Quotes about want
page 23

Al Capone photo
Al Capone photo
Al Capone photo
Teal Swan photo
Rajneesh photo
Frédéric Bastiat photo
Thomas Paine photo
Edward James Olmos photo

“My life has been a privilege. I come from a very humble family. No one in my family was an artist or worked in film…I’m not special. I completely understand that what I did, anyone can do it … I learned to do the things I love to do when I didn’t want to do them.”

Edward James Olmos (1947) American actor and director

On his journey as an actor in “Edward James Olmos Reflects on the Legacy of ‘Stand and Deliver,’ Three Decades Later” https://remezcla.com/features/film/edward-james-olmos-stand-and-deliver-30-years/ in Remezcla (2019 May 30)

Jessica Alba photo
Noah Levine photo
Sally Wen Mao photo

“I would want a dreaming machine that dreams up the most beautiful dreams and then show me exactly how to make them a reality…This is the eternal conundrum: the visualization of desires (dreams), and then the dissonance between that and reality.”

Sally Wen Mao Chinese-born American poet

On her poem “Yume-Miru Kikai” in “41.2 Feature: An Interview with Sally Wen Mao” https://bwr.ua.edu/an-interview-with-poet-sally-wen-mao-from-issue-41-2/ in Black Warrior Review (2015 Mar 2)

Leon Trotsky photo

“I wanted to document, somehow, the strength of those people that I had known . . . when the migrant worker was living without any kind of protection.”

Tomás Rivera (1935–1984) American academic

On his novel . . . y no se lo tragó la tierra (as quoted in “Tomás Rivera: December 22, 1935–May 16, 1984” https://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/tomas-rivera)

Maximilien Robespierre photo
Pierre Joseph Proudhon photo
Barack Obama photo
Chris Martin photo

“What changed for me was – I don’t want to go through life being scared of it, being scared of love, being scared of rejection, being scared of failure.”

Chris Martin (1977) musician, co-founder of Coldplay

On a Zane Lowe interview, 2014. source https://youtube.com/watch?v=9pF7bS_4JnE

David Foster Wallace photo

“If, by the virtue of charity or the circumstance of desperation, you ever chance to spend a little time around a Substance-recovery halfway facility like Enfield MA’s state-funded Ennet House, you will acquire many exotic new facts…That certain persons simply will not like you no matter what you do. That sleeping can be a form of emotional escape and can with sustained effort be abused. That purposeful sleep-deprivation can also be an abusable escape. That you do not have to like a person in order to learn from him/her/it. That loneliness is not a function of solitude. That logical validity is not a guarantee of truth. That it takes effort to pay attention to any one stimulus for more than a few seconds. That boring activities become, perversely, much less boring if you concentrate intently on them. That if enough people in a silent room are drinking coffee it is possible to make out the sound of steam coming off the coffee. That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness. That it is possible to fall asleep during an anxiety attack. That concentrating intently on anything is very hard work. That 99% of compulsive thinkers’ thinking is about themselves; that 99% of this self-directed thinking consists of imagining and then getting ready for things that are going to happen to them; and then, weirdly, that if they stop to think about it, that 100% of the things they spend 99% of their time and energy imagining and trying to prepare for all the contingencies and consequences of are never good. In short that 99% of the head’s thinking activity consists of trying to scare the everliving shit out of itself. That it is possible to make rather tasty poached eggs in a microwave oven. That some people’s moms never taught them to cover up or turn away when they sneeze. That the people to be the most frightened of are the people who are the most frightened. That it takes great personal courage to let yourself appear weak. That no single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable. That other people can often see things about you that you yourself cannot see, even if those people are stupid. That having a lot of money does not immunize people from suffering or fear. That trying to dance sober is a whole different kettle of fish. That different people have radically different ideas of basic personal hygiene. That, perversely, it is often more fun to want something than to have it. That if you do something nice for somebody in secret, anonymously, without letting the person you did it for know it was you or anybody else know what it was you did or in any way or form trying to get credit for it, it’s almost its own form of intoxicating buzz. That anonymous generosity, too, can be abused. That it is permissible to want. That everybody is identical in their unspoken belief that way deep down they are different from everyone else. That this isn’t necessarily perverse. That there might not be angels, but there are people who might as well be angels.”

Infinite Jest (1996)

Octavia E. Butler photo

“I didn’t want to scare you. We don’t want to scare anyone.”

“No? Well, sometimes it’s a good thing to scare people. Sometimes fear is all that will keep them from doing stupid things.”
Part II “Phoenix” chapter 15 (p. 381)
Adulthood Rites (1988)

Malcolm X photo
Peter Dutton photo
Jeffrey Epstein photo

“I just want you to know I’m not a pedophile. … Maybe the only thing worse than being called a pedophile is being called a hedge fund manager.”

Jeffrey Epstein (1953–2019) American financier, science and education philanthropist and sex offender

As quoted by Charlie Gasparino in Jeffrey Epstein before he died https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/jeffrey-epstein-exclusive-hedge-fund, FOXBusiness, 13 August 2019

Jawaharlal Nehru photo

“As we were very much pressed for time we were unable to see as much of the jail as we wanted to. We had an impression that we had been shown the brighter side of jail life. Nonetheless, two facts stood out. One was that we had actually seen desirable and radical improvements over the old system prevailing even now in most countries and the second and even more important fact was the mentality of the prison officials, and presumably the higher officials of the government also, in regard to jails. Actual conditions may or may not be good but the general principles laid down for jails are certainly far in advance of anything we had known elsewhere in practice. Anyone with a knowledge of prisons in India and of the barbarous way in which handcuffs, fetters and other punishments are used will appreciate the difference. The governor of the prison in Moscow who took us round was all the time laying stress on the human side of jail life, and how it was their endeavour to keep this in the front and not to make the prisoner feel in any way dehumanised or outcasted. I wish we in India would remember this wholesome principle and practise it in our daily lives even outside jail…. It can be said without a shadow of doubt that to be in a Russian prison is far more preferable than to be a worker in an Indian factory, whose lot is 10 to 11 hours work a day and then to live in a crowded and dark and airless tenement, hardly fit for an animal. The mere fact that there are some prisons like the ones we saw is in itself something for the Soviet Government to be proud of.”

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964) Indian lawyer, statesman, and writer, first Prime Minister of India

Soviet Russia: Some Random Sketches and Impressions (1949)

Jawaharlal Nehru photo
Indíra Gándhí photo
Indíra Gándhí photo
Indíra Gándhí photo
Nikola Tesla photo
Fidel Castro photo
James Eastland photo

“I would not be surprised if Martin Luther King and these agitators next desecrate the graves of Confederate soldiers and drag their remains through the streets in an effort to garner headlines. And what kind of person is participating in this march? Beatniks, frauds, and persons wanted to answer for crimes in other States.”

James Eastland (1904–1986) American politician

To the Senate about the Grenada, Mississippi civil rights movement, after activists put American flags on the place where a Confederate memorial stood. June 16, 1966
Congressional Records https://books.google.fr/books?id=TqUs5UlIPaUC&q=%22And+what+kind+of+person+is+participating+in+this%22&dq=%22And+what+kind+of+person+is+participating+in+this%22&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw8NC1sb3kAhUgDmMBHbF7BogQ6AEIKzAA%7C
1960s

Eckhart Tolle photo
Paul von Hindenburg photo

“Fundamentally, Britain is responsible for the war. She was jealous. British business men wanted this war. It is a British business war. … We have no dislike for France, nor Russia. We think highly of the French. But Britain! We hate Britain!”

Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and president of Germany

Interview with Senator Beveridge (March 1915), Paul Dehn, Hindenburg, als Erzieher (1918), p. 43, quoted in W. W. Coole (ed.), Thus Spake Germany (London: George Routledge & Sons, 1941), p. 174
Supreme Commander of All German Forces in the East

Carl Schmitt photo
Ronald Reagan photo
Lady Gaga photo

“Everybody wants me to show my vagina to the world. And the truth is, I don’t have to.”

Lady Gaga (1986) American singer, songwriter, and actress

Interview for Maxim Magazine.

Cassandra Clare photo
Cassandra Clare photo

“Do you want to tell me what this is about, or should I just call the police?”

"And tell them what?" Jace said witheringly. "That invisible people are bothering you? Trust me, little girl, the police aren't going to arrest someone they can't see."
Clary and Jace, pg. 44
The Mortal Instruments, City of Bones (2007)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt photo
Doug Stanhope photo

“Wanting more. Having your cake or eating your cake are fine. Not even wanting cake is where you get fucked.”

Doug Stanhope (1967) American stand-up comedian, actor, and author

When asked, "What would constitute 'complete happiness' to Doug Stanhope (you)?" Doug Stanhope interview http://markprindle.com/stanhope-i.htm, MarkPrindle.com, 2007
Miscellaneous

Randy Blythe photo

“I want you to pretend this is fucking Braveheart or some shit.”

Randy Blythe (1971) American musician

Hellfest 2003
Live

Jeff Buckley photo
Leonardo Da Vinci photo
Teal Swan photo
Henry Miller photo
Abby Martin photo
Kurt Vonnegut photo

“So I certainly don’t regard myself as brave. I just see myself—if I want to indulge a little immodesty—as rather more honest and outspoken than some other people I know.”

Tony Judt (1948–2010) British historian

Source: Thinking the Twentieth Century (2012), Ch. 4 : King’s and Kibbutzim: Cambridge Zionist

Lady Gaga photo
Joseph Goebbels photo
George Washington photo

“Tis true, I profess myself a Votary to Love — I acknowledge that a Lady is in the Case — and further I confess, that this Lady is known to you. — Yes Madam, as well as she is to one, who is too sensible of her Charms to deny the Power, whose Influence he feels and must ever Submit to. I feel the force of her amiable beauties in the recollection of a thousand tender passages that I coud wish to obliterate, till I am bid to revive them. — but experience alas! sadly reminds me how Impossible this is. — and evinces an Opinion which I have long entertaind, that there is a Destiny, which has the Sovereign controul of our Actions — not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature.
You have drawn me my dear Madam, or rather have I drawn myself, into an honest confession of a Simple Fact — misconstrue not my meaning — ’tis obvious — doubt it not, nor expose it, — the World has no business to know the object of my Love, declard in this manner to — you when I want to conceal it — One thing, above all things in this World I wish to know, and only one person of your Acquaintance can solve me that, or guess my meaning.”

George Washington (1732–1799) first President of the United States

but adieu to this, till happier times, if I ever shall see them.

Letter to https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-06-02-0013#GEWN-02-06-02-0013-fn-0002 Mrs. George William Fairfax (Sally Cary Fairfax) (12 September 1758)
1750s

Rishi Sunak photo
Benjamin Creme photo

“There is some irony in the fact that children imagine that parents can do what they want, and parents imagine that children do. "When I grow up..." parallels "Oh to be a child again..."”

http://books.google.com/books?id=YnY10fNqqp4C&q=%22There+is+some+irony+in+the+fact+that+children+imagine+that+parents+can+do+what+they+want+and+parents+imagine+that+children+do+When+I+grow+up+parallels+Oh+to+be+a+child+again%22&pg=PA102#v=onepage
The Dialectic of Sex (1970)

Catherine of Genoa photo
Jacinda Ardern photo
Jacinda Ardern photo
Jacinda Ardern photo
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali photo

“From my early youth, since I attained the age of puberty before I was twenty, until the present time when I am over fifty, I have ever recklessly launched out into the midst of these ocean depths, I have ever bravely embarked on this open sea, throwing aside all craven caution; I have poked into every dark recess, I have made an assault on every problem, I have plunged into every abyss, I have scrutinized the creed of every sect, I have tried to lay bare the inmost doctrines of every community. All this have I done that I might 68 distinguish between true and false, between sound tradition and heretical innovation. Whenever I meet one of the Batiniyah, I like to study his creed; whenever I meet one of the Zahiriyah, I want to know the essentials of his belief. If it is a philosopher, I try to become acquainted with the essence of his philosophy; if a scholastic theologian I busy myself in examining his theological reasoning; if a Sufi, I yearn to fathom the secret of his mysticism; if an ascetic (muta'ahhid) , I investigate the basis of his ascetic practices; if one ofthe Zanadiqah or Mu'attilah, I look beneath the surface to discover the reasons for his bold adoption of such a creed.”

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111) Persian Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic

The Deliverance from Error https://www.amazon.com/Al-Ghazalis-Path-Sufism-Deliverance-al-Munqidh/dp/1887752307, p: 20-21

Anthony Fauci photo

“You don't want to go to war with a president [...] There's a temptation that you have to fight to tell the president what you think he wants to hear. I’ve seen really good people do that.”

Anthony Fauci (1940) American immunologist and head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Quoted in 'You don't want to go to war with a president' https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/03/anthony-fauci-trump-coronavirus-crisis-118961, 3 March 2020, Politico

John Lydon photo
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry photo
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry photo
Sukirti Kandpal photo

“I was busy settling my own life, so it was a welcome break for my family and me. Before that, I had been saying more no's than yes's to the people who approached me. A lot of people told me that I wasn’t doing the right thing, but I think that as I matured, I have become choosier about what I want.”

Sukirti Kandpal (1987) Indian actress

On her 2 year hiatus from acting https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tv/news/hindi/sukriti-kandpal-except-for-supernatural-and-naagin-shows-i-dont-think-much-has-changed-on-tv/articleshow/70315084.cms/

Jason Statham photo
Jason Statham photo

“…And I was only concerned about the migrant worker, the people I had known best. I had been a migrant worker. So I began to see that my role—if I want to call it that—would be to document that period of time, but giving it some kind of spiritual strength or spiritual history.”

Tomás Rivera (1935–1984) American academic

On writing about migrant workers (as quoted in “CUANDO LLEGUEMOS/WHEN WE ARRIVE: THE PARADOX OF MIGRATION IN TOMAS RIVERA'S "... Y NO SE LO TRAGO LA TIERRA" https://www.jstor.org/stable/25745215?seq=1)

“When people asked what I wanted to be, I'd tell them a writer. They were surprised or indifferent. If people don't read, what is a writer?”

Tomás Rivera (1935–1984) American academic

On his wanting to become a writer at an early age in " From Poverty to Power: The Inspiring Story of Tomas Rivera http://www.teenink.com/nonfiction/academic/article/778847/From-Poverty-to-Power-The-Inspiring-Story-of-Tomas-Rivera" (TeenInk)

Socrates photo

“Those who want fewest things are nearest to the Gods.”

Socrates (-470–-399 BC) classical Greek Athenian philosopher

Diogenes Laertius
Variant: [H]e was nearest to the gods in that he had the fewest wants.

Teal Swan photo
Teal Swan photo
Richard Wagner photo

“The knight's song and direction
I found new, but not confused;
He left our path,
but strode strongly and confidently.
When you want to evaluate, according to rules, something which doesn't follow your rules,
You have to forget your own ways,
And seek out its rules!”

Richard Wagner (1813–1883) German composer, conductor

Original: (de) Des Ritters Lied und Weise,
sie fand ich neu, doch nicht verwirrt;
verliess er unsre Gleise,
schritt er doch fest und unbeirrt.
Wollt ihr nach Regeln messen,
was nicht nach eurer Regeln Lauf,
der eignen Spur vergessen,
sucht davon erst die Regeln auf!
Source: Quotes from his operas, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Hans Sachs, Act 1, Scene 3

Chadwick Boseman photo

“Children often ask for things they do not really want.”

Raised by Wolves, season 1, episode 4. Character Mother.

Michael Jackson photo
Friedrich Nietzsche photo
David Belle photo

“Parkour belongs to the ones who live it, not the ones who want to live thanks to it.”

David Belle (1973) French actor

David Belle Communique, Paris July 25th 2006

Lila Downs photo
Thomas Paine photo
Karl Marx photo
Karl Marx photo
Karl Marx photo
Rebecca Walker photo

“Part of what I wanted to do with Baby Love was to suggest that not only are you giving birth to a baby, but also you can use the experience to give birth to a new sense of yourself.”

Rebecca Walker (1969) American writer

On her book Baby Love in “'Can I survive having a baby? Will I lose myself ... ?'” https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2007/may/26/familyandrelationships.family2 in The Guardian (2007 May 26)

Jordan Peterson photo

“If you want to organise your psyche you could start by cleaning up your room.”

Jordan Peterson (1962) Canadian clinical psychologist, cultural critic, and professor of psychology
John Lennon photo

“When we say "War is over if you want it," we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we'd have peace.”

John Lennon (1940–1980) English singer and songwriter

During the Bed-In for Peace in Montreal, Canada (1 June 1969)

Tupac Shakur photo
Tupac Shakur photo

“I want, when they see me, They know that everyday when I'm breathing is for us to go further. Everytime I speak I want the truth to come out. Not one person even realizes that I have white relatives, my cousin just had a son who is “White” but everytime I speak I want a shiver so yes, I do omit things that I feel are not accurately portraying my “character.””

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

I don't want them to be like; they know what I'm gonna say, because it's polite. Im not saying I'm gonna rule the world or I'm gonna change the world, but I guarantee you that I will spark the brain that will change the world. And that's our job, It's to spark somebody else watching us. We might not be the one's, but let's not be selfish and because we not gonna change the world let's not talk about how we should change it. I don't know how to change it, but I know if I keep talking about how dirty it is out here, somebody's gonna clean it up.
1990s, MTV interview (1994)

Tupac Shakur photo

“What I want you to take seriously, is what we have to do for the youth. Because we're coming up in a totally different world. This is not the same world that you had this is not 6th Street its not. You grew up, we grew up B. C. Before crack. That's just saying it all. You understand? We did not grow up without parents. You had parents that told you this and that and told you what went on back in the day. You have young kids, fourteen, coming home and their mama is smoking out, going to their best friend to get the product. You understand what I'm saying? So that means it's not just about you taking care of "your" child. It's about you taking care of "these children". It hurts that I got to, it bothers me, not hurts, that I have to sidestep my youth to stand up and do some shit that somebody else is suppose to be doing. You understand what I'm saying? There's too many men out here for me to be doing this, because it ain't my turn yet. I'm supposed to be following behind him getting the knowledge. I don't even got a chance to get the fucking knowledge. I can't go to college. There's too much problems out here. I don't got the money. Nobody does. You understand what I'm saying? So what I'm saying is, it's not as easy as we're mapping it out to be. We've got to stay real. Before we can be new African we've gotta be black first. You understand? We've gotta get our brothers from the streets like Harriett Tubman did. Why can't we look at that and see exactly what she was doing? Like Malcolm did, the real Malcolm, before the Nation of Islam. You've got to remember, this was a pimp. You know what I'm saying, we forgot about all that. In our strive to be enlightened we forgot about all our brothers in the street, about all our dope dealers, our pushers and our pimps, and that's who's teaching the new generation, because y'all not doing it. I'm sorry. But, it's the pimps and pushers who's teaching us. So, if you got a problem with how we were raised, its because they was the only ones who could do it. They the only ones who did it, because everybody else wanted to go to college, and you know, yeah everything's changed, they were the ones telling you 'the white man ain't shit, there you go, check this out young blood, you take this product, you switch it, you get money and that's how you beat the white man, you get money, you get the hell up out of here.'”

Tupac Shakur (1971–1996) rapper and actor

Nobody else did that. So I don't wanna hear shit about nobody telling me who I can't love and respect until you start doing what they did. To me, this is Mecca. This is the black family. You know what I'm saying? But, what makes it that much sadder, what makes me wanna cry, is that when I leave this place, so does Mecca. You understand what I'm saying? We're going back to the real deal. Right out there, you're going see the same sisters and Brenda, they're right out there, and y'all are going to get in your cars and drive the fuck home.
1990s, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Atlanta (1992)