Quotes about wish
page 38

Seneca the Younger photo

“He who does not wish to die cannot have wished to live.”

Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius), Letter XXX: On conquering the conqueror

Skee-Lo photo
Joachim von Ribbentrop photo

“God protect Germany. God have mercy on my soul. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of peace, there should be an understanding between East and West. I wish peace to the world.”

Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893–1946) German general

Last words as quoted in The Execution of Nazi War Criminals (1946) by Kingsbury Smith of the International News Service

David Trimble photo
Muhammad al-Taqi photo

“Do not anticipate matters before their time that you may regret. Do not live just with wishes that your hearts may be hard. Be merciful to the weak and ask for mercy from God by being merciful yourselves!”

Muhammad al-Taqi (811–835) ninth of the Twelve Imams of Twelver Shi'ism

[Baqir Sharīf al-Qurashi, The life of Imam Muhammad al-Jawad, Wonderful Maxims and Arts, 2005]

Osamu Tezuka photo

“I wish that all the ills of society - conformism, laziness, indolence, betrayal, violence, lust, rape - and especially the evils of politics will be represented in the form of an absolute depravity.”

From the Afterword to April 1978 MW , vol. 3, translation by Francesco Nicodemus, Hazard Editions, Milan, 2005, p. 193. ISBN 887502037X

Bronisław Komorowski photo

“The wish for freedom is contagious, that's why all tyrants fear it. Freedom seen from close up inspires human strivings. Its triumphant march began in Poland.”

Bronisław Komorowski (1952) Polish politician, president of Poland

"President: National tradition source of our strength" https://www.prezydent.pl/en/president-komorowski/news/art,640,president-national-tradition-source-of-our-strength.html (4 June 2014)

“Idle wishing for circumstances different from what you had was a waste of time.”

Source: The Heritage Universe, Resurgence (2002), Chapter 20, “Tally on Down” (p. 245)

Maximilien Robespierre photo
Example (musician) photo

“I scribble on oak trees
Pretty please you can sing
my syllables credible
My cordon bleu sonnets
you just wishing they edible”

Example (musician) (1982) English rapper and singer

"So Many Roads" (song)
("So Many Roads" - video on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IbYJoWrOIg
(+ Lyrics version of "So Many Roads" on YouTube) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBUt6gyNgQI
Studio albums, What We Made (2007)

“Admonish your wives with kindness, because woman were created from a crooked bone of the side; therefore, if you wish to straighten it, you will break it, and if you let it alone, it will always be crooked."”

Thomas Hughes (priest) (1838–1911) British missionary

Muhammad's teaching on wives, as given in the Traditions. Quoted from T.P. Hughes: Dictionary of Islam.
Dictionary of Islam

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Marcelo H. del Pilar photo

“I have not stopped wishing for the renewal of our former ties, for I believe that slight differences in procedure are not enough to destroy our common principles, purposes, and feelings.”

Marcelo H. del Pilar (1850–1896) Filipino writer, lawyer, and journalist (1850-1896)

Marcelo H. del Pilar to José Rizal (20 July 1892)

Frithjof Schuon photo
Benjamin Creme photo

“He comes for all people, religious and non-religious alike. He wishes only to be called "the Teacher' because that's what He is.”

Benjamin Creme (1922–2016) artist, author, esotericist

The State of the World 2010, public lecture in New York City, USA, (July 2010)

“Then you have no more wish to rule? The country needs you now more than ever.”

She shook her head. “I’ve been crushed under the weight of power all my life. I think I’m going to enjoy missing it.” She laughed at the lightness with which she dismissed royal power. Every moment was a surprise, these days. She hoped that that feeling would never end.
Source: Ventus (2000), Chapter 45 (p. 655)

Greg McKeown (author) photo
Al-Mutanabbi photo

“One does not attain everything he wishes for.
Winds blow counter to what the ships desire.”

Al-Mutanabbi (915–965) Arabic poet from the Abbasid era

From the poem Bima At-Taʿallulu http://www.almotanabbi.com/poemPage.do?poemId=272

Gregory Palamas photo

“How can someone have the freedom to choose and the power to act freely, unless he were able to be evil, should he so wish?”

Gregory Palamas (1296–1359) Monk and archbishop

Predestination? On Why God Made Those Who Would Perish

Nancy Pelosi photo

“I'll let you know as soon as I wish to.”

Nancy Pelosi (1940) American politician, first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, born 1940

Source: Pelosi tells Democratic leaders she wants House votes on infrastructure bills this week https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pelosi-tells-democratic-leaders-house-votes-infrastructure-bills/story?id=80971904" (November4, 2021)

Leopold II of Belgium photo

“On the occasion of my 65th birthday, I wish to hand over to the State my properties that contribute to the attractiveness and beauty of the places where they are located.”

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

Source: Immo Royal, In Belgium you can find more than 7,500 hectares of royal real estate. Journalists conducted an in-depth investigation into the patrimony of the Royal Donation for the first time in 90 years. https://www.koningshuizen.be/ King Leopold II in a letter to the Minister of Finance on April 9, 1900, in honor of his 65th birthday.

Wojciech Jaruzelski photo
William Cowper photo

“My friends, do they now and then send
A wish or a thought after me?
O tell me I yet have a friend,
Though a friend I am never to see.”

William Cowper (1731–1800) (1731–1800) English poet and hymnodist

Source: Verses supposed to be written by Alexander Selkirk (1782), Line 37

James Madison photo

“The United States while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none, it being a principle incorporated into the settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, so war is better than tribute.”

James Madison (1751–1836) 4th president of the United States (1809 to 1817)

A paraphrased variant of this seems to have arisen on the internet around 2007: It is ... a settled policy of America, that as peace is better than war, war is better than tribute. The United States, while they wish for war with no nation, will buy peace with none.
1810s
Source: Message delivered to Dey Omar Agha, by Isaac Chauncey and William Shaler , summarizing the Treaty with Algiers (1815) http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/bar1815t.asp, and U.S attitudes and actions in the Barbary Wars, in refusing to pay ransom or tribute to pirates of the Barbary States, as quoted in History and Present Condition of Tripoli: With Some Accounts of the Other Barbary States http://books.google.com/books?id=YMwRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA46 (1835) by Robert Greenhow, p. 46

William Gibson photo

“I wish I had a book.”

There were a few expensively bound and weirdly neutered bookazines here, but he knew from glancing through them that these were bland advertisements for being wealthy, wealthy and deeply, witheringly unimaginative.
Reading, his therapist had suggested, had likely been his first drug.
Source: Blue Ant trilogy, Zero History (2010), Chapter 18, "140" (Milgrim in London)

Viktor Yanukovych photo

“If to cast aside spread by our opponents' nonsense, I’ll use chess-players phrase: we have sacrificed quantity to quality and showed such respect to our partners and readiness to properly account for their interests which others neither could or wished to reveal.”

Viktor Yanukovych (1950) Ukrainian politician who was the President of Ukraine

Source: "Speech by Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych at the International conference "Ukraine and European Union: new approaches"" http://old.kmu.gov.ua/kmu/control/en/publish/article?art_id=69148733&cat_id=244315174 (28 February 2007)

Michael Moorcock photo

“It becomes so easy to believe what one wishes to believe.”

Source: Book 2, Chapter 2 “The Castle Built of Blood” (p. 320), Corum, The King of the Swords (1971)

Daniel Berrigan photo

“I do not wish to begin by “taking sides”; nor indeed to end by “taking sides.””

Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016) American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet

Responses to Settler Regimes
Context: I am sick of “sides”; which is to say, I am sick of war; of wars hot and cold; and all their approximations and metaphors and deceits and ideological ruses. I am sick of the betrayal of the mind and the failure of compassion and the neglect of the poor. I am sick of foreign ministers and all their works and pomps. I am sick of torture and secret police and the apparatus of fascists and the rhetoric of leftists. Like Lazarus, staggering from his grave, or the ghost of Trotsky I can only groan: “We have had enough of that, we have been through all that.”

Abu Sa'id Abu'l-Khayr photo
Clifford D. Simak photo
Ben Aaronovitch photo
Naruhito photo

“I pledge hereby that I shall act according to the Constitution and fulfill my responsibility as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people of Japan, while always wishing for the happiness of the people and the peace of the world, turning my thoughts to the people and standing by them.”

Naruhito (1960) Emperor of Japan since 2019

Source: "Naruhito: Japan’s emperor formally proclaims enthronement in centuries-old ceremony" in CNN https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/asia/japan-enthronement-emperor-intl-hnk/index.html (22 October 2019)

Charles Bukowski photo

“the words have come and gone,
I sit ill.
the phone rings, the cats sleep.
Linda vacuums.
I am waiting to live,
waiting to die.
I wish I could ring in some bravery.
it's a lousy fix”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories (1996), Lines from "So now?" - p.402 (circa 1994. He died in March 1994, aged 73.)

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor photo
Olaf Scholz photo

“Most of the citizens of this country certainly wished that the next health minister would be a specialist, really good at what he does, and that his name would be Karl Lauterbach — and it will be.”

Olaf Scholz (1958) German politician, federal minister of finance and vice chancellor

Source: Olaf Scholz cited in: " Epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach to be German health minister https://www.politico.eu/article/epidemiologist-karl-lauterbach-germany-health-minister-olaf-scholz/" in Politico, 6 December 2021.

Ulisses Correia e Silva photo

“We seek greater integration of markets, trade, connectivity, private investments and tourism. Cape Verde wishes to position itself as an air and digital hub in Africa and integrate regional value chains in trade and industry.”

Ulisses Correia e Silva (1962) Cape Verdean politician

Source: Ulisses Correia e Silva (2021) cited in " Cape Verde Prime Minister presents first resident Nigerian ambassador to ECOWAS Commission https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/11/cape-verde-prime-minister-presents-first-resident-nigerian-ambassador-to-ecowas-commission/" on Vanguard, 21 November 2021.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor photo
Dolly Parton photo
Gilbert O'Sullivan photo

“Ooh, baby, your love is so bad
You, baby, you're driving me mad
Ooh, baby, your kiss is so sweet
You, baby, knock me off my feet
Ooh, baby, I wish you were mine
Ooh, baby, we'd have a good time
Ooh, what can I do?”

Gilbert O'Sullivan (1946) Irish singer-songwriter

"Ooh, Baby" (song)
Gilbert O'Sullivan, "Ooh, Baby" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsVmA742FE (song on YouTube)
Song lyrics

Cristina Lizardo photo

“I wish to say that the right to life is not a religious question, but rather a moral and juridical one, and that is a commandment from God.”

Cristina Lizardo (1959) Dominican Republic academic

Source: Dominicans rally against abortion https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/10559/dominicans-rally-against-abortion (3 October 2007)

Winston S. Churchill photo

“No one in England has ever wished to prevent the fullest expression of Scottish or Welsh traditions and customs. Indeed, their manifestation is regarded with pleasure and pride by the English people. We have reaped great advantages from this tolerant mood.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Source: 'Yugoslavia and Europe' (29 October 1937), quoted in Winston Churchill, Step by Step, 1936–1939 (1939; 1947), p. 169

Benjamin Disraeli photo
Edgar Guest photo
Prevale photo

“Every day, I wish I could give you the best part of me.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Ogni giorno, vorrei poterti donare la parte migliore di me.
Source: prevale.net

Eminem photo
A. J. Muste photo
Annie Proulx photo

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”

Source: Brokeback Mountain

Rollo May photo
Amartya Sen photo
Choekyi Gyaltsen photo

“Tibetans are the legitimate masters of Tibet. The wishes and feelings of the people of Tibet must be respected.”

Choekyi Gyaltsen (1938–1989) 10th Panchen Lama of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism

The Panchen Lama’s warning to China (1987) (excerpts)

Jordan Peterson photo
Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel photo

“There are different cultures, different ways of thinking, different ways of living the faith and of evangelizing, but we wish to love each other as brothers and sisters, respecting our legitimate differences, and valuing each other as gifts for the Church.”

Felipe Arizmendi Esquivel (1940) Mexican bishop

Celibacy is precious gift that not everyone understands, says Mexican bishop https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/259/celibacy-is-precious-gift-that-not-everyone-understands-says-mexican-bishop (25 November 2003)

George Pólya photo

“People tell you that wishful thinking is bad. Do not believe it, this is just one of those generally accepted errors.”

George Pólya (1887–1985) Hungarian mathematician

Source: Mathematical Discovery (Volume 1), p. 6

Beiwen Zhang photo

“I’m just wishing I can play with higher-level players, so I can get used to that speed and focus while training at that speed. If I get used to playing with slower players, mentally it’s not pushing my limit.”

Beiwen Zhang (1990) badminton player

"Beiwen Zhang – Adapting To Every Challenge" in Badminton Pan America http://www.badmintonpanam.org/beiwen-zhang-adapting-to-every-challenge/ (15 December 2020)

J.C. Ryle photo

“A converted man will not wish to go to heaven alone.”

J.C. Ryle (1816–1900) Anglican bishop

Vol. I, Luke V: 27–32, p. 150
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: St. Luke (1858–1859)

Neville Chamberlain photo

“We have to kill one another just to satisfy that accursed madman. I wish he could burn in Hell for as many years as he is costing lives.”

Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Statement (15 October 1939), quoted in Keith Feiling, Neville Chamberlain (1946; 1970), p. 419
Prime Minister

Bob Dylan photo

“But whatever you wish to keep, You better grab it fast.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Bringing It All Back Home (1965), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Antonio Dorado Soto photo

“We cannot renounce our faith and not give a reason for it to those who wish to hear us. We need not hide our faith in Jesus Christ out of fear, nor should we keep quiet when there is an opportunity to bear witness to it.”

Antonio Dorado Soto (1931–2015) Spanish bishop

Bishop tells Spanish Catholics not to fear “psychological torture” (15 June 2005), Catholic News Agency https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/4164/bishop-tells-spanish-catholics-not-to-fear-psychological-torture

Emily Brontë photo
Thomas Carlyle photo

“America's battle is yet to fight; and we, sorrowful though nothing doubting, will wish her strength for it.”

1850s, Latter-Day Pamphlets (1850), The Present Time (February 1, 1850)

Bill Maher photo
Prevale photo

“I wish I could be next to you stroking your hair, warning the scent of your skin and looking into your eyes, sweetly bite your lips.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Vorrei poter essere accanto a te accarezzandoti i capelli, avvertendo il profumo della tua pelle e guardandoti negli occhi, mordere dolcemente le tue labbra.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“I wish I could be the most beautiful smile that gives light to your face at my thought alone.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Vorrei poter essere il sorriso più bello che dona luce al tuo volto al solo mio pensiero.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“I wish I could be your forbidden sin, your favourite.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Vorrei poter essere il tuo peccato proibito, il tuo preferito.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“I wish I could give you my eyes so that I could show you your superlative beauty, your intriguing charm, your inimitable personality, your sympathy and your remarkable and constant courage.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Vorrei poterti donare i miei occhi per mostrarti la tua superlativa bellezza, il tuo intrigante fascino, la tua inimitabile personalità, la tua simpatia ed il tuo notevole e costante coraggio.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“I remember when I wished I could do what I can do now.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: Ricordo quando avrei voluto fare quello che ora posso fare.
Source: prevale.net