Quotes about want
page 97

Hariprasad Chaurasia photo
Naomi Watts photo

“I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot.”

Naomi Watts (1968) British actress and film producer

[Watts turns back on Australia, April 24 2007, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21607413-5006002,00.html, The Daily Telegraph, 2007-04-24, https://archive.is/LR0E, 2012-05-29]

Danish Kaneria photo
George W. Bush photo
Joe Strummer photo
Anbumani Ramadoss photo

“In our country, we do sex. But we don't want to talk about it and that is why we have a billion population.”

Anbumani Ramadoss (1968) Indian politician

On the protests against sex education in India, as quoted in " The great Indian sex debate http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6928326.stm", BBC News (20 August 2007)

Jesse Ventura photo
African Spir photo
Alvin Plantinga photo

“Well, I don't think there are any methodological conflicts either. As for those social conflicts, those aren't conflicts—in my opinion—between science and religion. They're conflicts between Christians and atheists or Christians and secularists: Christians want to do things one way, secularists want to do things another way. But that's not a science/religion conflict at all. You might as well say it's a science/secularism conflict. In each case, each group wants to do science and then use it in a certain way.”

Alvin Plantinga (1932) American Christian philosopher

[2011-12-13, Interview with Alvin Plantinga on Where the Conflict Really Lies, Paul, Pardi, Philosophy News, http://www.philosophynews.com/post/2011/12/13/Interview-with-Alvin-Plantinga-on-Where-the-Conflict-Really-Lies.aspx]
Posed question: Are you mainly trying to show that there's no logical conflict even though there might be a methodological conflict?

Roger Ebert photo
Mark Heard photo
Bill Gates photo
Marie Windsor photo
Indro Montanelli photo
Margaret Cho photo
Louis Kronenberger photo

“The Englishman wants to be recognized as a gentleman, or as some other suitable species of human being, the American wants to be considered a good guy.”

Louis Kronenberger (1904–1980) American critic and writer

Source: Company Manners: A Cultural Inquiry into American Life (1954), p. 120.

Christopher Hitchens photo

“Three words for those who want to put the Christ back in Christmas: Jingle Bell Rock.”

Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011) British American author and journalist

2011-12-24
Christopher Hitchens on The True Spirit of Christmas
The Wall Street Jorunal
0099-9660
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204791104577110880355067656.html
2010s, 2011

Stanley Baldwin photo
Jahangir photo

“The common people (live in) poverty so great and miserable that the life of the people can be depicted or accurately described only as the home of stark want and dwelling place of bitter woe.”

Jahangir (1569–1627) 4th Mughal Emperor

Reference is to a remark of Francisco Pelsaert, who visited the Mughal court in India in the time of Jahangir. Quoted in The position of Hindus under the Delhi Sultanate, 1206-1526 by Kanhaiya Lall Srivastava, quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2014). Decolonizing the Hindu mind: Ideological development of Hindu revivalism. New Delhi: Rupa. p. 390

Eric Schmidt photo

“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”

Eric Schmidt (1955) software engineer, businessman

CNBC interview, 3 Dec 2009, quoted in Google CEO on Privacy http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/07/google-ceo-on-privacy-if_n_383105.html (18 Mar 2010).

Michelle Obama photo

“(Sylvia) Rita, I want to have my cake and eat it too. (Rita) Sorry, Ma, it only works for Republicans.”

Nicole Hollander (1939) Cartoonist

Source: Sylvia cartoon strip, p. 88

Borís Pasternak photo

“They don’t ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise.”

Borís Pasternak (1890–1960) Russian writer

On Soviet bureaucrats, in LIFE magazine (13 June 1960)

James Braid photo
Steve Jobs photo

“Jobs: Part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, and artists, and zoologists, and historians. They also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world. But if it hadn’t been computer science, these people would have been doing amazing things in other fields. We all brought to this a sort of “liberal arts” air, an attitude that we wanted to pull the best that we saw into this field. You don’t get that if you are very narrow.
Cringley: How does the Web affect the economy?
Jobs: We live in an information economy. The problem is that information's usually impossible to get, at least in the right place, at the right time. The reason Federal Express won over its competitors was its package-tracking system. For the company to bring that package-tracking system onto the Web is phenomenal. I use it all the time to track my packages. It's incredibly great. Incredibly reassuring. And getting that information out of most companies is usually impossible.
But it's also incredibly difficult to give information. Take auto dealerships. So much money is spent on inventory—billions and billions of dollars. Inventory is not a good thing. Inventory ties up a ton of cash, it's open to vandalism, it becomes obsolete. It takes a tremendous amount of time to manage. And, usually, the car you want, in the color you want, isn't there anyway, so they've got to horse-trade around. Wouldn't it be nice to get rid of all that inventory? Just have one white car to drive and maybe a laserdisc so you can look at the other colors. Then you order your car and you get it in a week.”

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

Robert X. Cringley for a Public Broadcasting System [PBS] television series, “Triumph of the Nerds” (1995), “The Lost Interview: Steve Jobs Tells Us What Really Matters” https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevedenning/2011/11/17/the-lost-interview-steve-jobs-tells-us-what-really-matters/#5cb0fc8e6c3a, Forbes, Steve Denning, Nov 17, 2011,
1990s

David Cameron photo

“This is something I feel very strongly and very passionately about. Together I want us to pave the road from Ankara to Brussels.”

David Cameron (1966) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Quoted from 'A speech about Turkey's EU membership process'; "Turkey must be welcome in EU, insists Cameron" http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/turkey-must-be-welcome-in-eu-insists-cameron-2036190.html
2010s, 2010, First speech as UK Prime Minister (2010)

Jacob Tobia photo
Thomas Guthrie photo
Józef Piłsudski photo

“To want to, is to be able to.”

Józef Piłsudski (1867–1935) Polish politician and Prime Minister

Peter Ackerman, Jack Duvall, A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict, Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0312240503, Google Books, p. 165 http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0312240503&id=OVtKS9DCN0kC&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=Pilsudski+hero&sig=A39uIDdGoEuGIDV9wS4CES_8vfs
Attributed

Aron Ra photo
Nelson Mandela photo
George Moore (novelist) photo

“But if you want to be a painter you must go to France — France is the only school of Art.”

George Moore (novelist) (1852–1933) Irish novelist, short-story writer, poet, art critic, memoirist and dramatist

Source: Confessions of a Young Man http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12278/12278-h/12278-h.htm (1886), Ch. 1.

Friedrich Kellner photo
Steve Ballmer photo

“[Apple and RIM] are probably restricted, in some sense, to a certain maximum. … If you want to reach more people than that, you sort-of have to separate the hardware and the software issue.”

Steve Ballmer (1956) American businessman who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft

Worth Watching: Steve Ballmer in the heart of Silicon Valley http://blogs.zdnet.com/Foremski/?p=308&tag=rbxccnbzd1 in ZDNet (26 September 2008)
2000s

Morarji Desai photo
K. R. Narayanan photo
Elie Wiesel photo

“If you ask me what I want to achieve, it's to create an awareness, which is already the beginning of teaching.”

Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor

In a 1978 interview with John S. Friedman, published in The Paris Review 26 (Spring 1984); and in Elie Wiesel : Conversations (2002) edited by Robert Franciosi, p. 85

Orson Scott Card photo
Ai Weiwei photo
Nigel Cumberland photo

“Even if you are penniless and desperate for any type of paid employment, you must work out what are the ideal jobs for you if you want to avoid future upset.”

Nigel Cumberland (1967) British author and leadership coach

Source: Your Job-Hunt Ltd – Advice from an Award-Winning Asian Headhunter (2003), p.42

Jackie Speier photo
Harun Yahya photo
John Ruskin photo
Dana Perino photo
Ted Cruz photo
Zail Singh photo

“No one actually brought me any money. But there were many commitments made…Chandraswami said he knows some Sultan. He wanted me to contest for the second time. Somehow, this fellow had a dislike for Rajiv perhaps because Rajiv refused to encourage him.”

Zail Singh (1916–1994) Indian politician and former President of India

When it was rumored that he was thinking of contesting for Presidential election for a second term. In: K.R. Sundar Rajan "Presidential Years:Zail Singh's posthumous defence of his controversial tenure."

Prem Rawat photo
Tony Benn photo

“Having served for nearly half a century in the House of Commons, I now want more time to devote to politics and more freedom to do so.”

Tony Benn (1925–2014) British Labour Party politician

Paul Waugh, "Benn retires to spend more time with his politics", The Independent, 28 June 1999, p. 5.
1990s

Alanis Morissette photo

“You're unsure and you're not ready so that must mean I want you
You're unavailable and disinterested and to you I look for comfort”

Alanis Morissette (1974) Canadian-American singer-songwriter

Bent for You
Feast on Scraps (2002)

Muhammad photo

“Asma' bint Abi Bakr as-Siddiq said, "My mother came to me during the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while she was still an idolater and I asked the Messenger of Allah, 'My mother has come to me, wanting something. Shall I give it to her?'”

Muhammad (570–632) Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam

He said, 'Yes. Give to your mother.'"
Riyadh-as-Saliheen by Imam Al-Nawawi, volume 3, hadith number 325
Sunni Hadith

John F. Kennedy photo

“These burdens and frustrations are accepted by most Americans with maturity and understanding. They may long for the days when war meant charging up San Juan Hill-or when our isolation was guarded by two oceans — or when the atomic bomb was ours alone — or when much of the industrialized world depended upon our resources and our aid. But they now know that those days are gone — and that gone with them are the old policies and the old complacency's. And they know, too, that we must make the best of our new problems and our new opportunities, whatever the risk and the cost.
But there are others who cannot bear the burden of a long twilight struggle. They lack confidence in our long-run capacity to survive and succeed. Hating communism, yet they see communism in the long run, perhaps, as the wave of the future. And they want some quick and easy and final and cheap solution — now.
There are two groups of these frustrated citizens, far apart in their views yet very much alike in their approach. On the one hand are those who urge upon us what I regard to be the pathway of surrender-appeasing our enemies, compromising our commitments, purchasing peace at any price, disavowing our arms, our friends, our obligations. If their view had prevailed, the world of free choice would be smaller today.
On the other hand are those who urge upon us what I regard to be the pathway of war: equating negotiations with appeasement and substituting rigidity for firmness. If their view had prevailed, we would be at war today, and in more than one place.
It is a curious fact that each of these extreme opposites resembles the other. Each believes that we have only two choices: appeasement or war, suicide or surrender, humiliation or holocaust, to be either Red or dead. Each side sees only "hard" and "soft" nations, hard and soft policies, hard and soft men. Each believes that any departure from its own course inevitably leads to the other: one group believes that any peaceful solution means appeasement; the other believes that any arms build-up means war. One group regards everyone else as warmongers, the other regards everyone else as appeasers. Neither side admits that its path will lead to disaster — but neither can tell us how or where to draw the line once we descend the slippery slopes of appeasement or constant intervention.
In short, while both extremes profess to be the true realists of our time, neither could be more unrealistic. While both claim to be doing the nation a service, they could do it no greater disservice. This kind of talk and easy solutions to difficult problems, if believed, could inspire a lack of confidence among our people when they must all — above all else — be united in recognizing the long and difficult days that lie ahead. It could inspire uncertainty among our allies when above all else they must be confident in us. And even more dangerously, it could, if believed, inspire doubt among our adversaries when they must above all be convinced that we will defend our vital interests.
The essential fact that both of these groups fail to grasp is that diplomacy and defense are not substitutes for one another. Either alone would fail. A willingness to resist force, unaccompanied by a willingness to talk, could provoke belligerence — while a willingness to talk, unaccompanied by a willingness to resist force, could invite disaster.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

1961, Address at the University of Washington

Bill O'Reilly photo
Margaret Thatcher photo

“Let me make one point about the hunger strike in the Maze prison. I want this to be utterly clear. There can be no political justification for murder or any other crime. The Government will never concede political status to the hunger strikers, or to any others convicted of criminal offences in the Province.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Speech in the House of Commons (20 November 1980) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104446 regarding the Irish hunger strike
First term as Prime Minister

Mike Huckabee photo
Adlai Stevenson photo

“Whenever I hear one of these old guard leaders on the other side talking about cutting taxes, when he knows it means weakening the nation, I always think of that story about the tired old capitalist who was driving alone in his car one day, and finally, he said "James, drive over the bluff; I want to commit suicide."”

Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965) mid-20th-century Governor of Illinois and Ambassador to the UN

"A whistle-stop: Ypsilanti, Michigan," http://books.google.com/books?id=kHt3AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Whenever+I+hear+one+of+these+old+guard+leaders+on+the+other+side+talking+about+cutting+taxes+when+he+knows+it+means+weakening+the+nation+I+always+think+of+that+story+about+the+tired+old+capitalist+who+was+driving+alone+in+his+car+one+day+and+finally+he+said+James+drive+over+the+bluff+I+want+to+commit%22&pg=PA210#v=onpage Major Campaign Speeches of Adlai E. Stevenson, 1952, p. 210 (1953)

“I pointed to the side of the road and then I pulled over and parked. When the guy got out of the car he was stripped to the waist. A typical young macho stud. He put his face within two inches of mine, and he was telling me what I was and what he was going to do to me. So I did the natural thing. I reached in and got a headlock on him, and I had him very firmly while he thrashed around. I felt I was doing just fine because I had stopped what was going on, but his girlfriend decided that he wasn't doing very well. So she ran and jumped on us. They both fell on top of me and my head crashed into the pavement. I landed on my left ear, got a hairline fracture and concussion.
[…]
It was like some kind of nether world. Most of the time I didn't know where I was. Like I'd wake up and find I. V. units in my arm, and I'd rip 'em out and say, "What kind of a hotel is this? You tell them I'm never coming here again."
[…]
When I came home from the hospital I was having terrible nightmares every night, sometimes to the point where I started not wanting to go to sleep. And I still have occasional migraines, dry eyes and short-term memory loss.
[…]
If I discovered anything in that strange, 10-month period of recovery, it's that music is the one thing that makes me sane.”

Clare Fischer (1928–2012) American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader

As quoted in "Fischer: A Ferocious Teddy Bear" http://articles.latimes.com/1992-07-03/entertainment/ca-1426_1_teddy-bear

Stanley Baldwin photo
Wilson Mizner photo

“I want a priest, a rabbi and a Protestant minister. I want to hedge my bets.”

Wilson Mizner (1876–1933) American writer

On his deathbed.
Quoted by Stuart B. McIver, Dreamers, Schemers and Scalawags, Pineapple Press, Sarasota, Florida, 1994. ISBN 1-56164-034-4.
On Death and Dying

Angela Davis photo
Tony Hayward photo

“I made a hurtful and thoughtless comment on Sunday when I said that "I wanted my life back." When I read that recently, I was appalled. I apologize, especially to the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”

Tony Hayward (1957) British businessman

"BP CEO Tony Hayward Issues an Apology for Remarks" https://www.facebook.com/notes/bp-america/bp-ceo-tony-hayward-issues-an-apology-for-remarks/431512288412 on BP America Facebook page, as quoted in Gus Lubin, " BP CEO Tony Hayward Apologizes For His Idiotic Statement: 'I'd Like My Life Back' http://www.businessinsider.com/bp-ceo-tony-hayward-apologizes-for-saying-id-like-my-life-back-2010-6", Business Insider, 2 June 2010

Trent Lott photo

“I don't agree with the libertarians. I want my security first. I'll deal with all the details after that.”

Trent Lott (1941) United States Senator from Mississippi

On security versus liberty, as quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/breaking_news/13427302.htm (17 December 2005).
c.f. Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
2000s

Will Cuppy photo
Shaun Ellis photo
Bell Hooks photo
Paul Scofield photo

“I found at this point that effective acting wasn't what I wanted to do, that I didn't want to make effects, that I wanted, as it were, to leave an impression of a particular kind of human being.”

Paul Scofield (1922–2008) English actor

Quoted in Garry O'Connor, Paul Scofield: An Actor for All Seasons (Applause Books, 2002, ISBN 1-557-83499-7), ch. 22 (p. 131)

Nick Hornby photo
Donald Ervin Knuth photo
Joe Higgins photo
Max Frisch photo
Roger Ebert photo
Mark Zuckerberg photo
Larry Wall photo

“Anybody want a binary telemetry frame editor written in Perl?”

Larry Wall (1954) American computer programmer and author, creator of Perl

[199708012226.PAA22015@wall.org, 1997]
Usenet postings, 1997

John Dolmayan photo
Camille Pissarro photo
John S. Chen photo
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani photo
David Bowie photo
Otto Neurath photo
Robert Patrick (playwright) photo

“It's my party and I'll die if I want to!”

Robert Patrick (playwright) (1937) Playwright, poet, lyricist, short story writer, novelist

Pouf Positive
Untold Decades: Seven Comedies of Gay Romance (1988)

Drew Carey photo

“It should be up to each bar owner and patron to decide if they want to smoke or not.”

Drew Carey (1958) American actor, comedian, game show host, libertarian and photographer

Drew Carey leads "smoke-in" to protest ban http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9804/01/drew.carey/

C. Rajagopalachari photo
Rachel Marsden photo

“Fifty percent of people want to sleep with me, and the other 50 percent want to kill me.”

Rachel Marsden (1974) journalist

cited in Fox's Ann Coulter 2.0 http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/03/29/marsden/index.html. Salon.com.

Thom Yorke photo

“I can't take their pressure
No one cares if you live or die
They just want me gone
They want me gone”

Thom Yorke (1968) English musician, philanthropist and singer-songwriter

Lyrics, The Eraser (2006)

Josh Lucas photo
Jack McDevitt photo
Samuel Beckett photo
Chris Pontius photo

“Latvia gangsters. cool. I want to join them.”

Chris Pontius (1974) American actor

[Gumball 3000- Jackass Episodes]

Pete Yorn photo
Ani DiFranco photo
George Eliot photo

“Do we not wile away moments of inanity or fatigued waiting by repeating some trivial movement or sound, until the repetition has bred a want, which is incipient habit?”

George Eliot (1819–1880) English novelist, journalist and translator

Source: Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (1861), Chapter 2 (at page 19)

Slavoj Žižek photo

““I hate students,” [Zizek] said, “they are (as all people) mostly stupid and boring.
In a recent interview at this year’s Zizek Conference in Ohio, Zizek talked about his personal life before delving into his thoughts on teaching. “I hate giving classes,” Zizek said, citing office hours and grading papers as his two biggest peeves. “I did teach a class here [at the University of Cincinnati] and all of the grading was pure bluff,” he continues. “I even told students at the New School for example… if you don’t give me any of your shitty papers, you get an A. If you give me a paper I may read it and not like it and you can get a lower grade.” He received no papers that semester. But it’s office hours that are the main reason he does not want to teach.
“I can’t imagine a worse experience than some idiot comes there and starts to ask you questions, which is still tolerable. The problem is that here in the United States students tend to be so open that sooner or later, if you’re kind to them, they even start to ask you personal questions [about] private problems… What should I tell them?”
“I don’t care,” he continued. “Kill yourself. It’s not my problem,””

Slavoj Žižek (1949) Slovene philosopher

As quoted by Eugene Wolters, " Professor of the Year: 'If You Don't Give Me Any of Your Shitty Papers You Get an A http://www.critical-theory.com/professor-of-the-year-if-you-dont-give-me-any-of-your-shitty-papers-you-get-an-a/'", Critical-Theory.com, May 26 2014; square brackets and lack of accent marks as in orginal

Amir Taheri photo
Anthony Burgess photo

“…workmen who wanted (a) the white man out…,(c) sinecures”

Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) English writer

Fiction, Devil of a State (1961)

“What makes a good writer of history is a guy who is suspicious. Suspicion marks the real difference between the man who wants to write honest history and the one who'd rather write a good story.”

Jim Bishop (1907–1987) American journalist and author

As quoted by Lewis Nichols http://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/30/obituaries/lewis-nichols-times-drama-critic-during-world-war-ii-dead-at-78.html in "Talk With Jim Bishop" http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F03EEDE133AE53BBC4E53DFB466838E649EDE, The New York Times (6 February 1955).

Frederick Douglass photo

“What he wanted was to make his proclamation as effective as possible in the event of such a peace. He said, in a regretful tone, 'The slaves are not coming so rapidly and so numerously to us as I had hoped'. I replied that the slaveholders knew how to keep such things from their slaves, and probably very few knew of his proclamation. 'Well', he said, 'I want you to set about devising some means of making them acquainted with it, and for bringing them into our lines'. He spoke with great earnestness and much solicitude, and seemed troubled by the attitude of Mr. Greeley, and the growing impatience there was being manifested through the North at the war. He said he was being accused of protracting the war beyond its legitimate object, and of failing to make peace when he might have done so to advantage. He was afraid of what might come of all these complaints, but was persuaded that no solid and lasting peace could come short of absolute submission on the part of the rebels, and he was not for giving them rest by futile conferences at Niagara Falls, or elsewhere, with unauthorized persons. He saw the danger of premature peace, and, like a thoughtful and sagacious man as he was, he wished to provide means of rendering such consummation as harmless as possible. I was the more impressed by this benevolent consideration because he before said, in answer to the peace clamor, that his object was to save the Union, and to do so with or without slavery. What he said on this day showed a deeper moral conviction against slavery than I had ever seen before in anything spoken or written by him. I listened with the deepest interest and profoundest satisfaction, and, at his suggestion, agreed to undertake the organizing a band of scouts, composed of colored men, whose business should be somewhat after the original plan of John Brown, to go into the rebel States, beyond the lines of our armies, and carry the news of emancipation, and urge the slaves to come within our boundaries.”

Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman

Source: 1880s, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass (1881), pp. 434–435.