcus Aurelius photo
Marcus Aurelius photo
John Steinbeck photo

“This is not theology. I have no bent towards gods. But i have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed - because 'Thou mayest.”

Variant: But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed - because 'Thou mayest.
Source: East of Eden

Bahá'u'lláh photo
Marcus Aurelius photo

“Why dost thou not pray… to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest”

IX, 40
Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book IX
Context: Why dost thou not pray... to give thee the faculty of not fearing any of the things which thou fearest, or of not desiring any of the things which thou desirest, or not being pained at anything, rather than pray that any of these things should not happen or happen?

Marcus Aurelius photo
Marcus Aurelius photo
Maimónides photo
Jean-Baptiste Say photo

“The quantity of money, which is readily parted with to obtain a thing is called its price.”

Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832) French economist and businessman

Source: A Treatise On Political Economy (Fourth Edition) (1832), Book I, On Production, Chapter I, p. 61

Related topics