170 Wishful Quotes

Following is our list of wishful quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about wishful thoughts.

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Famous Wishful Quotes

Wishful thinking is not sound public policy. — Bjorn Lomborg

Stop the habit of wishful thinking and start the habit of thoughtful wishes. — Mary Martin

Our minds sometimes see what our hearts wish were true. — Dan Brown

Someday I'll wish upon a star. - Yip Harburg

Someday I'll wish upon a star. — Yip Harburg

Hope is a waking dream. - Aristotle

Hope is a waking dream. — Aristotle

I believe in wishes and in a person's ability to make a wish come true, I really do. And a wish is more than a wish.. it's a goal that your conscience and subconscience can help make reality. — Michael Jackson

Wish' is the most powerful thing in the world. Higher than God. — G. I. Gurdjieff

Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. — Gloria Steinem

But wishes are only granted in fairy tales. — Simone Elkeles

Dreams do come true, if we only wish hard enough. — James M. Barrie

A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're fast asleep. — Walt Disney

Between the wish and the thing the world lies waiting. — Cormac McCarthy

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. - Eleanor Roosevelt

It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. — Eleanor Roosevelt

What we wish, we readily believe, and what we ourselves think, we imagine others think also. — Julius Caesar

A hope beyond the shadow of a dream. — John Keats

Short Wishful Quotes

  • A year from now you may wish you had started today. — Karen Lamb
  • I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately. — Henry David Thoreau
  • Physical fitness can neither be acquired by wishful thinking nor by outright purchase. — Joseph Pilates
  • Don't wish it were easier, wish you were better. — Jim Rohn
  • I wish I could show you...the astonishing light of your own being. — Hafez
  • People who wish to be offended will always find some occasion for taking offense. — John Wesley
  • He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own. — Confucius
  • You must be the change you wish to see in the world. — Mahatma Gandhi
  • I wish it to be remembered that I was the last man of my tribe to surrender my rifle. — Sitting Bull
  • I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it. — Estee Lauder

Wishful Image Quotes

Wishful quote Some days I wish I could go back in life. Not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice.
Some days I wish I could go back in life. Not to change anything, but to feel a few things twice.
I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored. - David Attenborough quote

I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored. — David Attenborough

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley quote

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. — Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. - Mary Wollstonecraft quote

I do not wish women to have power over men; but over themselves. — Mary Wollstonecraft

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. - Erica Jong quote

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't. — Erica Jong

Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes. - Washington Irving quote

Great minds have purposes, little minds have wishes. — Washington Irving

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. - Washington Irving quote

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes. — Washington Irving

We all wish we had super powers. We all wish we could do more than we can do. - Stan Lee quote

We all wish we had super powers. We all wish we could do more than we can do. — Stan Lee

When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed. - Marilyn Manson quote

When all of your wishes are granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed. — Marilyn Manson

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. - Chinese Proverbs quote

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words. — Chinese Proverbs

Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it. - W. W. Jacobs quote

Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it. — W. W. Jacobs

The beautiful is that which we cannot wish to change. - Simone Weil quote

The beautiful is that which we cannot wish to change. — Simone Weil

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified. - Aesop quote

We would often be sorry if our wishes were gratified. — Aesop

You get whatever you expect to get. The only question is. What do you want? - Mark Victor Hansen quote

You get whatever you expect to get. The only question is. What do you want? — Mark Victor Hansen

May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live. - Robert A. Heinlein quote

May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live. — Robert A. Heinlein

I can die when I wish to: that is my elixir of life. - Ernest Renan quote

I can die when I wish to: that is my elixir of life. — Ernest Renan

If you wish to seduce an angel, you must play the part of a devil. - Eliphas Levi quote

If you wish to seduce an angel, you must play the part of a devil. — Eliphas Levi

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all. - Seneca The Elder quote

Death is the wish of some, the relief of many, and the end of all. — Seneca The Elder

I would not wish any companion in the world but you. - William Shakespeare quote

I would not wish any companion in the world but you. — William Shakespeare

Top of my wish list is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper. - Joe Hart quote

Top of my wish list is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper. — Joe Hart

Apparently, the world is not a wish granting factory. - Ansel Elgort quote

Apparently, the world is not a wish granting factory. — Ansel Elgort

Wishful quote Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either: "I wish I had" or "I'm glad I
Spend time with those you love. One of these days you will say either: "I wish I had" or "I'm glad I did".

Wishful Drinking Quotes

After the first glass, you see things as you wish they were. After the second, you see things as they are not. Finally, you see things as they really are, and that is the most horrible thing in the world. — Oscar Wilde

I wish to live to 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. — Ava Gardner

I am your fairy tale. Your dream. Your wishes and desires, and I am your thirst and your hunger and your food and your drink. — Klaus Kinski

Wishful quote Sometimes you wish it was easier, but if it was, everyone else would do it, then you remember you do
Sometimes you wish it was easier, but if it was, everyone else would do it, then you remember you don't want to be like everyone else.

They say "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink." In the Marine Corps, you can make that horse wish to hell he had. — Fred Larson

Some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age. — C. E. M. Joad

Comics speak, without qualm or sophistication, to the innermost ears of the wishful self. The response is like that of a thirsty traveler who suddenly finds water in the desert - he drinks to satiation. — William Moulton Marston

Wishful quote Fight me if you wish, but remember I am old for a reason.
Fight me if you wish, but remember I am old for a reason.

If we wish to quench our thirst, we must lay aside books which explain thirst and take a drink. — Jean-Pierre de Caussade

I have been in many beautiful places, and did not wish to taste, but to drink deep. — Everett Ruess

Self knowers always dwell in El Dorado; they drink from the fountain of youth, and at all times owners of all they wish to enjoy. — Claude M. Bristol

I don't drink much anymore, because it's supposedly not good for me. I still have gallons of it around though. I smell the cork and do a lot of wishing. — Anton Szandor LaVey

Wishful Thoughts Quotes

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. — Henry David Thoreau

My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness. — Maya Angelou

I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness. - Frederic Chopin

I wish I could throw off the thoughts which poison my happiness. — Frederic Chopin

Wishful quote Give away what you most wish to receive.
Give away what you most wish to receive.

When someone hurts you, your first thought may be to wish you had never met them at all. But remember that even those who've hurt you, came into your life for a reason, and left for a reason. It’s for the best and healing starts with acceptance. — Yasmin Mogahed

Be much alone with God, and take time to get thoroughly acquainted. Converse over everything with Him. Unburden yourself wholly -every thought, feeling, wish, plan, doubt- to Him...He wants not merely to be on good terms with you, but to be intimate. — Horatius Bonar

If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Wishful quote A goal without a plan is just a wish.
A goal without a plan is just a wish.

The devil doesn't come dressed in a red cape and pointy horns. He comes as everything you've ever wished for. — Tucker Max

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. — Henry David Thoreau

To all those who have suffered as a consequence of our troubled past I extend my sincere thoughts and deep sympathy. With the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all. — Elizabeth II

All physical systems can be thought of as registering and processing information, and how one wishes to define computation will determine your view of what computation consists of. — Seth Lloyd

Wish You Quotes

If you wish to leave much wealth to your children, leave them in God's care. Do not leave them riches, but virtue and skill. For if they learn to expect riches, they will not mind anything besides, and their abundant riches shall give them the means of screening the wickedness of their ways. — Saint John Chrysostom

I don't do regrets. Regrets are pointless. It's too late for regrets. You've already done it, haven't you? You've lived your life. No point wishing you could change it. — Lemmy Kilmister

If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man ... just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he's a good man. — Fyodor Dostoevsky

Wishful quote Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.
Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it ... what you wish in your secret heart were not funny, but it is, and you must laugh. Humor is your own unconscious therapy. Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air, and you. — Langston Hughes

Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it. — Rainer Maria Rilke

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself. - Blaise Pascal

Do you wish people to think well of you? Don't speak well of yourself. — Blaise Pascal

Wishful quote Those who wish to sing... always find a song.
Those who wish to sing... always find a song.

If you wish to know God, you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive His power, you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word. — Charles Spurgeon

If you wish to check how much you love Allah, then see how much your heart loves the Quran, and you will know the answer. — Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya

I wish you music to help with the burdens of life ,and to help you release your happiness to others. — Ludwig van Beethoven

The spirit of complaint is born out of an unwillingness to trust God with today. Like the Israelites, it means you are spending your time looking back toward Egypt or wishing for the future all the while missing what God is doing right now. — Priscilla Shirer

My Wish Quotes

Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South, I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native State? — Robert E. Lee

If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place. He put in your heart certain wishes and plans, and in my heart he put other and different desires. It is not necessary for eagles to be crows. — Sitting Bull

Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician. — Dorothy Parker

Wishful quote Find someone who will:
Find someone who will:

I wish I could live underwater. Maybe then my skin would absorb the sea’s consoling silence. — Cristina Garcia

As an artist I have always tried to be faithful to my vision of life, and I have frequently been in conflict with those who wanted me to paint not what I saw but what they wished me to see. — Diego Rivera

Colombians! My last wish is for the happiness of the patria. If my death contributes to the end of partisanship and the consolidation of the union, I shall be lowered in peace into my grave. — Simon Bolivar

Wishful quote Never wish life were easier, wish that you were better.
Never wish life were easier, wish that you were better.

I could only achieve success in my life through self-discipline, and I applied it until my wish and my will became one. — Nikola Tesla

All these non-singing, non-dancing, wish-I-had-me-some-clothes fools who tell me my albums suck. Why should I pay any attention to them? — Prince

I wish I could remember where I put things. I spend half my life looking for my keys. With the other half I look for my glasses. — Sara Paretsky

My weaknesses... I wish I could come up with something. I'd probably have the same pause if you asked me what my strengths are. Maybe they're the same thing. — Al Pacino

Wishful Thinking Quotes

I look into eyes, shake their hand, pat their back, and wish them luck, but I am thinking, I am going to bury you. — Seve Ballesteros

Whether or not you reach your goals in life depends entirely on how well you prepare for them and how badly you want them. — Ronald McNair

A lot of people don't realize that depression is an illness. I don't wish it on anyone, but if they would know how it feels, I swear they would think twice before they just shrug it. — Jonathan Davis

Wishful quote Some see a weed, some see a wish.
Some see a weed, some see a wish.

The interesting adults are always the school failures, the weird ones, the losers, the malcontents, this isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the rule. — A. A. Gill

Don't think your dreams don't come true, because they do. You'd better be careful what you wish for. And I truly and honestly - one day I am doing the 'Beaver' show and I said, 'This is the show I have always wanted to do.' — Barbara Billingsley

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. — C. S. Lewis

I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking. — Franklin D. Roosevelt

My military service is the thing I'm most proud of, but when I think of everything happening in the Middle East, I can't help but tell myself I wish we would have achieved some sort of lasting victory. No one touched that subject before Trump, especially not in the Republican Party. — James David Vance

J’aurais dû être plus gentille—I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret. You will never say to yourself when you are old, Ah, I wish I was not good to that person. You will never think that. — Khaled Hosseini

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? — Bob Hope

Wish Quotes

Women wish to be loved not because they are pretty, or good, or well bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves. — Henri Frederic Amiel

Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. — Plato

Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts which simply do not make evolutionary sense. — Richard Dawkins

If someone wishes for good health, one must first ask oneself if he is ready to do away with the reasons for his illness. Only then is it possible to help him. — Hippocrates

The most important thing in life is to stop saying 'I wish' and start saying 'I will.' Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities. — Charles Dickens

If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother. — Maximilian Kolbe

If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well, we must manifest our joy in the service we render to Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is joy which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing. — Katharine Drexel

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. — Henry David Thoreau

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and others make it happen.  — Michael Jordan

All the smart money got they bets on me / And all the real niggas wish the best for me — Nipsey Hussle

Good Wishes Quotes

Young artists wish for inspired moments. And you find them; you take them; eager artists are bandits. Theatrical moments arrive, and...you grab. Good! You know it will draw attention to you. But you aim to be more than bandits, no? So, okay...now be Samurai. — Jerzy Grotowski

I wish they'd had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days. A whole lot of things would've been straightened out. — Jimi Hendrix

"The true essence of humankind is kindness. There are other qualities which come from education or knowledge, but it is essential, if one wishes to be a genuine human being and impart satisfying meaning to one's existence, to have a good heart." — Dalai Lama

Ambition, as that passion is generally understood,- a strong desire to rise above others, to occupy the first place, - formed no part of Lafayette's character. In him the passion was nothing more than a constant and irresistible wish to do good. — Marquis de Lafayette

All you have to do is unite, mentally and emotionally with the good you wish to embody. The creative powers of your subconscious will respond accordingly. — Joseph Murphy

Women wish to be loved without a why or a wherefore; not because they are pretty, or good, or well-bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves. — Henri Frederic Amiel

That's what hell must be like, small chat to the babbling of Lethe about the good old days when we wished we were dead. — Samuel Beckett

Our forces saved the remnants of the Jewish people of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn land of Israel. Along with all men of good will, I salute the young state and wish it well. — Dwight D. Eisenhower

To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To you, respect. — Oren Arnold

I wish I could go to the school where my close friends go, but I obviously can't. The good thing is, they're really good about inviting me to all the football games and all that stuff. So I end up having an adopted team spirit for a school I don't go to. — David Gallagher

Well Wishes Quotes

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty. — John F. Kennedy

My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake. - Aristotle

My best friend is the man who in wishing me well wishes it for my sake. — Aristotle

You can search the world over and you will find no one who is more deserving of your kindness and well wishing than you yourself. — Buddha

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well. — Lewis B. Smedes

The Church is not a monastery for the isolation of perfect people. It is more like a hospital provided for those who wish to get well. — Jeffrey R. Holland

No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might look, it will not make anyone wish for death. — African Proverbs

Please pray & wish me well (in hearing session). All I want is to clear my name and return to the badminton. — Lee Chong Wei

What's "God"? Well, you know, when you want something really bad and you close your eyes and you wish for it? God's the guy that ignores you. — Steve Buscemi

We all wish for world peace, but world peace will never be achieved unless we first establish peace within our own minds. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

I guess we'd be living in a boring, perfect world if everybody wished everybody else well. — Jennifer Aniston

Make A Wish Quotes

To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other. — Carlos Castaneda

Today, as we wish each other a Happy New Year, let us determine to be more sincere, compassionate, warm-hearted human beings, trying to make our world a more equal place. That way we'll actually make it a happy year. — Dalai Lama

Be The Peace You Wish To See In The World! — Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you wish to know what a man is, make him king. — Icelandic Proverbs

I'd make a White Stripes record right now. I'd be in the White Stripes for the rest of my life. That band is the most challenging, important, fulfilling thing ever to happen to me. I wish it was still here. It's something I really, really miss. — Jack White

I like cinnamon rolls, but I don't always have time to make a pan. That's why I wish they would sell cinnamon roll incense. After all I'd rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes. — Mitch Hedberg

Much as we may wish to make a new beginning, some part of us resists doing so as though we were making the first step toward disaster. — William Bridges

I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means - except by getting off his back. — Leo Tolstoy

A little smile, a word of cheer, A bit of love from someone near, A little gift from one held dear, Best wishes for the coming year. These make a merry christmas! — John Greenleaf Whittier

I wish I could've lived my life without making any wrong turns. But that's impossible. A path like that doesn't exist. We fail. We trip. We get lost. We make mistakes. And little by little, one step at a time, we push forward. It's all we can do. On our own two feet. — Natsuki Takaya

Wistful Quotes

Nothing is more wistful than the scent of lilac, nor more robust than its woody stalk, for we must remember that it is a tree as well as a flower, we must try not to forget this. — Stevie Smith

Sometimes I find myself thinking, rather wistfully, about Lao Tzu's famous dictum: 'Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish.' All around me I see something very different, let us say - a number of angry dwarfs trying to grill a whale. — William Carlos Williams

I sometimes look into the face of my dog Stan and see a wistful sadness and existential angst, when all he is actually doing is slowly scanning the ceiling for flies. — Merrill Markoe

The dance grew into a colorful flower bouquet which caught and contained the glow of sun-happy summer days, the secret of star-studded nights, and the wistful sweetness of overcast and rainy hours. — Mary Wigman

Soon or late, every dog's master's memory becomes a graveyard; peopled by wistful little furry ghosts that creep back unbidden, at times, to a semblance of their olden lives. — Albert Payson Terhune

That vision of a common culture is now simply a remote wistfulness. — Dennis Potter

I just sit here and tell the story as though I can't help it. There's always something in the day that reminds me, that sets me off all hot and guilty and scared and rambling and wistful, like I am now. — Tim Winton

Intelligent and alert, wistful but enthusiastic, frank yet tactful, assured without conceit and tender without sentimentality. — Cecil Beaton

I had not thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that springs beneath you feet In wistful April days. — Alice Dunbar Nelson

I never saw a man who looked with such a wistful eye upon that little tent of blue which prisoners call the sky. — Oscar Wilde

People Writing About Wishful

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Bjorn Lomborg

Bjorn Lomborg
quotes on climate change, climate and education

27 213
Read quotes by Mary Martin

Mary Martin

18 97
Read quotes by Dan Brown

Dan Brown

226 997
Read quotes by Yip Harburg

Yip Harburg
quotes on education, life and love

43 575
Read quotes by Aristotle

Aristotle
quotes on life, love and success

1252 18854
Read quotes by Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson
quotes on music, life and dance

496 3985

More Wishful Quotes

Whatever with the past has gone, The best is always yet to come. - Lucy Larcom quote

Whatever with the past has gone, The best is always yet to come. — Lucy Larcom

All I want for my birthday is another birthday. - Ian Dury quote

All I want for my birthday is another birthday. — Ian Dury

A goal without a plan is just a wish. - Larry Elder quote

A goal without a plan is just a wish. — Larry Elder

He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. - Niccolo Machiavelli quote

He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. — Niccolo Machiavelli

I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom. - Simone de Beauvoir quote

I wish that every human life might be pure transparent freedom. — Simone de Beauvoir

But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there. - Lasse Hallstrom quote

But now I wish I could back to Stockholm to make international films there. — Lasse Hallstrom

Long ago I learned nothing gets done by just wishing it. You have to do it. - Louis L'Amour quote

Long ago I learned nothing gets done by just wishing it. You have to do it. — Louis L'Amour

Man is free at the instant he wants to be. - Voltaire quote

Man is free at the instant he wants to be. — Voltaire

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more. - Charles Lamb quote

My motto is: Contented with little, yet wishing for more. — Charles Lamb

When you love someone all your saved-up wishes start coming out. - Elizabeth Bowen quote

When you love someone all your saved-up wishes start coming out. — Elizabeth Bowen

If souls could be mated with wishes, ours would be inextricably entwined. - Sylvia Day quote

If souls could be mated with wishes, ours would be inextricably entwined. — Sylvia Day

When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out. - Elizabeth Bowen quote

When you love someone all your saved up wishes start coming out. — Elizabeth Bowen

I wish to God that Apple and Google were partners in the future. - Steve Wozniak quote

I wish to God that Apple and Google were partners in the future. — Steve Wozniak

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