Sayings about Wants and Wanting
No better masters than poverty and want. ~ Dutch Proverb
When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee’s house some day. ~ Congolese Proverb
I’m talking to the door, but I want the walls to hear me. ~ Afghan Proverb
The bird that escapes from its cage never wants to come back. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
Nothing so visible than what you want to hide. ~ Japanese Proverb
To want to forget something is to remember it. ~ French Proverb
Waiting is futile for whomever wants to kiss someone’s backside. ~ Basque Proverb
More than we use is more than we want. ~ Gaelic Proverb
He who wants to tell the truth will always stand before closed doors. ~ Danish Proverb
Everyone wants to live long, but no one wants to be called old. ~ Icelandic Proverb
Look down if you want to know how tall you are. ~ Yiddish Proverb
Offer the lazy man an egg, and he’ll want you to peel it for him. ~ Lithuanian Proverb
He who dispraises a thing wants to buy it. ~ French Proverb
Who wants heat, must endure the smoke. ~ Russian Proverb
Treat the small in the way you would want to be treated by the big. ~ Spanish Proverb
Eating and scratching want but a beginning. ~ Romanian Proverb
If they had cereal, they’d want gumbo. ~ Haitian Proverb
They who want to sing will always find a song. ~ Swedish Proverb
If you want to keep camels, have a big enough door. ~ Afghan Proverb
For age and want save while you may, no morning sun lasts a whole day. ~ United States Proverb
He who wants what God wants of him will lead a free and happy life. ~ Japanese Proverb
He who wants to bring home the riches of India, he must have them within himself. ~ Spanish Proverb
When a slave mounts a camel he wants to ride on both humps. ~ Egyptian Proverb
The covetous person is always in want. ~ Irish Proverb
There is no worse devil than a farmer who wants to be a gentleman. ~ Lithuanian Proverb
Take all you want; eat all you take. ~ German Proverb
You must live with a person to know a person. If you want to know me come and live with me. ~ Irish Proverb
He who wants to be happy must stay at home. ~ Greek Proverb
If you want an audience, start a fight. ~ Chinese Proverb
Do today what you want to postpone until tomorrow. ~ Lebanese Proverb
If God wants people to suffer, he sends them too much understanding. ~ Yiddish Proverb
If you want to drown yourself, don’t torture yourself with shallow water. ~ Bulgarian Proverb
I am dead. It is as if everybody were dead. Let the man left behind shut the door if he wants to. ~ Maltese Proverb
If you want to sweep the steps clean, start at the top. ~ Romanian Proverb
You must scale the mountain if you want to view the plain. ~ Chinese Proverb
When God wants to punish an idiot, He teaches them a few words of Hebrew. ~ Yiddish Proverb
Want is the mother of industry. ~ Traditional Proverb
He who wants to do a good jump must sometimes take a step back. ~ German Proverb
He who wants a fire must be able to bear smoke. ~ German Proverb
Pray, pray very much; but beware of telling God what you want. ~ French Proverb
If you want to annoy the devil stay silent. ~ Bulgarian Proverb
With nice appearance people want to be deceived. ~ German Proverb
Old foxes want no tutor. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
A man finds many faults in a woman when he wants to divorce, and finds many charms in one’s fianc6e. ~ Malagasy Proverb
Waste not, want not. ~ Traditional Proverb
If you have figs in your knapsack, everyone will want to be your friend. ~ Albanian Proverb
He who wants to eat honey should endure the stings. ~ Lebanese Proverb
If you want a thing well done, do it yourself. ~ Traditional Proverb
It is no good going to the river just wanting to catch a fish; you have to take a net as well. ~ Chinese Proverb
The frog wanted to be an ox and swelled up until he burst. ~ Greek Proverb
No matter how full the river, it still wants to swell more. ~ Congolese Proverb
I don’t want the cheese; I just want out of the trap. ~ Traditional Proverb
When a cat wants to eat her kittens, she says they look like mice. ~ Iranian Proverb
He must have clean fingers who wants to blow another’s nose. ~ Danish Proverb
Marriage is like a besieged fortress: those who are outside want to come in, and those already in want to be out. ~ Arabian Proverb
If you don’t want to be hung yourself, blame the dog for stealing the sausage. ~ German Proverb
He who wants fruit should not pick flowers. ~ Indian Proverb
He who wants to barter, usually knows what is best for him. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
The rich eat when they want, the poor when they can. ~ Georgian Proverb
There is no point in offering a helping hand to someone who wants to drown. ~ Basque Proverb
If you don’t want to be deceived, you must have as many eyes as hairs on the head. ~ German Proverb
He that finds fault wants to buy. ~ German Proverb
If you open the eyes of a blind man he wants to go back to the darkness. ~ Berber Proverb
He who really wants to die will not complain if he is buried standing up. ~ Mexican Proverb
He who tickles himself can laugh whenever he wants. ~ Polish Proverb
Abundance, like want, ruins many. ~ Romanian Proverb
When the figs are ripe all the birds want to eat. ~ Kenyan Proverb
If you want to be dead, wash your head and go to bed. ~ Spanish Proverb
He who wants the rose must respect the thorn. ~ Iranian Proverb
If a cat wants to eat her kittens, she’ll say that they look like mice. ~ Turkish Proverb
If you want heaven to know, tell it to the wind. ~ Oji Proverb
If you want to keep something secret from black folks, put it between the covers of a book. ~ African-American Proverb
If you want to eat pickled herring, think about the thirst you will have. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
If you want your eggs hatched, sit on them yourself. ~ Traditional Proverb
She who wants to marry her stepfather regrets it in bed. ~ Yiddish Proverb
When a rich man wants children, he gets dollars, when a poor man wants dollars, he gets children. ~ Arabian Proverb
God wanted to punish mankind, so he created lawyers. ~ Russian Proverb
If you want to keep your credit you must use it as little as possible. ~ French Proverb
See a pin and pick it up, all the day you’ll have good luck; see a pin and let it lie, you’ll want a pin before you die. ~ Traditional Proverb
If you want to kill a snake, chop off its head. ~ Arabian Proverb
If you want to live long, be healthy and fat, drink like a dog and eat like a cat. ~ German Proverb
He who wants a new world must first buy the old. ~ Dutch Proverb
He who wants to build high must dig deep. ~ Mongolian Proverb
He who wants to kill a dog says that he has urinated against the mosque. ~ Turkish Proverb
If you want to know what God thinks of money, look at the people he gives it to. ~ Yiddish Proverb
If you want to understand men, study women. ~ French Proverb
Our wishes are like little children — the more you indulge the more they want from you. ~ Chinese Proverb
He who wants to talk with the dogs must learn to bark. ~ Romanian Proverb
The child hates the one who gives him all he wants. ~ African Proverb
Mills and wives are ever wanting. ~ Italian Proverb
You want no one to know it? Then don’t do it. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you want to know who your friends are, lie by the roadside and pretend to be drunk. ~ Jamaican Proverb
Do what you want, but make sure you are first. ~ Walloon Proverb
He who wants to go fishing must not be afraid of the water. ~ Hungarian Proverb
We ain’t what we want to be; we ain’t what we gonna be; but thank God, we ain’t what we was. ~ African-American Proverb
If you want to take revenge on a man, send him a really beautiful woman. ~ Arabian Proverb
If you want to buy love, love itself is the price you’ll have to pay. ~ Italian Proverb
If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; If you want to be happy for life, plant a tree. ~ English Proverb
He that wants to eat the kernel must crack the nut. ~ German Proverb
If you want to go up in the world, veil ambition with the forms of humanity. ~ Chinese Proverb
If one hand were the other they would both want to be clean. ~ Russian Proverb
Love is like a mousetrap: you go in when you want, but you don’t get out when you like. ~ Spanish Proverb
When you want to test the depths of a stream, don’t use both feet. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another. ~ Yiddish Proverb
Some people want to be praised for the rest of their lives for what they have done well for one day. ~ Chinese Proverb
A cow gave birth to a fire; she wanted to lick it, but it burned; she wanted to leave it, but she could not because it was her own child. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
Work relieves us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and want. ~ French Proverb
Gentlemen don’t want to give much and are ashamed to give little. ~ Czech Proverb
The worst kind of dog is the one who does not want to bite. ~ Corsican Proverb
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; for want of a horse the rider was lost. ~ Traditional Proverb
He who flatters with laughter wants to see you cry. ~ Moroccan Proverb
Who wants fire, let him look for it in the ashes. ~ Dutch Proverb
If you want to be a hundred you must start young. ~ Russian Proverb
If you want to hear the truth about yourself — offend your neighbor. ~ Czech Proverb
Where the body wants to rest, there the legs must carry it. ~ Polish Proverb
If a rat wants to die it bites a cat’s tail. ~ Chinese Proverb
He who wants to be a dragon must eat many little snakes. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you want the daughter, you must kiss the mother. ~ Italian Proverb
Not to know is bad, not to want to know is worse. ~ Gambian Proverb
May God bless you to live as long as you want to; and want to as long as you live! ~ Scottish Proverb
He who wants to be famous will have many a sleepless night. ~ Tunisian Proverb
If you want to know what a man is really like, notice how he acts when he loses money. ~ Traditional Proverb
I eat what others have planted and I plant what others want to eat. ~ Iranian Proverb
The worst things in life are: To be in bed and sleep not, To want for one who comes not, To try to please and please not. ~ Arabian Proverb
If you want a thing done, go. If not, send. The shortest answer is doing. ~ English Proverb
The human heart is never satisfied, just like the snake that wants to swallow an elephant. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you don’t want to be deceived, then marry on February 30th. ~ French Proverb
He who wants pearls has to dive into the sea. ~ Kurdish Proverb
He who fondles you more than usual has either deceived you or wants to. ~ French Proverb
When what you want doesn’t happen, learn to want what does. ~ Arabian Proverb
Overabundance is not far from want. ~ Nigerian Proverb
If you want to gather a lot of knowledge, act as if you are ignorant. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
If you want to marry wisely, marry your equal. ~ Spanish Proverb
If you want to know how the true story goes, wait till the arguments start. ~ African Proverb
Tell me where it itches if you want me to scratch you. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
If you want to be old, hang yourself when you are young. ~ German Proverb
He who wants to conquer lechery must flee from it. ~ French Proverb
Tell me what you want to buy and I will tell you what you are. ~ Mexican Proverb
If deeds are wanting, all words appear mere vanity and emptiness. ~ Greek Proverb
If you want apples, you have to shake the trees. ~ Bulgarian Proverb
If you want a well, only dig in one place. ~ Korean Proverb
If you want good service, serve yourself. ~ Spanish Proverb
If you don’t want to be cheated, ask the price at three shops. ~ Chinese Proverb
If a pedestrian sees a horse he will want to ride it. ~ Korean Proverbs
Nobody wants to buy a sleeping horse. ~ Mexican Proverb
If you want to hit your mother-in-law, be sure to split her head. ~ Arabian Proverb
Lazy people always want to do everything at the same time. ~ Chinese Proverb
The dragon teaches you that if you want to climb high you have to do it against the wind. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you want to be revenged, hold your tongue. ~ Traditional Proverb
Confide in a woman and a magpie if you want something to be broadcast. ~ Spanish Proverb
Take what you want, then pay for it. ~ Spanish Proverb
If you want your dreams to come true, don’t sleep. ~ Yiddish Proverb
It’s too bad to want a thing and not be allowed it. ~ Norwegian Proverbs
When God wants to please a poor man, He lets him lose his donkey and then helps him find it again. ~ Turkish Proverb
Bad is want which is born of plenty. ~ Latin Proverb
Every age wants its playthings. ~ French Proverb
The frog wanted to be as big as the elephant, and burst. ~ Ethiopian Proverb
Only a fool asks, “What do you want with my wife?” ~ Italian Proverb
He who has much, wants more. ~ French Proverb
Happiness flies away from those who want it most. ~ Laotian Proverb
You can throw a cat whoever you want, it always falls on its feet. ~ Yiddish Proverb
He that wants to keep his house clean must not let priest or pigeon into it. ~ French Proverb
If you want to know the value of money, go and borrow some. ~ Spanish Proverb
There are no better masters than poverty and wants. ~ Dutch Proverb
If you want to sleep well, buy the bed of a bankrupt. ~ Spanish Proverb
The one with a running nose always wants to blow someone else’s. ~ French Proverb
If you want a place in the sun, you must leave the shade of the family tree.~ Osage Proverb
He who always wants the last word, ends up talking to himself. ~ Breton Proverb
A forest would want to be burned by its own wood. ~ Moorish Proverb
The people want to be deceived. ~ Latin Proverb
The rose has thorns only for those who want to pick it. ~ Chinese Proverb
He who wants to catch foxes must hunt with geese. ~ Danish Proverb
If you want good advice, consult an old man. ~ Portuguese Proverb
Whoever wants to hurt never misses his target. ~ Berber Proverb
If you want to love your household as much as your bread then you will have to knead your wife like dough. ~ French Proverb
I don’t want the cheese, I just want to get out of the trap. ~ Latin Proverbs
If you want your dreams to come true, don’t over sleep. ~ Yiddish Proverbs
He who does not want to lend loses friends; he who lends gains enemies. ~ German Proverb
If you want an audience start a fight. ~ Irish Proverb
If you want equality, then go to the graveyard. ~ German Proverbs
Want a thing long enough, and you don’t. ~ Chinese Proverb
Covet wealth, and want it; don’t, and luck will grant it. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you want your children to enjoy a quiet life let them suffer a little hunger and a little cold. ~ Chinese Proverb
The eyes do not see what the mind does not want. ~ Indian Proverbs
If you want to travel fast use the old roads. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
If we cannot do what we want, we must want what we can. ~ Yiddish Proverb
Send a boy where he wants to go and you see his best pace. ~ African Proverb
A good wife and a wholesome cabbage soup, what more could you want? ~ Russian Proverb
Everybody loves a fool, but nobody wants him for a son. ~ Ivorian Proverb
Let war be waged in the house of him who wants it. ~ Serbian Proverb
Whoever wants honey must breed bees. ~ Russian Proverbs
If you want to be criticized, marry. ~ Irish Proverbs
Never do anything that you want to remain a secret. ~ Chinese Proverb
The heart is a tree; it grows where it wants. ~ Palestinian Proverbs
If you want some lies to be believed wrap them up in truths. ~ Danish Proverb
He wants to learn how to shave using my beard. ~ Dutch Proverbs
Whoever buys a house must examine the beams; whoever wants a wife must look at her mother. ~ Chinese Proverb
If you want to be respected, respect yourself. ~ Spanish Proverb
He who wants to sell his honor will always find a buyer. ~ Arabian Proverb
Take what you want, God said to man, and pay for it. ~ Spanish Proverb
The sea breeze blows the pelican where he wants to go. ~ Creole Proverb (Southern U.S.)
When the woman wants something God quakes. ~ French Proverb
If you want dinner, don’t insult the cook. ~ Chinese Proverb
Something you don’t want is dear at any price. ~ Traditional Proverb
If you want to give a sick man medicine, let him first be really ill — so that he can see how well the medicine works. ~ Nigerian Proverb
He wanted to cure a healthy pig and ended up with a sick one. ~ Vietnamese Proverb
He who wants to jump high must take a long run. ~ Danish Proverbs
There is no worse apprentice than the one who doesn’t want to know. ~ Spanish Proverbs
Quotations about Wants and Wanting
Success is getting and achieving what you want. Happiness is wanting and being content with what you get. ~ Bernard Meltzer
The keener the want the lustier the growth. ~ Wendell Phillips
I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be. ~ Douglas Adams
I do not read advertisements. I would spend all of my time wanting things. ~ Archibishop of Canterbury
I never wanted to be famous. I only wanted to be great. ~ Ray Charles
I discovered a long time ago that if I helped people get what they wanted, I would always get what I wanted, and I would never have to worry. ~ Anthony Robbins
When other little girls wanted to be ballet dancers I kind of wanted to be a vampire. ~ Angelina Jolie
A man can refrain from wanting what he has not, and cheerfully make the best of a bird in the hand. ~ Marcus Annaeus Seneca
when you didn’t get what you wanted. ~ Randy Pausch
I have no need for good souls: an accomplice is what I wanted. ~ Jean-Paul Sartre
Wanting to work is so rare a merit that it should be encouraged. ~ Abraham Lincoln
To love a thing means wanting it to live. ~ Confucius
We are taught you must blame your father, your sisters, your brothers, the school, the teachers – but never blame yourself. It’s never your fault. But it’s always your fault, because if you wanted to change you’re the one who has got to change. ~ Katharine Hepburn
The thing that contributes to anyone’s reaching the goal he wants is simple wanting that goal badly enough. ~ Charles E. Wilson
Our chief want in life, is, somebody who shall make us do what we can. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
He can feel no little wants who is in pursuit of grandeur. ~ Johann Kaspar Lavater
So long as the great majority of men are not deprived of either property or honor, they are satisfied. ~ Niccolo Machiavelli
Great wants proceed from great wealth; but they are undutiful children, for they sink wealth down to poverty. ~ Henry Home
Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. ~ Randy Pausch
If you really want something you can figure out how to make it happen. ~ Cher
Some people wanted champagne and caviar when they should have had beer and hot dogs. ~ Dwight David Eisenhower
To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power. ~ George MacDonald
The friendships which last are those wherein each friend respects the other’s dignity to the point of not really wanting anything from him. ~ Cyril Connolly
Poetry is the journal of a sea animal living on land, wanting to fly in the sky. ~ Carl Sandburg
I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free. ~ Rosa Parks
He trudged along, unknowing what he sought, and whistled as he went, for want of a thought. ~ John Dryden
We only consult the ear because the heart is wanting. ~ Blaise Pascal
Every want that stimulates the breast becomes a source of pleasure when redressed. ~ Oliver Goldsmith
We become actors without realizing it, and actors without wanting to. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel
Realize what you really want. It stops you from chasing butterflies and puts you to work digging gold. ~ William Moulton Marston
Man is the only animal who causes pain to others with no other object than wanting to do so. ~ Arthur Schopenhauer
If any one say that he has seen a just man in want of bread, I answer that it was in some place where there was no other just man. ~ Pope Clement I
Everyone thirsteth after gaine. ~ Lord Edward Coke
Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way. ~ Les Brown
If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Nature has provided for the exigency of privation, by putting the measure of our necessities far below the measure of our wants. Our necessities are to our wants as Falstaff’s pennyworth of bread to his any quantity of sack. ~ Christian Nestell Bovee
We should wish for few things with eagerness, if we perfectly knew the nature of that which was the object of our desire. ~ Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
Nothing makes men sharper than want. ~ Joseph Addison
I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. ~ Lily Tomlin
I just want to make music, I don’t want people to talk about me. All I’ve ever wanted to do was sing. I don’t want to be a celebrity. I don’t want to be in people’s faces, you know, constantly on covers of magazine that I haven’t even known I’m on. ~ Adele
How badly do you want it? ~ George E. Allen
If God wanted us to fly, He would have given us tickets. ~ Mel Brooks
Courage comes from wanting to do it well. Security comes from knowing you can do it well. Confidence comes from having done it well. ~ Author Unknown
Constantly choose rather to want less, than to have more. ~ Thomas a Kempis
Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others. ~ Gerald G. Jampolsky
Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. ~ Vince Lombardi
Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. ~ T. S. Eliot
Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have. ~ Rabbi H. Schachtel
Try to eliminate the word SHOULD from your vocabulary. And try doing so without replacing it with OUGHT or YOU BETTER. ~ Author Unknown
The will is commendable though the ability may be wanting. ~ Ovid
If you don’t get what you want, it’s a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price. ~ Rudyard Kipling
If we only wanted to be happy, it would be easy; but we want to be happier than other people, and that is almost always difficult, since we think them happier than they are. ~ Charles de Montesquieu
Want is one only of five giants on the road of reconstruction; the others are Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, and Idleness. ~ William Henry Beveridge
It is better to be unfaithful than faithful without wanting to be. ~ Brigitte Bardot
I’ve always had confidence. It came because I have lots of initiative. I wanted to make something of myself. ~ Eddie Murphy
Getting anything changes it from being desirable to just being taken for granted. ~ Author Unknown
Craving, not having, is the mother of a reckless giving of oneself. ~ Eric Hoffer
Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. ~ Garrison Keillor
Every one is the poorer in proportion as he has more wants, and counts not what he has, but wishes only what he has not. ~ Manilius
I didn’t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn’t do the things I wanted. ~ Frederick Douglass
I’m my own worst critic, and if I don’t pull off what I think I wanted to do in my head, then I won’t be a happy girl. ~ Amy Winehouse
There’s always the motivation of wanting to win. Everybody has that. But a champion needs, in his attitude, a motivation above and beyond winning. ~ Pat Riley
Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. ~ Benjamin Franklin
We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think we do; therefore never go abroad in search of your wants; if they be real wants, they will come home in search of you; for he that buys what he does not want, will soon want what he cannot buy. ~ Charles Caleb Colton
We all have something about ourselves that we’d change if we could in a perfect world, be it our body image, our financial status, our relationship, whatever. I wanted to talk about how nobody’s exempted from the realities of life and all those things. ~ Keri Hilson
I wanted to be an independent woman, a woman who could pay for her bills, a woman who could run her own life – and I became that woman. ~ Diane von Furstenberg
It’s weak and despicable to go on wanting things and not trying to get them. ~ Joanna Field
Many a time I have wanted to stop talking and find out what I really believed. ~ Walter Lippmann
It is not from nature, but from education and habits, that our wants are chiefly derived. ~ Henry Fielding
I wanted to only create a great perfume, not any perfume that would sell, but a great artistic one that the fans would not feel cheated by. ~ Lady Gaga
Of all follies there is none greater than wanting to make the world a better place. ~ Moliere
I had this dream, and I really wanted to be a star. And I was almost a monster in the way that I was really fearless with my ambitions. ~ Lady Gaga
My father used to say that it’s never too late to do anything you wanted to do. And he said, ‘You never know what you can accomplish until you try.’ ~ Michael Jordan
Prosperity depends more on wanting what you have than having what you want. ~ Geoffrey F. Abert
There are no losers in losing, only losers in not wanting to win. ~ Jesus M. Trejo
You want to be wanted, and you want people to rely on you. ~ Tim Howard
Want is a growing giant whom the coat of Have was never large enough to cover. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Modern man lives under the illusion that he knows what he wants, while he actually wants what he is supposed to want. ~ Erich Fromm
Make sure you want it enough. ~ Frank Kingdon
What man knows is everywhere at war with what he wants. ~ Joseph Wood Krutch
I want to be what I was when I wanted to be what I am now. ~ Ray Prince
How few our real wants, and how vast our imaginary ones! ~ Johann Kaspar Lavater
For years I wanted to be older, and now I am. ~ Margaret Atwood
You cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it. ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton
I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. ~ Gilda Radner
Where sense is wanting, everything is wanting. ~ Benjamin Franklin
